Contemporary Film Culture

Résumé du document

This essay concerned an analysis of the history and contemporary iterations of Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) along the axes of politics, economics and culture.

Extraits

[...] Peranson, in his analysis of festival stakeholders, lays out these points of difference as they relate to the festival's funding, programme and attendance. `Business festivals', which he places in opposition to `audience festivals', in general: are heavily subsidised by corporate sponsorship; are reliant on competitions and premieres for this revenue; contain a significant market/business presence; and are constantly expanding (2009). While Berlinale fits all these categories, this last point is particularly pertinent - as the data from the festival (and the prominence of this data in the festival's own reporting) indicates, the festival's continued growth, particularly in the EFM, is key to the investment of its stakeholders and its projected image as an important event for global film markets. [...]

[...] What seems like an inherent contradiction and dysfunction, however, is actually a key reason for this funding model's success and adoption in the neoliberal era, as Ragan Rhyne explains: `We must recognise [these conflicts] as functions of a new kind of cultural sector that relies on these debates in order to maintain its position in relation to global flows of capital.' (2014:145) Rather than a collaborative effort between two groups toward a singular purpose she argues that this model was chosen `precisely because of its effectiveness in managing conflicting stakeholder agendas' (ibid. 2014). To some extent, it appears that when festivals took on this model of funding, they also took on a responsibility to their corporate stakeholders to attempt to mask the contradictions of global capital, whether consciously or as a reflexive way of sublimating or resolving conflicts within its own incoherent structure. [...]

[...] (2020) "Film Festivals And Counter‐Hegemony Radical Screening Practices In The Neoliberal City". Edge Hill University. Mestman, Mariano (2018) "Tracing the winding road of The Hour of the Furnaces in the First World" edited by Campo, Javier, and Pérez-Blanco, Humberto. A Trail Of Fire For Political Cinema. 2nd ed., Intellect Ltd Peranson, Mark (2009) "Two Models for Film Festivals" edited by Porton, Richard. On Film Festivals. Wallflower. [...]

[...] The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/berlin-rent-freeze-cap-five-year-housing-gentrification-germany-a8964436.html. Accessed 19 Feb 2020. " . Und Osteuropäisch". Obdachlos In Berlin http://obdachlosinberlin.de/osteuropaeisch/. Accessed 28 Feb 2020. Zeit, Die. [...]

[...] This is just one aspect in which film festivals continue to promote national political and economic interests on the world stage. As an example, take the winner of this year's Berlinale `Golden Bear' - the most prestigious prize awarded by the festival. By choosing director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose work is banned in Iran and whose status as a political prisoner meant he was unable to attend the ceremony, the Berlinale signalled both its disdain for and ability to circumvent that country's attempted censorship. [...]