276

What is New in FiIm FestivaIs Studies

- Thematic BibIiography on
FiIm FestivaI Research: Update 2010
Marijke de Valck and Skadi Loist
This is the second update of the Thematic Annotated Bibliography on Film
Festival Research, a resource tool for publications in the emerging feld of
Film Festival Studies. In this update you will fnd all-new entries detailing
research published since the previous update in FFY2: Film Festivals
and Imagined Communities, as well as older publications that were not
listed before but which have recently come to our attention.
1
For the
complete updated bibliography we refer the reader to the on-line version
which can be accessed via www.flmfestivalresearch.org or directly at
www1.uni-hamburg.de/Medien/berichte/arbeiten/009108.html. This
2010 update of our bibliography of flm festival research begins with an
introduction and brief notes of clarifcation on our clustering, particularly
with regard to new subsections. Secondly, you will fnd the overview of
new entries thematically ordered. New to this update is the concluding
section which contains a short report on current debates in flm festival
research. Here we highlight issues that have been prevalent within
discussions among flm festival researchers at conferences, workshops
and seminars in the last year.
On What's New in Print (And How It Is Presented)
Since the last update we have seen a continuation of the strong output
by flm festival researchers. There has been a substantial amount of new
publications - this update counts 80 new entries - that cover a wide
variety of issues related to flm festivals. These publications come in
different forms. Like last year, there are several new and interesting edited
volumes on flm festivals: the Film Festival Yearbook series presented
a volume focusing on Film Festivals and Imagined Communities (edited
by Dina Iordanova with Ruby Cheung), thereby adding signifcantly to
the contributions listed under our Section 6 on Trans/National Cinema;
Undercurrent, the bimonthly on-line publication of The International
Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), dedicated a special issue to flm
festivals, edited by Chris Fujiwara with Adrian Martin as contributing
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Thematic Bibliography on Film Festival Research: Update 2010
editor, which resulted in a diverse palette of historical perspectives,
personal refections and case studies; and the Dutch Boekman Stichting,
an institution for art, culture and policy, also dedicated a special issue to
festivals. The latter`s choice for a thematic issue on festivals was directly
related to the frst NWO-Boekman dissertation award (a triennial prize for
best contribution to cultural policy), which was presented to Marijke de
Valck for her PhD on flm festivals in 2009. New PhDs are also among
the updated entries, and valuable doctoral works by Dianne Burgess
and Alex Fischer are duly listed under Section '1.1 Film Festival Theory`.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that flm festival research, in addition to
featuring as book chapters, on-line articles and magazine or research
reports, has also made its way into esteemed peer-reviewed journals
such as Cinema Journal (Czach 2010, de Valck 2010), Forum for Modern
Language Studies (Bisschoff 2009) and the International Journal of
Cultural Studies (De Valck and Soeteman 2010).
For this second update of the Film Festival Research Bibliography
we have made some changes. Most importantly, in the interest of brevity
only new entries have been listed here instead of a reprinting of the
complete bibliography. For the complete list please refer to the on-
line version. The reader will fnd here the original annotations for each
category and (sub)section, the exceptions being new categories and
(sub)sections, which may appear with a new annotation in this update.
There are two new categories within the bibliography. Section '1.1
c) Book Reviews` includes reviews of flm festival books in order to not
only acknowledge these works, but to also encourage engagement with
criticism. The new subcategory '5.5 Festivals as Organisations` highlights
work that deals with the organisational aspect of flm festivals. There
are a few entries listed already, but since this is also an issue currently
discussed at conferences within the feld of Media Studies, as well as
Management Studies and Sociology, we anticipate further output for this
subcategory in the near future.
With regard to existing categories, we felt compelled to change our
classifcation system for entries in category '6. Trans/National Cinemas`.
Where the focus had been on the distribution, circulation and negotiation
of an idea of national cinema on the festival circuit, including the impact
of global power structures, following Dina Iordanova and Ruby Cheung`s
discussion of imagined communities and the various ways in which flm
festivals are linked to diasporas (Iordanova and Cheung 2010), it was
decided to broaden the idea of trans/national festivals described in this
category. This was done in order to include those festivals that are not
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necessarily based in the regions we distinguish, but that have links to
them or circulate flms from those regions. Thus, we include here pieces
on diasporic festivals as featured in the second volume of Film Festival
Yearbook, which also includes listings of a variety of transnational flm
festivals in its resource section, (see Iordanova with Cheung 2010: 266-
86).
Another change has been made to the already multifaceted category
'8. Reception: Audiences, Communities and Cinphiles`. This category
collected articles circling around several different aspects of reception:
text-based reception studies, discussions on aspects of reception and
cinphilia, reception environments and their link to communities, etc.
From now on this rubric will also include contributions from the area of
Tourism Management and Business Studies. Among the new entries
we wish to highlight are two pieces that present quantitative research
into festival audiences. The articles currently listed (Lee, Lee and Wicks
2004, Lee et al. 2008) are likely to be the tip of a new iceberg.
