Warsaw launches its own VOD platform to boost local culture

The service might prove essential for the sector and the audience in the context of the coronavirus pandemic

As of 1 September, the City of Warsaw has its very own video-on-demand (VOD) platform. It will offer pretty much of everything available on the local culture stage at the request and the convenience of users.

The new service will certainly prove effective in supporting the cultural sector of the capital, which has suffered heavily during the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, it also responds to the needs of a diverse contemporary audience and especially - to new generations, who will discover a quick pathway to traditional cultural experiences.

Culture in Warsaw is now just one click away

Starting from this month, Warsaw’s video-on-demand platform is operational. On vod.warszawa.pl, there will be plenty of free or paid cultural offerings, while users can sign up for notifications and list their favourite happenings to follow.

The platform will provide space for high-quality concerts, guided tours of exhibitions, films, educational materials, radio reports, podcasts, audiobooks, novels in episodes, texts and multimedia on demand. It also enables streaming of live events. In just a few weeks, it will be available as a mobile application as well.

The development of vod.warszawa.pl was financed by the Capital City of Warsaw and realized by the movie cultural centre “Andrzej Wajda”. Each cultural institution will be able to select the type of access it gives to its content – ticketed or free, as well as the period of its availability. Moreover, cultural operators could upload audio-visual content in four languages – Polish, English, Russian or Ukrainian with subtitles or voice-over translation, to ensure maximum accessibility.

Most importantly, the space is safe for creators: the system prevents the recording of shared materials or their download on the disk, and it also prevents an unlogged user from sharing links copied from the platform.

“We have built the VOD Warszawa platform to enable Warsaw's culture to develop and function, and to reach a growing group of recipients. This is an excellent solution for those who, for various reasons, have not been able to enjoy the richness of the excellent Warsaw culture so far, or who, due to a pandemic, have changed their habits of reception and ways of using cultural resources.

Although nothing can replace living contact with art, our VOD will certainly be an interesting proposition for viewers from all over Poland,” commented the Vice-Mayor of Warsaw, Aldona Machnowska-Góra quoted on the city website.

The FREEKWENCJA festival will be the first event available on the new Warsaw VOD platform. It can be watched for free on 12 and 19 September, provided that the users have registered first.