Focus of the proposed research.
Nowadays film festivals have become common in our culture; from the Sundance Film Festival in the middle of January to the Rome Film Festival at the end of October, there is barely a day in the calendar where some Film Festival is not being celebrated in some part of the world.
The most famous ones, such as the Venice Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival, began their history in the 30's and despite critiques and negative reviews, they continue to be held every year. As a consequence, film festivals have become an object of study and several scholars have written articles and books about their functions and characteristics; but very little has been said about their utility, the relevance they have in the society and the impact they have on cinema.
The aim of this research is to explore cinema audience's, festival goers' and workers in cinema views and experiences of film festivals, trying to understand what values they give to them and trying to figure out if they believe that in difficult times, such as the one we are living through, a film exhibition is still necessary.
Background and rationale for the proposed research.
This study was inspired by a question posed by an Italian journalist to Alberto Barbera, director of the Venice Film Festival. During the annual festival's press conference the journalist asked if, according to Barbera, film festivals were still necessary. Obviously due to his position, the director gave a positive answer; but his direct and hasty statement did not come across to me as quite convincing.
In fact, when thinking about the times we are living through, doing a film festival seems the last thing we need; as digital technology allows people to watch films everywhe...
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During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
Critics acknowledge that while film can be serious, and that those whom are known for their love of films, “ the art-movie mavens,” are characterized with, “furrowed brows and intense discussion,”(Pulver) a powerful film can also leave, “an entire theater full of stodgy old film critics fighting back tears,” (Tyler). Many viewers find their passion in going out to intense and consuming movies because, “Watching it means fighting your way through every second of the film just as the characters battle and scrap their way through the story,” (Tyler). There are now massive groups and events such as, The Academy, Venice Film Festival, and London Film Festivals, which are devoted to the celebration and reward of films. In the academy, though they may face some issues with corruption, their nomination formula overcomes extortion issues by giving, “the advantage to films with a small but passionate following versus films with broad lukewarm support,” (Finke). Ultimately, the love of cinema is not in any way lessoning, and, in the words of critic Andrew Pulver, “We certainly are living in interesting times,” filled with change and
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
Often times people neglect the fact that the things- such as films- that they see and hear day to day can actually be worthwhile in teaching them. They come into contact with them purely for the purpose of being entertained and, sometimes, do not even realize that they are being taught valuable life lessons in the process. In conjunction with this theory, Professor Michael Taylor once said, “We don’t often think of the value of media beyond its entertainment, but there is a whole area that has to do with education through entertainment. As filmmakers, the work that we do has a huge impact on our culture. With that comes an opportunity, and may be even a responsibility, to use that impact for greater good.” Many French and Francophone films
During the thirty odd years for which the cinema has existed as a medium of expression,
Society tends to associate propaganda films with issues such as Nazi Germany and their film messages for their country; however, it is also possible for small independent companies, groups of like-minded people and individuals to use the media of film to incorporate messages for our society (The Independent, 2010). These messages are often in relation to changes that individuals should make in order to improve the standards by which they live their lives and changes to everyday habits that will benefit the individual, the individual’s family, a group of individuals or even a single person (Barnhisel and Turner, 2010).
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Across the globe watching movies started as an asylum for the working class, but slowly the ideas being portrayed onscreen have evolved resulting in movie going to become almost religious. Movies have the ability to leave us in awe as a result of their ability to give us a glimpse of a dream, however unrealistic. I myself am a huge fan of the film industry. I started to feel a certain reverence for it because of the way it inspired me to dream and gave birth to my ambitions. This ultimately led to me to go into an in depth investigation of whether I was the only one who felt this way and what affects had been created because of this feeling.
...nd book, while paying tributes to veteran filmmaker Hariharan, who has given Malayalam cinema some of its finest movies, makes note of the fact that mainstream cinema has always been frowned at and belittled by film thinkers and organizers of film festivals alike until very recently, and hence generally deemed forbidden at festival circuits. Around seventy percent of the movies, especially those screened under the world cinema category, at IFFK were art house movies or – as some derisively calls it – award movies that are a far cry from the kind of movies that ordinary movie buffs like to watch at the cinema. It is hardly surprising that the movies that struck a chord with the festival goers were simple and engaging movies like The Rocket and Television, while some of the other movies that bagged awards at various other film festivals were scoffed at by the audience.
Movies take us inside the skin of people quite different from ourselves and to places different from our routine surroundings. As humans, we always seek enlargement of our being and wanted to be more than ourselves. Each one of us, by nature, sees the world with a perspective and selectivity different from others. But, we want to see the world through other’s eyes; imagine with other’s imaginations; feel with other’s hearts, at a same time as with our own. Movies offer us a window onto the wider world, broadening our perspective and opening our eyes to new wonders.