Finally, we would like to point out that edited volumes are included
both as volume and - insofar as is relevant for the bibliography - as
separate contributions. This allows for the categorisation of individual
pieces under the most appropriate (sub)sections and will enable users
of this resource to 'browse` inside edited volumes thematically. However,
our original disclaimer that many of the flm festival research pieces
listed address multiple themes and could ft into several categories
must be reiterated. The bibliography is therefore envisioned as a
starting point for reading and research rather than as a defnitive
classifcation.
The New Entries
1. Film Festivals: The Long View
Fujiwara, Chris and Adrian Martin (eds) (2010) Film Festivals, special issue
of Undercurrent, 6. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.fipresci.org/
undercurrent/issue0609/06index.htm (9 August 2010).
Gass, Lars Henrik (2009) 'Wie Oscar! Ein Zwischenruf, fr einen eigenstndigen
deutschen Film` 'For an Independent German Film: The Oscars Are Not
Our Standard!`, Short Report: KurzflmMagazin, 40-2.
Grnfelder, Romeo (2009) 'Public Relation: Filmfestivals fr Filmemacher` 'Public
Relations: Film Festivals for Filmmakers`, Short Report: KurzflmMagazin,
51-8. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.shortflm.de/kurzflmszene-
deutschland/gastbeitraege/public-relation-flmfestivals-fuer-flmemacher-
1109.html (9 August 2010).
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Thematic Bibliography on Film Festival Research: Update 2010
Jost, Jon (2010) 'The Big Circus`, Undercurrent 6. On-line. Available HTTP:
http://www.fpresci.org/undercurrent/issue0609/jostcircus.htm (9 August
2010).
Muhammad, Amir (2010) 'Festivals with Alexis (Mostly without Balut)`,
Undercurrent, 6. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.fipresci.org/
undercurrent/issue0609/muhammadalexis.htm (9 August 2010).
Sarris, Andrew (1978) 'Catch as Catch Cannes: The Moles and the Moths`, The
Village Voice, 12 June, 39-40.
Sterritt, David (2010) 'Film Festivals: Then and Now`, Undercurrent, 6. On-line.
Available HTTP: http://www.fpresci.org/undercurrent/issue0609/sterritt
festivals.htm (9 August 2010).
Werner, Dirk (2009) 'Mit weniger Festivals zu mehr Strahlkraft?` 'Would Fewer
Festivals Mean More Charisma?`, Short Report: KurzflmMagazin, 59-62.
Wolf, Reinhard W. (2009) 'Ehrlichkeit und Fairness: Ein Ehrenkodex fr
Filmfestivals` 'Honesty and Fairness: A Code of Honour for Film
Festivals`, Short Report: KurzfilmMagazin, 43-50. On-line. Available
HTTP: http://www.shortflm.de/index.php?id3146&L0&print1 (9 August
2010).
1.1 a) FiIm FestivaI Theory
Burgess, Diane (2008) 'Negotiating Value: A Canadian Perspective on the
International Film Festival`, unpublished PhD thesis, Vancouver: Simon
Fraser University, School of Communication. On-line. Available HTTP:
http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/bitstream/1892/10514/1/etd4165.pdf (24 March 2010).
de Valck, Marijke (2010) 'De rol van filmfestivals in het YouTube-tijdperk`,
Boekman, 83, 54-60.
Fischer, Alex (2009) 'Conceptualising Basic Film Festival Operation: An Open
System Paradigm`, unpublished PhD thesis, Gold Coast, QLD: Bond
University, School of Humanities.
Iordanova, Dina (2010) 'Mediating Diaspora: Film Festivals and "Imagined
Communities"`, in FFY2: Film Festivals and Imagined Communities, 12-44.
Iordanova, Dina with Ruby Cheung (eds) (2010) FFY2: Film Festivals and
Imagined Communities.
Loist, Skadi and Marijke de Valck (2010a) 'Thematic Bibliography on Film
Festival Research - Update: 2009`, in FFY2: Film Festivals and Imagined
Communities, 220-58.
(2010b) 'Film Festivals / Film Festival Research: Thematic, Annotated
Bibliography: Second Edition`, Medienwissenschaft / Hamburg: Berichte
und Papiere 91. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/
Medien//berichte/arbeiten/009108.html (9 August 2010).
1.1 b) Reports on and Responses to FiIm FestivaI Studies
Bosma, Peter and Melissa van der Schoor (eds) (2010) 'Report Talk Show
"The Digital IFFR: Feed, Trust or Kill the Tiger?" 39th International Film
Festival Rotterdam, Wednesday 3rd February 2010`. On-line. Available
HTTP: http://www.flmfestivalrotterdam.com/Assets/Uploads/Documents/
Digital20IFFR20Report.pdf (9 August 210).
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Film Festivals and East Asia
Ostrowska, Dorota (2010) 'Film Festival Workshop, St Andrew`s University,
Scotland, 4 April 2009`, Conference Report, Screen, 51, 1, 79-81.
1.1 c) Book Reviews
Den Hamer, Sandra (2010) 'Het flmfestival als lenig, veelkoppig monste` een
recensie van Film Festivals door Marijke de Valck, Boekman, 83, 106-107.
