What if the film I'm looking for doesn't seem to be available for screening in educational settings?
When a film is difficult to find for sale with educational rights, we can try to contact the distributor or production company directly to see if they can help us and make it happen.
But if not, then what?
When the answer is no, and the requested film isn't available for educational purposes, there is a possibility of letting students see the film on their own. Many films are available at a small cost at several streaming platforms for private persons. For a comparison of different legal streaming platforms regarding a specific title see Vodeville. The department decides whether a film can be included in a compulsory literature list when it cannot be bought with an educational license.
What about Netflix and alike SVOD-services?
Subscription streaming platforms or channels with the public as their primary customers like Netflix, Max and ViaPlay usually don't offer their content to universities for educational screening, but there are excepetions for some documentaries!
Can students borrow the films at the library?
Most of the films on DVD are purchased with institutional screening rights without the possibility for individual home loans by students. This applies to films bought according to the terms of the Swedish Film license, they can only be borrowed by teachers. BUT films on streaming platforms with a campus license are available for all students and teachers at Lund University via LU-accounts.
Can you make a requested film available for streaming through LU- student accounts?
It depends on how the film is being offered for purchase. The library purchases films for educational purposes on DVD or on existing streaming platforms. Unfortunately, many smaller distributors only offer their films as digital files. Currently LU has no solution for storing or hosting and give access to single bought video files. We can ask if the film maker/distributor can offer the film by file sharing at for instance Vimeo (a video platform for hosting, sharing, and live streaming).
Can I as a teacher screen films from Sambibs DVD-collection by using tools like Zoom and by sharing the screen with the students?
This differs and depends on where the library has bought the film. Films bought under the license from Swedish Film are not allowed to be screened using video/conference tools. To know what applies for a specific film, contact me. Screening film by using zoom and alike is also dependable on the students network connections working well at the time of the screening.