Conflict, Cuts And Identity Crises: How Film Festivals Are Navigating Choppy Waters
22.05.2024 - 07:11
/ deadline.com
Rarely in recent decades has the festival circuit been as disrupted as it has in the past 12 months. A confluence of local and global issues — from war to inflation, political unrest to societal shifts — have created a perfect storm for many of these vital cultural platforms, leading to funding shortfalls, staff losses, major PR headaches and in some cases cancellation. Amid shifts in consumer and industry behavior, there are also broader existential questions being asked about the role and potency of festivals.
Since last year’s Cannes, we’ve seen flashpoints or upheaval at Sundance, Berlin, Hot Docs, Thessaloniki, IDFA, El Gouna, Cairo, Busan, Odessa and others. Questions have been hanging over the likes of Venice and Toronto but both have made positive announcements in recent weeks: the former by re-upping Alberto Barbera, the latter by confirming a cash injection to bolster its market.
During this year’s turbulent Berlin Film Festival, Martin Scorsese voiced the concerns of many in the independent film sector: “Film Festivals are essential, because they offer audiences a way of looking at movies that has nothing to do with box office or mass popularity and everything to do with the cinema as an art form. I find that too many of them have been put in a difficult position, where they have to justify their existences in one way or another.”
Below, we explore how and why some film international and North American festivals have found themselves in the cross-hairs.
This year’s Berlin Film Festival encapsulated a number of the challenges facing the sector. Amid funding difficulties, the state-backed event was bookended by damaging political headaches, first when activist staff and some industry were irked by organizers