Fischer, Alex (2010) 'FFY2: Film Festivals and Imagined Communities`,
Screening the Past, On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/
screeningthepast/28/flm-festivals-and-imagined-communities.html (10
September 2010).
Fujiwara, Chris (2010) 'On Film Festivals, edited by Richard Porton (London:
Wallfower Press, 2009) Reviewed`, Undercurrent, 6. On-line. Available
HTTP: http://www.fpresci.org/undercurrent/issue0609/fujiwarafestivals.
htm (9 August 2010).
Guilln, Michael (2010) 'FFY2: Film Festivals and Imagined Communities`,
The Evening Class, 24 February. On-line. Available HTTP: http://
theeveningclass.blogspot.com/2010/02/film-festival-yearbook-2-film-
festivals.html (9 August 2010).
Khoo, Gaik Cheng (2009) 'Film Festivals: From European Geopolitics to Global
Cinephilia by Marijke de Valck`, Senses of Cinema, 51. On-line. Available
HTTP: http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/books/09/51/film-
festivals-de-valck.html (9 August 2010).
Kufahl, Volker (2007) 'Kai Reichel-Heldt: Filmfestivals in Deutschland. Zwischen
kulturpolitischen Idealen und wirtschaftlichen Realitten`, Rundbrief, 86.
On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.flmbuero-nds.de/index.php/rundbrief/
rundbrief-alte-ausgabe/jahrgang-2007/268-flmfestivals-in-deutschland.
html (9 August 2010).
Loist, Skadi (2008) 'Marijke de Valck (2007): Film Festivals. From European
Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Univ. Press
Kai Reichel-Heldt (2007): Filmfestivals in Deutschland. Zwischen
kulturpolitischen Idealen und wirtschaftspolitischen Realitten. Frankfurt
am Main u.a.: Lang`, Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft, 56, 3-4, 454-
5.
Nayman, Adam (2010) 'Dekalog 3: On Film Festivals, FFY1: The Festival
Circuit, FFY2: Film Festivals and Imagined Communities`, Cineaste, 35,
3. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.cineaste.com/articles/emdekalog-
3-on-flm-festivals-flm-festival-yearbook-1-the-festival-circuit-flm-festival-
yearbook-2-flm-festivals-and-imagined-communitiesem (9 August 2010).
Odorico, Stefano (2008) 'Review: Marijke De Valck (2007) Film Festivals:
From European Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia`, Film-Philosophy, 12,
12, 124-30. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.flm-philosophy.com/
index.php/f-p/article/view/61/46 (9 August 2010).
Stevens, Kirsten (2009) 'Dina Iordanova with Ragan Rhyne (eds), FFY1:
The Festival Circuit. St Andrews, Scotland: St Andrews Film
Studies, 2009`, Screening the Past, 26. On-line. Available HTTP:
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/26/flm-festival-yearbook-1.
html (9 August 2010).
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Thematic Bibliography on Film Festival Research: Update 2010
Stringer, Julian (2010) 'Marijke De Valck, Film Festivals: from European
Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press,
2007, 276pp`, Screen, 51, 1, 82-4.
Tanvir, Kuhu (2010) 'Book Review: Film Festival Yearbook 1`, Wide Screen, 1, 2.
On-line. Available HTTP: http://widescreenjournal.org/index.php/journal/
article/viewFile/55/60 (9 August 2010).
Woitschig, Britta Madeleine (2009) 'Filmfestivals und Politik: Marijke De Valck:
Film Festivals`, textem.de, 8 February. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.
textem.de/1732.0.html (9 August 2010).
1.3 GeneraI Academic Studies on FestivaIs (Not onIy FILMFestivaIs)
Ethis, Emmanuel, Jean-Louis Fabiani , Damien Malinas (2008) Avignon ou
le Public participant : Une sociologie du spectateur rinvent. Paris:
L`Entretemps editions.
Finkel, Rebecca (2009) 'A Picture of the Contemporary Combined Arts Festival
Landscape`, Cultural Trends, 18, 1, 3-21.
Hauptfeisch, Shulamith Lev-Aladgem, Jacqueline Martin, Willmar Sauter and
Henri Schoenmakers (eds) (2007) Festivalising! Theatrical Events, Politics
and Culture. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi.
Segal, Jrme and Giorgi, Liana (eds) (2009) European Arts Festivals from a
Historical Perspective: Main Report 2. Report completed in the framework
of the EURO-FESTIVAL project, 7 July. On-line. Available HTTP: http://
www.euro-festival.org/docs/Euro-FestivalD2.pdf (9 August 2010).
Twaalfhoven, Anita et al. (eds) (2010) Festivals, special issue of Boekman, 83.
2. Festival Time: Awards, Juries and Critics
de Valck, Marijke and Mimi Soeteman (2010) '"And the Winner is": Looking
Behind the Scenes of Film Festival Competitions`, International Journal of
Cultural Studies, 13, 3, 290-307.
3. Festival Space: Cities, Tourism and Publics
Allan, Blaine (1988) 'The Festival of Festivals in the Toronto of Torontos`, Queens
Quarterly, 95, 4, 813-23.
