Film Festivals 07-11-2007 15:19 Pagina 1

* pb omslag Film Festivals 07-11-2007 15:19 Pagina 1 Film festivals are hugely popular events that attract lovers of cinema worldwide, but they are also a uniquely revealing index of globalization in the realm of culture MARIJKE DE VALK FILM FESTIVALS and the arts. Focusing on the world’s most famous festivals – Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Rotterdam – Film FILM FILM Festivals: From European Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia tells the story of a phenomenon that began in the midst CULTURE CULTURE of geopolitical disputes in war-torn Europe. De Valck IN TRANSITION IN TRANSITION shows how festivals in Europe turned political divisions and national rivalry into advantages, eventually expanding into a successful global network. Taking into account the multilateral influences of major actors – such as Holly- wood, the avant-garde as well as political, regional and tourist agendas – the book proposes a comprehensively new understanding of film festivals. Issues addressed range from programming and festival prizes to national legimation and city marketing, from value addition and cinephilia to glamour and film markets. While acknow- ledging the achievements of the festival network, the book also asks questions about the future: does success depend on the promotion of filmmakers as “auteurs” and the regular discovery of “new waves,” or are festivals increasingly issue- and personality- driven? Film Festivals is a must-read for everyone interested in the state of the world’s film cultures, as they sustain themselves by a dynamic mix of cultural value, aesthetic innovation and socio-political relevance. Marijke de Valck is Lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam. FilmFilm FestivalsFestivals from european geopolitics to global cinephilia 9 789053 561928 MARIJKE DE VALCK Amsterdam University Press AmsterdamAmsterdam UniversityUniversity PressPress WWW.AUP.NL Film Festivals Film Festivals From European Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia Marijke de Valck Front cover illustration: Berlin Film Festival / Première The Good Ger- man, Cate Blanchett Cover design: Kok Korpershoek, Amsterdam Lay-out: japes, Amsterdam isbn (paperback) isbn (hardcover) nur © Marijke de Valck / Amsterdam University Press, All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. For Jeroen Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Film Festivals as Sites of Passage European Roots Film Festivals and Cultural Theory Three Historical Phases Film Festivals as New Object of Historical Research Film Festivals and the Pre-war Avant-garde Film Festivals and the Post-war Avant-garde Network Theory Film Festivals and Actor-Network Theory Sites of Passage Understanding Festival Space Case Studies 1 Berlin and the Spatial Reconfiguration of Festivals From European Showcases to International Film Festival Circuit Geopolitical Agendas German Film Industry in Crisis The Western Cultural Showcase in the East The Olympics of Film Sovereign Nations, Diplomatic Disputes European Cinemas and Hollywood The Call for Independent Festivals Upheaval in Berlin The Forum: Between Barricades and Ivory Tower Embedded Festivals Return of the National The Local and the Global City Marketing Spatial Movements and Accreditation Conclusions 8 Film Festivals 2Cannesandthe“Alternative” Cinema Network Bridging the Gap between Cultural Criteria and Business Demands Film Wars between Hollywood and Europe Hollywood Rising Crisis in European Film Industries Film Festivals as an Alternative to Distribution Transformations in the World Cinema Market Video and Porn The New Independents Miramax The Festival Network The Question of Distribution In the Business of Cultural Prestige Facilitating the Industries Picking up on Trends in Cannes Le Marché du Cinéma Glitter and Glamour Media Event Conclusion 3 VeniceandtheValue-AddingProcess The Role of Mediation, Segregation and Agenda Setting The Value-Adding Process Tripartite Selection Beyond the High/Low Distinction The Film Festival Event Hybridized Performativity A Travelling Sequence of Events The Spatial Axis The Mostra and the Cultural Memory of Space Spatial Segregation through Accreditation The Temporal Axis The Winner: The Return The Loser: Buongiorno, Notte The Favorite: Lost in Translation The Scandal: Twentynine Palms Agenda Setting and Media Exposure Conclusion Table of Contents 9 4 Rotterdam and the Rise of Thematic Festivals From Cinephile Initiatives to Popular Events Thematic Festivals The Age of Programmers Rotterdam and Film International Programming, Passion and Politics The Dogma of Discovery and Politics of