YouTube has announced The YouTube Screening Room, a dedicated area on YouTube that will showcase an international selection of films.

The YouTube Screening Room will feature four new high-quality short films every two weeks, as well as feature-length films on a case-by-case basis.

Filmmakers will have the opportunity to submit their work for consideration through an online submission process. YouTube says that his will create new business opportunities for filmmakers and bring films to YouTube users that they otherwise wouldn’t see.

People will be able to communicate directly with filmmakers to share thoughts, exchange opinions with fans, and provide honest feedback using YouTube’s features to comment, rate, and share films. The YouTube Screening Room will also include a “Buy Now” button, allowing filmmakers to link to websites selling DVDs and digital downloads of their films, as well as a High Quality player, which offers users the best viewing experience possible.

Here’s an example, Our Time Is Up. Watch for a cameo from Lost‘s Jose Garcia (Hurley):

“One of the fantastic things about the digital present is that means of production are so much more egalitarian than in the past,” said Moby, whose MobyGratis program allows filmmakers to use his music in their films for free. “The YouTube Screening Room is about empowering filmmakers and helping them get their work seen. What drives good artists, both filmmakers and musicians, is to create something they love and have other people experience it.”

About the Films

In the first month of programming, The YouTube Screening Room will feature a diverse collection of films, including:

• 2006 Academy Award nominee, Our Time Is Up, written and directed by Rob Pearlstein, starring Kevin Pollak
• 2007 Academy Award winner, The Danish Poet, written and directed by Torill Kove and presented by The National Film Board of Canada
• Are You The Favorite Person Of Anybody?, directed by Miguel Arteta, written by Miranda July, starring John C. Reilly, Mike White and Miranda July, presented by Wholphin
• 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival winner, Love and War, written and directed by Fredrik Emilson and produced by Tomas Michaelsson
• 2006 Tribeca Film Festival winner, The Shovel, written and directed by Nick Childs, starring David Strathairn
• 2005 USA Film Festival winner, The Big Empty, adapted and directed by J. Lisa Chang and Newton Thomas Sigel, produced by Daniel Dubiecki and Jason Blumenfeld, starring Selma Blair, presented by Wholphin
• 2008 Academy Award nominee, I Met The Walrus, written and directed by John Raskin, produced by Jerry Levitan
• 2007 WorldFest Houston winner, The Clap, written and directed by Geoff Lindsey, presented by Future Shorts