Ooi, Can-Seng and Jesper Strandgaard Pedersen (2009) 'City Branding and
Film Festivals: The Case of Copenhagen`. Creative Encounters Working
Papers 28. On-line. Available HTTP: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7939 (15
September 2010).
Quinn, Bernadette (2006) 'Problematising "Festival Tourism"`: Arts Festivals and
Sustainable Development in Ireland`, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 14,
3, 288-306.
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4. On the Red Carpet: Spectacle, Stars and Glamour
Czach, Liz (2010) 'Cinephilia, Stars, and Film Festivals`, Cinema Journal, 49, 2,
139-45.
5. Business Matters: Industries, Distribution and Markets
5.3 Service Guides for ProfessionaIs
One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (2009)
Setting Up a Human Rights Film Festival: A Handbook for Festival
Organizers Including Case Studies of Prominent Human Rights Events.
Tereza Porybn (ed.). Prague: People in Need. On-line. Available HTTP:
http://www.oneworld.cz/ow/2009/download/pdf/OW-cookbookweb.pdf (9
August 2010).
5.4 Studies / Reports ReIated to FiIm FestivaI Research
de Greef, Hugo and Kathrin Deventer (eds) (2008) Cahier de lAtelier: Arts
Festivals for the Sake of Art? Ghent: European Festivals Association.
Ngrier, Emmanuel and Marie-Threse Jourda (2006) Les nouveaux territoires
des festivals: Un tat des lieux pour la musique et la danse. Rapport pour
France Festivals - Synthse. Montpellier: Observatoire des politiques
publiques en Europe du Sud. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.efa-
aef.eu/newpublic/upload/efadoc/11/Negrier20synthese20fnale.pdf
(10 August 2010).
Noro, Netta, Dragan Klaic and Chris Maugham (eds) (2008) Urban Impact
of Artistic Festivals. Ghent: European Festivals Association. On-
line. Available HTTP: http://www.efa-aef.eu/newpublic/upload/efrp/
EFRPHelsinkiReport2008.pdf (10 August 2010).
5.5 FestivaIs as Organisations
This new subsection collects works that deal with organisational
aspects of flm festivals. These entries pick up on a blind spot when
it came to questions concerning the organisation and stakeholders
behind the events and analyse issues of institutional backgrounds,
funding, employment and industry patterns, mission statements and
agendas. These questions are fundamental for an analysis of how
festivals ft into the flm industry, creative industries and the circulation
of cinema. The specifc institutional background and founding history
gives insight into the workings and agendas of the respective festivals.
For instance, festivals founded by municipal and state institutions
to further political and diplomatic goals - here Cannes and Berlin
immediately come to mind - work according to a different agenda
and with very different employment and funding structures than, say,
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Thematic Bibliography on Film Festival Research: Update 2010
minority festivals founded by activists (be they queer or diasporic
flm festivals).
While cultural festivals have been discussed in Sociology,
management and tourism studies, pieces specifcally focusing on the
organisational aspect of flm festivals are still few. Kai Reichel-Heldt
(2007) looks at the differences in organisation and funding structures
for the Berlinale and smaller German flm festivals, and Ruby Cheung
(2010) charts funding models for themed flm festivals in the UK. Ragan
Rhyne (2009) analyses flm festivals as part of a cultural industry and
charts the stakeholders infuencing festival structures. Coming from the
management angle, Charles-Clemens Rling (2009) analyses festivals
as feld-confguring events.
Cheung, Ruby (2010) 'Funding Models of Themed Film Festivals`, in FFY2: Film
Festivals and Imagined Communities, 74-103.
Rling, Charles-Clemens and Jesper Strandgaard Pedersen (2010) 'Film Festival
Research from an Organizational Studies Perspective`, Scandinavian
Journal of Management, 26, 3, 318-23.
6. Trans/National Cinemas
Iordanova, Dina (2010) 'The Listings: Transnational Film Festivals`, in FFY2: Film
Festivals and Imagined Communities, 259-65.
Iordanova, Dina and Ruby Cheung (2010) 'Introduction`, in FFY2: Film Festivals
and Imagined Communities, 1-10.
Stafford, Roy (2010) 'Bite the Mango: Bradford`s Unique Film Festival`, in FFY2:
Film Festivals and Imagined Communities, 106-20.
6.2 Asia
Berry, Chris (2007) '10 Years Young: The Shanghai International Film
Festival`, Senses of Cinema, 45. On-line. Available HTTP: http://
www.sensesofcinema.com/2007/festival-reports/shanghai-iff-2007 (15
September 2010).
(2009) 'When is a Film Festival not a Festival? The 6
th
China Independent
Film Festival`, Senses of Cinema, 53. On-line. Available HTTP: http://
www.sensesofcinema.com/2009/festival-reports/when-is-a-flm-festival-
not-a-festival-the-6th-china-independent-flm-festival (15 September 2010).
Guilln, Michael (2010) 'Diasporas by the Bay: Two Asian Film Festivals in San
Francisco`, in FFY2: Film Festivals and Imagined Communities, 151-70.
