VUCAVU is a bilingual, not-for-profit streaming platform that showcases independent Canadian film and video art. With thousands of titles available for viewing and research, it supports artists by improving access to their work and promoting Canadian culture online. We spoke with Executive Director Jacquelyn Hébert to find out more about what they do.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
VUCAVU is a bilingual streaming platform dedicated to showcasing independent Canadian film and video artists that span 50+ years of Canadian moving image art to the public. It is a multifaceted organization that shares its technology with many partners from across the country. VUCAVU currently streams about 1,500+ films and videos to the public via VOD with an additional online archive of 5000+ titles available for curatorial research.
What problem does it aim to solve?
VUCAVU is an innovative not-for-profit digital arts organization working to create new opportunities for Canadian artists online. We work with independent film and video distributors and content partners to improve online access to independent film and video-based artworks and provide greater national and international awareness of Canadian artists and culture.
Marketing funding and accessible digital resources are a huge challenge for the arts sector. VUCAVU is constantly working to expand our reach, develop new partnerships and invest our resources to create new online revenue streams for the sector and aid in the dissemination of artworks made by independent Canadian artists across the country and to the rest of the world.
When did you start/join it?
I started working for VUCAVU part-time with just before its launch to the public in 2017. It’s been interesting to be closely involved in establishing a new arts organization and be instrumental in its evolution.
What made you want to get involved?
VUCAVU is a digital organization that actually keeps artists needs central to its mandate. As an interdisciplinary artist and arts administrator myself, I know well the constant struggle that artists and arts organizations face in finding funding for their projects and in getting the word out about the work they do.
I was interested to get involved with VUCAVU because I saw it as a leading-edge project that encouraged and facilitated artists and arts groups to work collectively, share resources and support each other.
What was the situation like when you started?
When I started working with the organization in 2017, VUCAVU was the first shared digital platform created for the Canadian film and media arts sector that was operated by the arts sector itself.
Independent film and video distributors’ operations were being heavily impacted by the digital shift occurring in the film/media sector and revenues for artists were greatly diminishing. From the Canadian perspective, many streaming platforms are not owned and operated by Canadians and therefore do not necessarily have their interests at heart.
How has it changed since?
So many things have changed since our launch!
One important development over the last five years, is that VUCAVU has sought funding and invested significant time and resources into how it can become an educational resource.
From its inception as a public-facing independent streaming platform, VUCAVU has received numerous requests for access from educational institutions. Through cross-sectoral research and discussions with our many partners, it became clear that the inclusion of streamable film and video resources from the collections of independent Canadian distributors is greatly lacking at Canadian universities and colleges. However, making VUCAVU’s online catalogue available to instructors and librarians is significantly different from the business model the platform was originally built for.
We’re thrilled to announce that we are launching a new service called VUCAVU.education in 2025! VUCAVU.education is an educational access technology that will allow us to sell institutional subscriptions to a selection of works in our catalogue for educational uses.
What more needs to be done?
As an arts organization with a national scope, finding consistent sources funding for VUCAVU’s operations is a constant challenge. Many funding bodies restrict funding regionally or provincially and therefore limits what funding we can apply for to support this shared digital initiative for the Canadian arts sector.
How can our readers help?
- Tell your friends about us.
- Rent films on VUCAVU!
- Contact us about hosting your online film and video programming (we offer services on a sliding scale) and/or, become a new content partner.
Where can we follow you?
Website | Instagram | Bluesky | Facebook | Vimeo
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity you love?
CARFAC – Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC) is the national voice of Canada’s professional visual artists. Their mandate is to promote the visual arts in Canada, to promote a socio-economic climate that is conducive to the production of visual arts in Canada, and to conduct research and engage in public education for these purposes.
