Film Festival Cultures

This subject is a study of the development of international film festival cultures and their historical and contemporary role in art house and national cinemas. Through an examination of the history and the basic operations of selected film festivals (such as Cannes, Berlin, Sundance and Melbourne), the changing nature of film festival cultures will be considered. Students will further enhance their knowledge of film festivals either by devising and mounting a film festival as a group project, or attending and reporting on an existing film festival. The popularisation of film festivals and their role in international event and celebrity culture will be assessed in relation to the increasingly limited and commercialised world of art, experimental and avant-garde cinema. The film festival is thus considered as a key site of international film culture. As a place where all aspects of film culture (art, economic, entertainment) come together, the festival is demonstrated as case study in the business of contemporary filmmaking, its past and its future.