Participation Thematic Festivals in the Festival Circuit Cinephilia and the New Festival Audiences Video, Digitization and the Rise of Contemporary Cinephilia Memory and the Market Debating the New Festival Audiences in Rotterdam The Age of Festival Directors The Experience Economy Fundraising, Sponsoring and the City Conclusion Conclusion Successful or Safe? The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Film Festival Network The Larger Network Successful or Safe? Adding Value and Agenda Setting Implications and Limitations Notes Bibliography Index of Names Index of Film Titles Index of Subjects Acknowledgements There are many individuals and institutions that have been helpful in the process of writing this book. That process began in when I started researching film festivals at the University of Amsterdam. I am in particular grateful to my promoter Thomas Elsaesser whose feedback and support proved to be a con- stant source of inspiration. I also want to thank all the other members of the Cinema Europe research group (Drehli, Floris, Gerwin, Malte, Melis, Ria, Senta, Tarja, Ward and Yesim); our discussions, meetings and activities have made the world of difference to me. At the University of Amsterdam, I thank the Depart- ment of Media Studies and the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis for the institutional support, my colleagues for intellectual challenges and peer support, and last but not least my “festival” students, whose enthusiasm helped me to keep asking new questions after the conclusion of my PhD was written. Various film festivals and organisations have been most cooperative in my research by providing me accreditation and/or access. I thank the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Europe- an Festival on Wheels, the Arab Film Festival Rotterdam, het Joods Film Festival Amsterdam, Film by the Sea, the Berlinale, the Istanbul International Film Festi- val, the Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografico, the Thessaloniki Inter- national Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, the Locarno International Film Festival, Amnesty International Film Festival Amsterdam, and the Binger Film Institute. My special appreciation goes to those who helped me with comments, close reading and/or translations: Peter Bosma, Peter van Bueren, Liz Czach, Dina Iordanova, Christian Jungen, Malte Hagener, Tarja Laine, Skadi Lost, Sylvia Mieszkowski, Floris Paalman, Bart Plantenga, Ward Rennen, Itay Sapir, Dor- othee Verdaasdonk, Guido Vitello and Frank van Vree. I thank Bart Planten- gaard and Saskia Lourens for the copy-editing and Amsterdam University Press, in particular Jaap Wagenaar, for making the transition from manuscript to publication run so smoothly. Marijke de Valck Amsterdam, November Visitors select their program at the International Film Festival Rotterdam © 2006, ANP, Robin Utrecht “… Film festivals are annual highlights for many film lovers”,p.14 Introduction – Film Festivals as Sites of Passage I was not raised in a cinephile environment, but I shared an interest in film and television with my sister from an early age. My parents keep a series of slides in the family collection that is a wonderfully accurate representation of the comfor- table viewing pleasures of our suburban childhood. It shows my mother, my sister and I cuddled up on the couch in the living room. We were aged seven and nine respectively and completely immersed in The Sound of Music (USA: Robert Wise, ). Our cheeks are flushed with excitement, eyes wide open from a mix of fascination and fatigue. We must have repeated this ritual over forty times, knowing the lyrics by heart and having developed a habit of fast- forwarding through the parts we, at the time, considered boring. The love for cinema did not diminish, however, at the end of our childhoods. On the con- trary, as adolescents we would often persuade our father on weekends to drive us to the out-of-the-way video store. We preferred to watch the tapes twice; within the family setting at night and, again, just the two of us the next morn- ing, before returning them to the store. Our shared interest evolved from brows- ing the video –store’s popular entertainment shelves to a passion for discover- ing “other cinemas,” in the mid-s. We were the first among our family and circle of friends to visit art houses and the “better” cinemas. Gus van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho (USA: ) and Jane Campion’s The Piano (Australia/ New Zealand/France: ) come to mind as particularly strong revelations during that period, which left us yearning for more.

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