AOL Launches Web Site For Movie DocumentariesAOL Launches Web Site For Movie Documentaries

AOL is diving deeper into the movie business with the announcement Thursday that it is launching a Web site for documentary films.

An AOL team will scout film festivals and the film community for documentaries to be featured on AOL's True Stories Web site, usually before they have been released theatrically.

Viewers can stream the films, with ads free of charge, or they can own the movies by downloading them to their hard disks and paying between $1.99 and $14.99; the prices will be set by the filmmakers.

"Filmmakers like the idea of creating a community around their films," said Scott Sheff, an AOL spokesperson. "They love the idea of connecting directly with their audience." The True Stories effort dovetails with existing AOL interactive community features like blogs, live chat, message boards and its UnCut Video application. UnCut Video, which resembles Google's YouTube, enables users to upload their homemade videos to AOL's UnCut Video site.

Sheff said the True Stories site will likely enable viewers in the future to submit their own documentaries for consideration to be featured on the site. For now, two feature-length films will be premiered every month on True Stories.

The first film " "Danielson: A Family Movie" " will also debut theatrically in major markets, according to AOL. It concerns a family that performs as an indie rock band. Sheff said the short film of about 25 minutes took him about 5 minutes to download. AOL uses its DVD-quality Hi-Q service for its downloading feature.

Other films available at the launch of True Stories include "The Breast Cancer Diaries," about a woman's battle with breast cancer, and "Ground Truth." The latter film follows U.S. veterans of the Iraq war as they struggle to re-assimilate to civilian life.

"In addition to presenting a groundbreaking platform for new films seeking distribution, True Stories will provide a forum for users to react, share their own stories, and connect with each other," said Jordan Kurzweil, vice president of programming and production for AOL.

The AOL Web site will also offer a catalogue of other documentary films, serving as a clearinghouse for the film genre.