Gndodu, Mustafa (2010) 'Film Festivals in the Diaspora: Impetus to the
Development of Kurdish Cinema?`, in FFY2: Film Festivals and Imagined
Communities, 188-97.
Hwang, Yun Mi (2010) 'Under the Migrant Lens: Migrant Worker Film Festival in
South Korea`, in FFY2: Film Festivals and Imagined Communities, 151-70.
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Rangan, Pooja (2010) 'Some Annotations on the Film Festival as an Emerging
Medium in India`, South Asian Popular Culture, 8, 2, 123-41.
Ratna, Lulu (2010) 'Indonesian Local Film Festivals`, Undercurrent, 6. On-line.
Available HTTP: http://www.fpresci.org/undercurrent/issue0609/ratna
indonesian.htm (9 August 2010).
6.3 Africa
Bisschoff, Lizelle (2009) 'Sub-Saharan African Cinema in the Context of
FESPACO: Close-Ups on Francophone West Africa and Anglophone South
Africa`, Forum for Modern Language Studies, 45, 4, 441-54.
Diawara, Manthia (2010) 'Ouagadougou`, in African Film: New Forms of Aesthetics
and Politics. Mnchen: Prestel, 18-70.
Dovey, Lindiwe (2010) 'Directors` Cut: In Defence of African Film Festivals outside
Africa`, in FFY2: Film Festivals and Imagined Communities, 45-73.
Santaolalla, Isabel and Stefan Simanowitz (2010) 'A Cinematic Refuge in the
Desert: The Sahara International Film Festival`, in FFY2: Film Festivals and
Imagined Communities, 136-50.
6.4 The MiddIe East
Farahmand, Azadeh (2010) 'Disentangling the International Festival Circuit: Genre
and Iranian Cinema`, in Rosalind Galt and Karl Schoonover (eds) Global Art
Cinema: New Theories and Histories. New York: Oxford University Press,
263-83.
6.5 South America
Ross, Miriam (2010) 'Film Festivals and the Ibero-American Sphere`, in FFY2:
Film Festivals and Imagined Communities, 171-87.
7. Programming
Burgess, Diane (2003) 'Charting the Course of the Pacifc New Wave`, CineAction,
61, 29-33.
Gerow, Aaron (2010) 'A Retrospective on Japanese Retrospectives`, Undercurrent,
6. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.fipresci.org/undercurrent/
issue0609/gerowretro.htm (9 August 2010).
Peyer, Siri (2010) 'Unreal Asia: Interview with Gridithiya Gaweewong and David
Teh`, OnCurating.org 3, 7-9. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.on-
curating.org/issue03.html (18 September 2010).
8. Reception: Audiences, Communities and Cinephiles
de Valck, Marijke (2010) 'Refections on the Recent Cinephilia Debates`, Cinema
Journal, 49, 2, 132-9.
Hadley, Richard, Paula Whitehouse and Mary Clarke (2006) Arts Festivals and
the Visitor Economy: Their Contribution and their Potential in the West
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Thematic Bibliography on Film Festival Research: Update 2010
Midlands Region. London: Arts Council England. On-line. Available HTTP:
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/media/uploads/documents/publications/
phprcsADv.pdf (10 August 2010).
Lee, Choong-Ki, Yong-Ki Lee and Bruce E. Wicks (2004) 'Segmentation of
Festival Motivation by Nationality and Satisfaction`, Tourism Management,
25, 1, 61-70.
Lee, Yong-Ki, Choong-Ki Lee, Seung-Kon Lee and Barry J. Babin (2008)
'Festivalscapes and Patrons` Emotions, Satisfaction, and Loyalty`, Journal
of Business Research, 61, 56-64.
Winkler, Ines, Anne Zink, Georg Schomerus, Manuela Richter-Werling,
Matthias C. Angermeyer, and Steff Riedel-Heller (2007) 'Das Filmfestival
AUSNAHME ZUSTAND: Eine Strategie gegen die Stigmatisierung
psychisch kranker Menschen?`, Psychiatrische Praxis, 35, 1, 33-9. On-line.
Available HTTP: www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/pdf/psychiat-praxis/
doi/10.1055/s-2007-970885.pdf. (9 August 2010).
9. Themed Film Festivals
9.1.1 LGBT / Queer FiIm FestivaIs
Hanhardt, Christina B. (2001) 'Founding New Beginnings: Passing the Torch
at MIX`, in Helen de Michiel (ed.) A Closer Look: Media Arts 2001. San
Francisco: National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC), 39-48.
Zielinski, Ger (2010) 'Ger Zielinski in Conversation with Stephen Kent Jusick,
Executive Director of MIX Festival of Queer Experimental Film and Video`,
Fuse, 16-22.
9.1.3 Jewish FiIm FestivaIs
Segal, Jrme (2010) 'Identities and Politics at the Vienna Jewish Film Festival`,
in FFY2: Film Festivals and Imagined Communities, 198-217.
Weintraub, Aviva (2006) 'Le New York Jewish Film Festival`, Les Cahiers du
Judaisme, 20, 58-61.
