<font color="maroon">by Larry Richman </font>
<font color="gray" size="1">December 8, 2007 2:13 PM</font>
My life revolves around film festivals, for the most part. One only needs to glance at this blog to see that. So, naturally, a significant amount of my time is spent discussing them -- in person, on the phone, via email. I'm often asked what they are really for, which ones matter the most, what are the motivations behind booking certain types of films, why they have corporate sponsorships, whether or not they compete with each other, whether or not they have hidden agendas, etc. It's a fascinating topic for discussion and I often wish all the answers were gathered in one place. Well, to the extent that an analysis in Variety counts as an authoritative source, now they are.
The 4th Annual International Film Festival Summit, a confab of festival heads and programmers, took place in Las Vegas last week to discuss the state of the festival world, the very same one this reporter lives in. <a href="http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=1061&articleid=VR1117977355&cs=1" target="_blank">Variety's Michael Jones</a> provides an in-depth look at the issues and insight into what film festivals are really all about.
"Competition among film fests has always been sharp, but it's become cutthroat as fests proliferate, with literally thousands of them vying for world premieres, stars and, crucially, sponsors," Jones writes. "If the films are good, it's almost a bonus."
Perhaps most surprising to many will be the realization that corporate sponsorships may play the greatest role of all in determining the look of a festival. It costs money to make it happen, often millions, and box office certainly doesn't cover it. Enter the sponsors who, of course, have their own agenda. They want big names -- stars -- who will bring out the press and increase public interest. This creates increased competition among the festivals which, ultimately, has little to do with the films themselves. The rationale behind film selection changes as creative decisions are watered down by business ones. Sound familiar? Are film festivals going the way of movies, TV, radio, publishing -- the entertainment industry -- as a whole? Does the bottom line now trump art in what was once considered the last bastion of quality in the film world?
<a href="http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=1061&articleid=VR1117977355&cs=1" target="_blank">The Variety piece</a> focuses on many of the major festivals -- Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Tribeca -- and dares to open a window into what really goes on in programmers' offices. It's a window I've tried to open for quite some time, and now, thankfully, someone has done it.
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