Luke Coverdale
Film 486
03/19/2020
Throughout the term, we’ve addressed the power of film festivals in shaping the world of film from many perspectives, such as cultural, economic and technologic. It is hard to imagine what the world of cinema would be like without their influence as festivals greatly affect the way in which we view and access films, as well as having a great effect on the nations involved and cities involved in hosting and participating. Cindy Hing-Yuk Wong summarizes this best in her article entitled Film Festivals: Culture, People and Power On The Global Screen, where she states “Film festivals attract widespread global attention as glittering showcases for films and people. Yet, they also constitute vital nodes for global film industries for global film industries, business, institutions, and information. Festivals provide places in which multiple agents negotiate local, national and supranational relations of culture, power and identity. Ultimately they are crucial centers for the development of film knowledge and film practices: festivals and the people who create and recreate them thus shaping what films we audience and scholars will see, what films we respect and neglect, and often, how we read such cinematic works” (Wong, 1)
One of the most pronounced effects of film festivals is their ability to construct and shape a cultural identity, both at a local and international level, either through the festival itself or the films selected for distribution. This is incredibly important for nations that don’t have much international film distribution outside of these festivals, or where festivals offer the most attention for their works. Canada is one of these nations as many filmmakers depend on festivals such as Toronto International Film Festival to achieve attention for their work, as like in many other nations, films produced in the United States often dominate popular cinema most of the year. Liz Czach addresses this in her article Film Festivals, Programming and the Building of a National Cinema, stating “ Canadian films notoriously occupy very little screen space in Canada. Yet unlike the rest of the year when little critical or popular support seems to be mustered for Canadian films, festivals generate crucial critical, public and industry interest in Canadian films.” (Czach, 7)
This also plays a very large role in the international distribution of African filmmaking, although popular filmmaking is very prolific, mostly stemming from Nigeria, where a majority of African films are produced. The Bonetti reading discusses the popularity of “Nollywood Films”, referring to the explosion of the Nigerian film industry, becoming the third largest producer of films outside of Hollywood and Bollywood. (Bonetti, 8) Although these films are very popular with local audiences, international distribution of African film is often dependent on film festivals such as the very successful New York African Film Festival (NYAFF), or Portland’s local Cascade Festival of African Films, which I had the pleasure of attending this year and hope to again next year. Bonetti discusses the reason for the popularity of these festivals when addressing the effects that NYAFF has on African filmmakers and American audiences who may not see these films otherwise. “Much of the success that NYAFF has experienced has been due to the growing demystification of African Cinema. Traditionally American audiences simply have not had much exposure to films made by Africans, and because of this, such audiences are not accustomed to the themes, subjects, aesthetics and narrative styles that are part of the films coming out of Africa.” (Bonetti, 6)
In our studies, we also explored some of the negative implications of how film festivals shape cultural perspective. The limitations of how many and what films are submitted to festivals can push certain agendas and ideas of national identity, as the films offer a limited viewpoint into the culture that produced them. Audiences may also interpret a nation’s identity improperly based on the films they see, often naively expecting the film to be a perfect representation of its origin, despite the problematic nature of this. Along with this, there can be issues present in the festivals themselves and their agendas and what they try to push through their programming. In the article Global Cities and International Film Festival Economy, author Julian Stringer addresses some of these issues, stating “In addition, film festivals provide a focus for the convergence of issues concerning the relation of cultural production to cultural policy.” (Stinger, 135) He cites examples of nationalism as a driving force behind several historic film festivals, such as Venice Film Festival as an act of propaganda used to legitimize Mussolini’s facsicm, or the Berlin Film Festival being tied to German’s reconstruction and democratization.
Alongside all of this, some of the most important information I learned was from our guest speakers and their insights into programming film festivals. This information is very valuable to me as a filmmaker and someone who is actively trying to become more involved in the film community in any means possible. I found Dawn and Gwen’s presentations particularly useful as someone wishing to enter their films into festivals, with Dawn providing a very important piece of information surrounding getting attention for your film. She spoke about the importance of having your film in at least one festival, as it attracts the attention of festival programmers looking for new works. She also stressed the importance of maintaining control and vigilance over your film even after it is already in the festival, as although the film may get screened, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be paid or it’ll get the level of distribution you may want. The process of distribution is not over when your film makes it into the festival, it has just begun. Gwen provided useful information surrounding the programming of festivals, citing the importance of the order of the films and anticipating/planning around the success of certain films. While I never initially thought of working behind the scenes at a film festival, the presentations provided a better perspective for me into this aspect and have given me a drive to seek more active participation within festivals I hope to enter. The class as a whole has given me a much better idea of the importance and influence of festivals and hopefully will aid me as a filmmaker in pursuing a career now that I have a much better understanding of the inner workings of the industry and culture that makes up film festivals at a local and international level.
Work Cited:
Wong, Cindy H. Film Festivals: Culture, People, and Power on the Global Screen. Rutgers University Press, 2011.
Stringer, Julian. “Global Cities and the International Film Festival Economy.” Cinema and the City Film and Urban Societies in a Global Context, by Mark Shiel, Blackwell, 2004, pp. 133–143.
Liz Czach, The Moving Image, Volume 4, Number 1, University of Minnesota Press, Spring 2004, pp. 76-88
Bonetti, Mahen. “Chapter 12: Programming African at the New York African Film Festival .” Coming Soon to a Festival near You: Programming Film Festivals, by Jeffrey Ruoff, St Andrews Film Studies, 2012.
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