[Filmfestivalresearch] 3rd Film Festivals Symposium

[Hakan Erkılıç]

Call for Papers

Dear List members,



*“FIlm festIvals, funds and FIlm Industry” *

3rd Film Festivals Symposium, April 7-8-9, 2023

(42nd ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL, April 7 - 17, 2023)

Istanbul, Turkey



As part of the project "*Film Festivals in Turkey: Structure, Economy,
Organization, Audience Profile (The case of Antalya, Adana, Istanbul,
Ankara Film Festivals)*" no. TUBITAK 1001 121K234, the 3rd Film Festivals
Symposium, organized by *screenfest:* The Journal of Film Festival Studies,
will be held in cooperation with the *Istanbul Film Festival* on April
7-8-9, 2023 within and during the Istanbul Film Festival. The Symposium
Organization Committee would like to thank the İstanbul Film Festival for
their cooperation and support. The Symposium aims to provide an academic
debating platform that embraces all aspects of film festivals.  We
cordially invite you to the Film Festival Symposium.



Abstract and Panel Proposal Deadline: 15 February 2023



CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Marijke de Valck, Utrecht University/Netherlands

Skadi Loist, Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf/Germany

Tamara L. Falicov, University of Missouri-Kansas City/USA

Ana Vinuela, Sorbonne Nouvelle University/France

CONFIRMED GUEST FILM FUND DIRECTOR (Online)

Jeske van der Slikke,/Hubert Bals Fund-International Film Festival
Rotterdam/Netherlands



THEME

Film festivals, funds and film industry

In the film industry, film festivals and funds play a significant role,
especially for post-1990s independent cinema/arthouse films, in terms of
both their increasing influence on the circulation of films across national
borders and production activities (Wong, 2011). Given the fact that
arthouse films/independent cinema generate limited box office revenues and
face distribution problems festivals and their funding become increasingly
important. This development has led to the emergence of a symbiotic
relationship between films and festivals, with festivals occupying an
important position in the global arthouse film economy (Valck, 2020). Funds
serve a crucial function in the festival ecosystem in terms of creating a
network for co-productions (Vinuela, 2018) in addition to production
support.  In this context, particularly how arthouse films will be produced
and distributed constitutes the main debate. It is worth discussing whether
international film festivals and supranational funds as talent finders,
play an increasingly active role as producers (Ostrowska, 2010; Loist,
2011; Valck, 2017) in the shaping and funding of independent
cinema/arthouse film (Falicov, 2010; 2017; Chan, 2011; Ross, 2011; Vallejo,
2020) while at the same time enabling films to penetrate the global circuit
(Iordanova, 2009). To this end, we seek answers to the following questions
at the intersection of film festival studies and media industry studies:

Which (new) research methods do we need in the field of media industry
studies? What research gaps need to be filled in studies on festivals and
funds? What are the dominant approaches in the current debate? How do
festivals and funds shape world cinema? How can we take the field of and
the debates around film festival studies and media industry research
further? Within the framework of these questions, the topics to be
addressed in this symposium include but are not limited to the following:

- network and circuit of national/regional/supranational funds,

- film festivals, funds and global cinema culture,

- state funds in the context of hegemony or cultural diplomacy,

- funds as soft power of countries in hegemonic ascendancy,

- supranational funds' quest for authenticity and artistic quality,

- critique on funds’ role in imposing Western aesthetic standards,

- constructing national cinema by festivals’ film selection policies and
supranational funds,

- supranational funds, national specificity and the search for new
solutions,

- supranational funds' role in promoting diverse cinema cultures and
transnational cinema,

- external factors on the decision-making processes of the funds,

- data-driven research on industry practices in terms of funding,

- funds' contribution to theatrical distribution of arthouse films,

- flexible/labor intensive working conditions in the context of
sustainability of festivals and funds,

In this regard, we believe that there is a need for further collaboration
between academics, industry professionals and executives. How can
professionals, academics and filmmakers cooperate to achieve increased
transparency on funding? In this framework, the criteria for selection and
evaluation of funds (along decolonialized standards, ecological thresholds
or detailed mission statements that may be fund-specific, etc.) can be put
up for discussion.

In addition to focusing on the main theme of "Film Festivals, Funds and
Film Industry", the 3rd Film Festivals Symposium is also open to papers
based on both empirical and theoretical approaches with an
interdisciplinary reading on the following topics:

- the history and historiography of film festivals,

- methodology in the studies on film festivals,

- jury work and awards,

- programming, curating,

- film festivals - national cinema and cinema canon,

- film festivals' audience/cinephile,

- funding of film festivals,

- film policy and film festivals,

- global festival circuit and film market

- distribution and circulation in relation to film festivals

- approach to short films in festivals (fiction, documentary, animation,
experimental),

- thematic festivals,

- transnational film festivals,

- online film festivals,

- the COVID-19 pandemic and film festivals.

The Symposium welcomes academics, festival staff, film critics and film
industry professionals. The Symposium will be held in Turkish and English.
The Symposium will be an in-person event taking place during the 42nd
Istanbul Film Festival. It may, however, be held online depending on the
course of the pandemic. We will share further information on this issue in
the upcoming process.

Participants are required to cover their own travel and accommodation
expenses. A list of local hotels as well as information regarding
additional events will be posted on the symposium’s website.

For more information about the Symposium, please visit at
http://www.screenfest.org/istanbul/

Feel free to reach out to us in case you have any questions info
screenfest at gmail.com

-- 
Doç. Hakan Erkılıç
Mersin Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi
Radyo Televizyon ve Sinema Bölümü
Çiftlikköy Kampüsü Mersin
ofis:03243610001/15520
mobil:05336501886

*Mersin University Communication Faculty*

*Department of Radio Film and TV *

*Çiftlikköy Campus Mersin/Turkey*
*office: +90 3243610001/15520*
*mobile:+90 5336501886*