Film festivals cannot always claim to practice what they preach. Even some of the best-intentioned festivals often hit a wall: while attempting to exhibit politically subversive films, organisers also have to respond to diverse – and even conflicting – voices. Responding to the demands of local communities, audiences, filmmakers, and sponsors leads to compromises and […]
In this review I discuss the recent embracement of VR by film festivals. In less than a half a decade VR emerged as a central phenomenon in the global film festival circuit, turning from a technological gadget in its initial development stages to a prominent visual exhibition form. In 2014, only few film festivals were […]
Regina is a relatively small Canadian city with around 215,000 inhabitants in the province of Saskatchewan. It is also home to one of the most experimental LGBTQ+ film festivals in Canada. Queer City Cinema was founded in 1996 by multimedia artist and executive artistic director Gary Varro. In 2001, the festival started going on tour […]
In ELEKTRA’s own words, the digital art festival has been ‘helping audiences explore the diversity of performance practices, particularly audiovisual and robotics, since 1999’ and takes place over six days and nights in selected venues across Montreal. While the festival has become an important place to experience digital art in Montreal, it also functions as […]
This year’s gay pride celebrations were particularly important as both community-based groups and official institutions organised various symposiums, exhibitions, and festivals to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall riots – an event often credited as the birth of the gay political movement. In Europe, several municipalities and official institutions capitalised on this anniversary and […]
In the turmoil of political relations between the US and Turkey, cultural activities build bridges that facilitate diplomacy and mutual understanding. In this report, I explore how the 23rd Boston Turkish Festival (BTF) serves as a deployment of film diplomacy and presents a strategic image of Turkey in the US via films. The themes covered […]
‘Space … is a product of relations-between, relations which are necessarily embedded material practices which have to be carried out.’ – Doreen Massey[1] Founded in 1998 by a group of Québécois documentary filmmakers, the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal (RIDM) has become one of Canada’s most established documentary film festivals. Since its inception, the […]
Mexico has experienced several cycles of growth or decline in film production and consumption, and like many other countries its own cinematography has been left out of the North American corpus that dominates the exhibition circuits. The mastery of American cinematography, which largely responds to canons originating with the Hollywood industry, imposes guidelines for aesthetic […]
Introduction Festivals are nowadays a cultural, social, and economic force to be reckoned with. This study will offer an overview of the Dutch festival landscape, which has been lacking. There are commercial initiatives that target only a portion of the festival sector, and there are specific branch organisations or cultural funds that only cover the […]
The global imaginary of Central America, encompassing Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama,[1] often relates to the subcontinent’s turbulent history and strategic geopolitical positioning. From succumbing to European imperial forces in the 15th century to the end of the Cold War and its aftermath, the southernmost isthmus of North America that connects […]
The enduring image from the 48th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), held from 20 to 28 November 2017, is of the actor Kannan Nayar angry, and waiting impatiently, outside the Inox multiplex complex in Panjim, Goa. He could be seen agitatedly talking to a group of people, to the media, and […]
Hundreds of people following a person with a megaphone through deserted city centres at night. A political demonstration? A secret society? No, this is A Wall is a Screen (AWIAS),[1] a mobile outdoor cinema, cinematic city walk, and pop-up film festival all in one, which – as its name suggests – uses walls of buildings […]
Described variously in the media over the years as ‘one of the most idiosyncratic film events in the UK’[1] and ‘willfully eclectic’,[2] the eleventh edition of Birmingham’s Flatpack Film Festival (Flatpack)[3] took place 4-9 April 2017.[4] Situated in the UK’s second city, Flatpack[5] has come to embody a specific representation of its home city that […]
The opening night film for an LGBTQ film festival is a rare opportunity to bring all the members of the community together. As such, it is imperative for the films in this privileged position to resonate with audiences beyond merely having a gay or lesbian character. The queerness of the films of these festivals can […]
Fashion film festivals have quite suddenly mushroomed worldwide. After the establishment of the pioneering Fashion in Film Festival[1] in 2006 in London, the idea was picked up in Paris by fashion critic and blogger Diane Pernet, who founded A Shaded View On Fashion Film[2] in 2008. From then on, the fashion film festival concept has […]
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Martine Beugnet
University of Paris 7 Diderot
Greg de Cuir Jr
University of Arts Belgrade
Malte Hagener
Philipps-University Marburg
Skadi Loist
Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf
Toni Pape
University of Amsterdam
Francesco Pitassio
University of Udine
Belén Vidal
King’s College London