“At this year’s zurich Summit, the Industry Sidebar of the Zurich Film Festival, Festival Leaders and Industry Insiders Wresters Wrestles with The Increasingly Complex Role Film Festivals Plativals PLAYAl Political FlashPoints on and Off the Screen to the Ending Importance of Red Carpets and Wheth Standing Ovations Still Matter. Cameron”, – WRITE: www.hollywoodReporter.com
Cameron Bailey, CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival, Stressed The Centrality of Festival to the Global Film EcoSystem. “IF YOU TAKE The OSCARS, 14 OF The Last 15 Best Picture Winners Launched at Film Festivals,“ He Said. “Festivals Are Still WHERE AUDIENCES, The Media and Even the Marketplace Discover Great New Films and Great New Talent.”
But Bailey Also Acknowledged that Politics Now Shapes the Festival Space More than Who Ever. Referencesing the Controversy surrounding Barry Avrich’s Israeli Documentary The Road Between US AT TIFFF THIS YEAR, BAILEY NOTED THAT “WE Exist in a Much More Polarized World Politically It Was Years or Decades Ago, and We’re a Part of of that. Current Will. AT FILM FESTIVALS BECAUSE We Are Participating in the Overall Climate. ”
Tricia Tuttle, Director of the Berlin Film Festival, Said She was Never Rejected a Film Over Fear of Backlash Careful Preparation. “We believe that the berlineale havea always been a Place that Embraces SomeTimes Diflicult Conversations, and I HOPE We Never Stop Doing that,” She Said. Still, Tuttle Warned that Political Agendas Cantemes Overwhelm Cinema ITSELF. “In the Last Five Years, The Political and News Agenda Has Taken Over All of The Airtime Airtime Film Festival Voices Cut Through, and Not Just the Political Talking Points. ”
For Melissa Martinez of Wme, The MOST IMMEDIATE CONCERN IS WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A Premiere. “IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE TOSE Critics’ Reviews, Especial Right After A Festival Launch,“ She Said. “We use that as a tool to sell our films. The more that we have cryitics praising the Film, it gaves US more leverage in the Marketplace.”
But Helen Hoehne, President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Head of the Golden Globes, Noted that for Many Working Critics and Film Journalists, IT tecult Talent at Major Events. “I Always Encouroage Festivals to Find Ways to Get Studios and Talent to Convince Them to Do More Interviews.”
The Panelists Also Weighed in On the Symbolic Economy of Film Festivals: The Red Carpet and the Standing Option. Bailey Called The Stopwatching of Ovations “Ridicless” But Admitted It Has “Value” as Part of An Industry IncreASZINGLY OBSESSED WITH QUantifying Success. “IT’s Part of An Overall Trend to Try to Cover An Art Form Like Cinema Like It Was Sports,“ He Said, Comparing Standing Option Counches To Weekend Box Office Tallies.
On the Red Carpet, Tuttle Pointed to Timothée Chalamet’s Much-Circulated Pink Vest Photo from The Berlineale Premiere of A Complete Unknown This year as proof of it enduring Power. “That was incredible, Solid Gold for [the film’s distributor] SearchLight, ”she said. Martinez agreed that publicity moments on the Carpet Remain Crucial But Noted that Some Stars Avoid Them to Steer Clear of Political Questions.
Tuttle Admitted She was Become Wary of Social Media’s Role in Amplifying Such Moments. “IT is toxic out there,” she said, revealering that she avoided social platforms altogether Durying the Last Berlineale. “I have my best festival in a long time because it was just about focusing on Being there in the moment with the Filmmakers and with the Audence.”
Despite the challenges facing the Festival Circuit and the Film Industry in General, Bailey Argued that Festivals Remain Central to the Business and to the Culture at Large.
“There’s A Kind of PESSIMISM About Our Young People Not Watching Films Anymore [but] They Absolutely Watching A Lot of Films, Andy Onthen, Apart from LetterBoxd, I Think The Places They Discover the MOST FILMS AT FESTIVALS Audience is. ”