The UK Film Council is backing a new site that aims to boost cinema attendances of independent European films.

Myfilms.co.uk will be launchedin mid Marchby marketing agency Sledge, under the watchful eye of the UK Film Council, as a forum for people to voice their opinions about a wide variety of movies.

'The idea is to get more cinema goers to go and see more non mainstream filmsas well asthe big blockbustersthat currently dominatethe theatres,' Sledge's Tom Beaumont-Griffin told ScreenDaily.com.

Shaped in the same mould as MySpace, each user that signs on to myfilms can create their own profile and then exchange views with others on their favourite movies and find out where they are showing. They can also petition local cinemas to show certain films.

'Instead of ramming images in people's faces on buses and in the underground, we are providing a social network for these people to discuss the films that are important to them,' says Pete Buckingham, head of distribution and exhibition at the UK Film Council.

With $6m (£3m) in lottery money funding over three years, Sledge's ultimate goal is to increase admissions of European films by 40%. To help them achieve this they have enlisted the help of leading media organisations including The Times, Sky, Carlton, Love Film, IPC Media, Sub TV, Film Education to promote the myfilms site on their media space.

However, Sledge has already faceditsfirst obstaclewith the delay in transferring the myfilms.com URL from its host inBellevue, Washington,US to the UK. Despite owning the domain name, Sledgehas to wait until it gets 100% confirmation on the transfer and willinstead be operating the site as myfilms.co.uk.'

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