Film and Video Festivals in South America
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Film and Video Festivals in South America: A Contemporary Analysis of Flourishing Cultural Phenomena A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Fine Arts of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Julia C. Nogueira March 2009 © 2009 Julia C. Nogueira. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled Film and Video Festivals in South America: A Contemporary Analysis of Flourishing Cultural Phenomena by JULIA C. NOGUEIRA has been approved for the School of Film and the College of Fine Arts by Ruth Bradley Associate Professor of Film Charles A. McWeeny Dean, College of Fine Arts 3 ABSTRACT NOGUEIRA, JULIA C., M.A., March 2009, Film Scholarship Film and Video Festivals in South America: A Contemporary Analysis of Flourishing Cultural Phenomena (131 pp.) Director ofThesis: Ruth Bradley This research mapped 175 audiovisual festivals that took place in South America in 2008 and analyzed them regarding the types of events they are, the place and time of the year they take place, what kind of films/videos they exhibit and the number of years that they have been happening. The research also compared the data with the population of each country, their GDP and number of internet users. The research also performed case studies of successful events and events that have been discontinued and compared their analysis in order to identify reasons and elements that can turn an audiovisual festival into a success or a failure. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Ruth Bradley Associate Professor of Film 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A special thank you to my parents Ralfe and Diva, my sister Paula, my beloved Gustavo and my family, for supporting me in this academic journey. To my thesis advisor Dr. Ruth Bradley, for believing in me, supporting and guiding me during this research. To my committee members Dr. Jack Wright and Dr. Jenny Nelson. To the organizers of all film and video festivals in South America who kindly collaborated to this research. To my good friends from Brazil, the United States, and other different parts of the world who gave me important advices and were there for me when I needed help and support. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... 4 List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... 7 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... 8 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 9 1.1. Definitions of Audiovisual Festivals ..................................................................... 11 1.2. The Origins of Audiovisual Festivals .................................................................... 14 1.3. The Importance of Audiovisual Festivals .............................................................. 15 1.4. The Interest Groups that Take Part in Audiovisual Festivals ................................ 18 2. Mapping Audiovisual Festivals in South America ....................................................... 21 2.1. Findings of Mapping .............................................................................................. 24 2.1.1. Geographical Distribution of South American Audiovisual Festivals ........... 25 2.1.2. South American Audiovisual Festival Circuit’s Calendar .............................. 29 2.1.3. Continuity of Festivals .................................................................................... 32 2.1.4. Festivals’ Profile ............................................................................................. 33 2.1.4.1. Competitive and Non-Competitive Festivals ........................................... 33 2.1.4.2. Film’s and Video’s Duration ................................................................... 34 2.1.4.3. National and International Festival .......................................................... 35 2.1.4.4. Large Variety of Themes/ Genres ............................................................ 36 2.2. South American Audiovisual Festival Circuit Data Analysis ............................... 40 6 2.2.1. Number of Festivals per Country X Population ......................................... 41 2.2.2. Number of Festivals per Country X Economic Situation ............................ 44 2.2.3. Number of Festivals per Country X Number of Internet Users .................. 46 3. Case Studies .................................................................................................................. 48 3.1. Successful Festivals ............................................................................................... 49 3.1.1. Cartagena International Film Festival – Colombia ....................................... 49 3.1.2. Caracas Students Short Film Festival (VIART) – Venezuela ......................... 59 3.2. Discontinued Festivals ........................................................................................... 65 3.2.1. Festival Universitario de Cine y Video de Concepción (FUCIVIC) – Chile .. 66 3.2.2. Festival de Cortometrajes y Documentales de Aconcágua – Chile ................ 75 4. Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 82 References ......................................................................................................................... 90 APPENDIX 1: Rules for the 2008 Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata – Argentina........................................................................................................................... 95 APPENDIX 2: Questionnaire Sent to Festivals ................................................................ 98 APPENDIX 3: List of Festivals by Country ................................................................... 101 APPENDIX 4: List of Festivals per Number of Years of Existence .............................. 106 APPENDIX 5: Festivals listed by Competitive and Non-Competitive Events .............. 111 APPENDIX 6: Festivals listed by films’ and video’s Duration ..................................... 116 APPENDIX 7: Festivals listed by National and International Events ............................ 121 APPENDIX 8: Festivals listed by Themes/Genres ......................................................... 126 7 LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Countries’ Individual Participation in Festival Circuit .................................... 26 Table 2: Festivals’ Geographical Distribution within South American Countries ........ 28 Table 3: Distribution of Audiovisual Festivals per Month in South America in 2008 .. 30 Table 4: Festivals’ Continuity ....................................................................................... 33 Table 5: Population versus Number of Festivals in South America ............................. 42 Table 6: Population per Festival ................................................................................... 43 Table 7: Relation between GDP and Number of Festivals per Country ....................... 44 Table 8: Relation between Number of Festivals and Internet Users ............................. 47 8 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Number of Festivals per Country .................................................................. 26 Figure 2: Distribution of South America Audiovisual Festivals per Month in 2008 ..... 30 Figure 3: Competitive / Non-competitive Audiovisual Festivals in South America .... 34 Figure 4: Duration of Films and Videos in Audiovisual Festivals in South America ... 35 Figure 5: National / International Audiovisual Festivals in South America ................. 36 Figure 6: Themes and Genres of Audiovisual Festivals in South America ................... 37 Figure 7: Population versus Number of Festivals in South America ............................. 42 Figure 8: Relation between GDP and Number of Festivals per Country ..................... 45 Figure 9: Relation between Number of Festivals and Internet Users ............................ 47 9 1. INTRODUCTION Nowadays, at least a thousand audiovisual festivals1 take place around the world. The history goes back to 1932 when the first film festival was organized in Venice (History of the Venice Biennale, 2007). In the following years, other festivals were created in cities such as Moscow (1935), Cannes (1946), Edinburgh (1947), and Berlin (1951). But, according to Julian Stringer, Film Studies Associate Professor at the School of American & Canadian Studies, for many years the festival circuit still had less than a dozen events. However, after the 1980s, other cities and towns found it necessary to have their own events, so the number of film festivals increased to over 500 (Stringer, 2001). With new events being created every month, mainly in the United States (Gore, 2001), the current exact total number of festivals worldwide has not been officially calculated. Because research in specialized books and websites indicates the nonexistence of assembled information about South American audiovisual festivals, this study will specifically research events that take place in the region2. A Brazilian study