9.2 d) SociaI Concern FestivaIs
One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (2009) Setting
Up a Human Rights Film Festival: A Handbook for Festival Organizers. See
full entry under 5.3.
10. Publications Dedicated to Individual Film Festivals
Gehler, Fred (ed.) (1998) Dialog mit einem Mythos: sthetische und politische
Entwicklungen des Leipziger Dokumentarflm-Festivals in vier Jahrzehnten
Dialog with a Myth: Aesthetic and Political Developments in the Leipziger
Documentary Festival in Four Decades. Leipzig: Leipziger Univ.-Verl.
Hardy, Forsyth (1992) Slightly Mad and Full of Dangers: The Story of the Edinburgh
Film Festival. Edinburgh: Ramsay Head Press.
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Film Festivals and East Asia
Johnson, Brian D. (2000) Brave Films, Wild Nights: 25 Years of Festival Fever.
Toronto: Random House Canada.
Mouzaki, Despina (ed.) (2009) 1960-2009:
1960-2009: Fifty Years of Thessaloniki
Film Festival. Thessaloniki: Ianos.
Steinmetz, Rdiger and Hans-Jrg Stiehler (1997) Das Leipziger Dokflm-Festival
und sein Publikum: Eine Studie zu Image, Akzeptanz und Resonanz 1993-
1996 The Leipzig Dokflm Festival and Its Audience: A Study of Image,
Acceptance and Resonance 1993-1996. Leipzig: Leipziger Univ.-Verl.
Steinmetz, Rdiger, Hans-Jrg Stiehler and Johanna Wank (2007) Das Leipziger
Dokflm-Festival und sein Publikum II: Eine Nachfolge-Studie 2006 zu
Image, Akzeptanz und Resonanz The Leipzig Dokflm Festival and Its
Audience II: A Successor to the 2006 Study of Image, Acceptance and
Resonance. Leipzig: Leipziger Univ.-Verl.
11. On-line Resources
Film Festival Research Network, blog and resource website. On-line. Available
HTTP: http//www.flmfestivalresearch.org.
Holland, Chris. Film Festival Secrets, blog. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.
flmfestivalsecrets.com.
Levine, Sydney J. Sydney`s Buzz, festival and flm industry blog. On-line. Available
HTTP: http://sydneysbuzz.blogspot.com; http://blogs.indiewire.com/
sydneylevine.
Current Trends in FiIm FestivaI Studies
While the listing of new references above shows the strong output
of work in the festival studies feld, it does not cover all activities. As
publication cycles take some time, we want to conclude this update
with a glimpse of the very active feld as it presents itself in current
projects. Since the Film Festival Research Network (FFRN) was
established in the summer of 2008 at the annual conference of the
European Network for Cinema and Media Studies (NECS) in Budapest,
there have been several meetings of flm festival researchers in the
Northern Hemisphere, some of which have included encounters with
professionals like programmers and critics. These meetings at festivals,
workshops and conferences are an indication of the encouraging
collaborative climate of this young academic feld. Festival workshops
and conferences took place in: St Andrews, one international and
one regional event (initiated by Prof. Dina Iordanova); Vienna and
Bologna (hosted by the international Euro-Festival Project); Granada
(in collaboration with the Cines del Sur Film Festival); and Grenoble
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(organised by Prof. Charles-Clemens Rling). In addition, the FFRN
organised several panels at the annual conferences of the Society
for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) and the European Network
of Cinema and Media Studies (NECS) over the last two years.
From the discussions at these events several themes and issues
have arisen. Since many scholars are working on currently running
research projects - including many PhD projects - there are quite
a number of topics under examination. Systematisation of these
topics reveals the emergence of at least fve strands of discussion: 1)
considerations of flm festival research methodology and the application
of relevant and useful theories; 2) the term 'festival flm` and connected
questions of film festivals` influences in terms of film production,
distribution and circulation; 3) issues around festivals as organisations
and institutions; 4) transnational/regional/world cinema (Asian, African
flm); and 5) spatial confgurations.
2
Below we provide a brief report on
these fve main recurring issues in the debates. Unfortunately we are
not able to do justice to the whole range of papers presented and topics
discussed.
1) Film Festival Research Methodology and Theory
As flm festival studies constitute a relatively young feld dealing with a
very complex research object, the question of methodology and theory is
a challenging one. As with most research objects the choice of a useful
method or theory depends on the specifc research question. Thus far a
number of theories and methods have been applied to festival studies:
actor-network-theory, queer theory, critiques of post-colonialism, as well
as neoliberalism, concepts of the art world, cultural capital, creative
industries, urban development, heterotopic or liminal space, and many
more. Film festival studies are usually linked to Film and Media Studies,
but beneft from the (still rather few) interdisciplinary links to Ethnography
and Anthropology, History, Sociology, Business and Management
Studies, Political Science.
At the SCMS Conference 2010 a workshop on 'Film Festival
Research Methodology` took place, organised by the FFRN and chaired
by Skadi Loist and Ragan Rhyne. The workshop did not pin down any
fnal rules or results, but discussed issues which recur when researching
flm festivals such as: the diffculty in obtaining necessary material
and information due to a lack of archives or access to the festivals
themselves; limitations of research due to language barriers and limited
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funding (especially for PhD candidates); problems around the position of
the researcher as insider/outsider to the feld, and the advantages and
limitations this positioning brings; research ethics; qualitative audience
research that is missing in flm festival studies; the question of how to
actually evaluate a festival programme (from written form vs. knowledge
and access of the films); and the differences between current vs.
historical research, to name just a few.
An important aspect linked to the question of methodology is the
defnition of the research object itself, as discussed at the St Andrews
Film Festival Workshop in 2009. A-list festivals (such as Cannes,
Berlin, Venice) are often seen as model festivals, especially when
festivals` infuences on flm circulation and production are discussed.
Several scholars, however, have pointed out that in order to reach a
deeper understanding of the processes of festivals it is necessary to
also look at smaller festivals. Analyses of smaller festivals are often
categorised as work on specialised festivals (e.g. community, minority,
and genre festivals) and thus linked to discussions of communities,
identity, socio-political contexts. However, little work seems to have
come out focusing on the mechanics of smaller 'generalised`, i.e.
'international` festivals. While A-list festivals might be trend-setters
and taste-makers, especially for markets, the vast majority of festivals,
and the circuit and industry behind them, are constituted by smaller
festivals that are further separated into parallel circuits (cf. Iordanova
2009). Thus, it makes sense to research all kinds of festivals in
order to learn about their impacts upon and relations within the flm
(distribution) industry.
2) Festival Film & Inhuence of Festivals in Terms of Film Production,
Distribution and Circulation
The term 'festival flm` was frst proposed and discussed by Julian Stringer
in his PhD dissertation 'Regarding Film Festivals` (2003). Following his
discussion of flms produced for and shown at flm festivals (Stringer
2003: 11), several scholars are debating the aesthetics of festival flms.
This is closely connected to another recurring discussion regarding the
impact that flm festivals have on the production and circulation of flm at
various levels, e.g. via trade magazines or as producers of (festival) flms/
world cinema. During a seminar on flm festivals hosted by the University
of Granada in collaboration with the Cines del Sur Film Festival (2010),
Marijke de Valck and Dina Iordanova addressed the topic of festivals`
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infuence in keynote lectures on festival programming and the Dynamics
of World Cinema project. In addition, Liz Czach and Dorota Ostrowska
discussed these issues in different papers that were put into dialogue at
SCMS and NECS 2010.
Another related topic discussed was the creation and rhetoric of
new waves. Scholars such as Malte Hagener, Pavel Skopal, Su-Anne
Yeo, Christian Jungen and Toby Lee have discussed flm festivals
as launching pads for aesthetic as well as rhetorical new waves and
provided various examples, for instance the famous 'Oberhausener
Manifest` which enabled the German New Wave (Hagener) or the recent
strike of Greek flmmakers at the 50
th
anniversary of the Thessaloniki
Film Festival (Lee).
Apart from the impact of festivals on the circulation of flm beyond
the festival, the structuring of flm exhibition at festivals is still an issue that
needs to be analysed further. SCMS 2010 hosted a workshop on 'The Art
and Politics of Film Festival Programming` where festival scholars (who
all happened to be former festival programmers) Kay Armatage, Diane
Burgess, Liz Czach, and B. Ruby Rich discussed issues concerning
programming, while festival researchers Marijke de Valck, Skadi Loist
and Roya Rastegar (also partially involved in programming) discussed
similar issues at NECS 2009.
3) Film Festivals as Organisations and Institutions
As has been mentioned in the annotation for the new bibliography
category '5.5 Festivals as Organisations`, this is a topic which has taken
a frm hold in flm festival studies (cf. Rhyne 2009, Rling 2009, Fischer
2010). Within the context of the work being done by Charles-Clemens
Rling in organisation and management theory at the cole Management,
Grenoble, a conference took place on the theme of 'Cultural Production
in a Global Context: The Worldwide Film Industries`. One panel was
specifcally dedicated to issues of flm festivals, discussing the role flm
festivals play in, for example, national identity formation (Jrme Segal),
or as market-makers (Ann Vogel). The NECS Conference 2010 also
included presentations on festival organisation, such as dealing with
the organisational issues of queer flm festivals (Skadi Loist), and the
building of a network of documentary flm festivals in Eastern Europe
(Aida Vallejo Vallejo).
This strand of research considers questions of professionalisation,
the development of a new festival sector that is (partially involuntarily)
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part of the creative industries, organisation structures, funding and labour
conditions. While big A-list festivals are seen as places where big deals
are struck, the majority of festivals function very differently. While value
is generated at festivals (through awards and press), festivals are not
proft-making entities. Smaller festivals especially are infuenced by the
(shortage of) available funding and need to navigate the feld between
tight public arts funding and flm industry interests. Where festivals used
to be the prestigious entry into theatrical releases, the market for flm
exhibition is currently shifting: sales agents aim to retrieve money directly
from the festivals themselves by imposing screening fees, an approach
that results in a newly emergent occupation: festival agents. The analysis
of these shifting mechanisms of the festival circuit has only just begun
and will need more consideration.
4) Festivals as Trans/National Space
As already mentioned regarding the bibliography update (rubric 6),
more work on festivals as trans/national spaces and the relationship
between flm festivals and the circulation of national/world cinema is
about to emerge. In addition to the work published in this volume on Film
Festivals and East Asia and in the previous volume on Film Festivals
and Imagined Communities, several studies that focus on Asian, Middle
Eastern or African flm and flm festivals are underway. Issues being
raised include: the creation of world cinema auteurs through the festival
circuit, one example being Wong Kar-wai (as researched by Cindy
Chan; see also Davis and Yeh 2008); the acknowledgement or neglect
of Chinese independent flm (Ma Ran); the circulation of Iranian flm
through the Western festival circuit (James Udden); and the production
and circulation of African flm, especially through African flm festivals
(Lindiwe Dovey, David Slocum).
5) Spatial Conhgurations
The spatial dimensions of festivals have been discussed early on in
the study of flm festivals (cf. Elsaesser 2005, Harbord 2002, Stringer
2001). Recently new dimensions of the spatial confgurations, i.e. the
spatial impact of or on flm festivals are being addressed. This includes
discussion of the impact an event has on the city or region, its identity,
industry or city development as well as the construction of space and
its utilisation by a festival. Foucault`s concept of heterotopic space has
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Thematic Bibliography on Film Festival Research: Update 2010
been deployed by some scholars in this respect in various analyses of
festivals (e.g. by Ger Zielinski for queer flm festivals, by Lindiwe Dovey
for African flm festivals in Spain, and by Toby Lee for the Thessaloniki
Film Festival).
In ConcIusion
If this update of the Thematic Annotated Bibliography on Film Festival
Research attests to anything, we feel it is to the dynamics of this
burgeoning feld. New entries appear monthly and new insights are being
hatched at meetings and conferences even as this volume goes to press.
For this reason, the FFRN will add a new service to its yearly updated
bibliography: a website that is more equipped to present new information
as it becomes available. We invite everybody interested in flm festival
research to contribute to the ongoing discussion and exchange at
www.flmfestivalresearch.org.
Works Cited
Davis, Darrell William and Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh (2008) East Asian Screen
Industries. London: BFI.
Elsaesser, Thomas (2005) 'Film Festival Networks: The New Topographies of
Cinema in Europe`, in European Cinema: Face to Face with Hollywood.
Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 82-107.
Harbord, Janet (2002) 'Film Festivals: Media Events and the Spaces of Flow`, in
Film Cultures. London: Sage, 59-75.
Iordanova, Dina (2009) 'The Film Festival Circuit`, in FFY1: The Festival Circuit,
23-39.
Iordanova, Dina, and Ruby Cheung (2010) 'Introduction`, in FFY2: Film Festivals
and Imagined Communities, 1-10.
Lee, Choong-Ki, Yong-Ki Lee, and Bruce E. Wicks (2004) 'Segmentation of
Festival Motivation by Nationality and Satisfaction`, Tourism Management,
25, 1, 61-70.
Lee, Yong-Ki, Choong-Ki Lee, Seung-Kon Lee and Barry J. Babin (2008)
'Festivalscapes and Patrons` Emotions, Satisfaction, and Loyalty`, Journal
of Business Research, 61, 56-64.
Loist, Skadi, and Marijke de Valck (2010a) 'Thematic Bibliography on Film
Festival Research - Update: 2009`, in FFY2: Film Festivals and Imagined
Communities, 220-58.
(2010b) 'Film Festivals / Film Festival Research: Thematic, Annotated
Bibliography: Second Edition`, Medienwissenschaft / Hamburg: Berichte
und Papiere, 91. On-line. Available HTTP: http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/
Medien//berichte/arbeiten/009108.html (19 May 2010).
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Reichel-Heldt, Kai (2007) Filmfestivals in Deutschland: Zwischen kulturpolitischen
Idealen und wirtschaftspolitischen Realitten. Frankfurt am Main: Lang.
Rhyne, Ragan (2009) 'Film Festival Circuits and Stakeholders`, in FFY1: The
Festival Circuit, 9-39.
Rling, Charles-Clemens (2009) 'Festivals as Field-Confguring Events: The
Annecy International Animated Film Festival and Market`, in FFY1: The
Festival Circuit, 49-66.
Stringer, Julian (2001) 'Global Cities and International Film Festival Economy`,
in Mark Shiel and Tony Fitzmaurice (eds) Cinema and the City: Film and
Urban Societies in a Global Context. Oxford: Blackwell, 134-44.
(2003) 'Regarding Film Festivals`, unpublished PhD thesis, University of
Indiana.
Notes
1 We wish to thank Diane Burgess, Ruby Cheung, Alex Fischer, Dina
Iordanova, Athena Kartalou and David Slocum for their helpful suggestions
and additions to this update.
2 For feedback regarding discussions that took place at the SCMS and
NECS conferences we wish to thank Toby Lee, Dorota Ostrowska and Ger
Zielinski.