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Film Festivals
Film Festivals
Culture, People, and Power on the Global Screen
Movies, stars, auteurs, critics, and the sheer excitement of cinema come together in film festivals as quintessential constellations of art, business, and glamour. Yet, how well do we actually understand the forces and meanings that these events embody?
Film Festivals offers the first comprehensive overview of the history, people, films, and multiple functions of the festival world. From Sundance to Hong Kong, from the glitter of Cannes to edgier festivals that challenge boundaries or foster LGBTQ cultural production, film festivals celebrate art, promote business, bring cinema to diverse audiences, and raise key issues about how we see our world. Cindy Hing-Yuk Wong situates festivals within changing global practices of film, including their important ties to both Hollywood and independent cinema. She explores how these events have become central in the construction of cinema knowledge as well as the behind-the-scene mechanics of finance, distribution, and evaluation. By linking general structures and connections to specific films and auteurs, Wong addresses the components and creation of film festivals that continue to reshape filmmaking as art and business.
Wong's sharp, clever, and highly knowledgeable account provides a dazzling and dynamic look at the world film festival scene. This long overdue insider approach mixes the practical and the personal in a winning, original fashion.
This is an insightful, engaging, and meticulously researched investigation covering the most recent trends in international film festivals from Venice and Cannes to Hong Kong and Pusan. Wong's book contributes enormously to our understanding of film festivals as a vital aspect of global motion picture culture.
This book is both an excellent introduction to and in-depth analysis of the world of film festivals. Wong’s book offers both a big picture view of the role of festivals within the global film industry and a close-up scrutiny of specific events, films and people to give a sense of the culture-making activity that happens in these spaces. An essential read for those who are interested both in the global dimensions of the industry, as well as in parsing out the cultural political nuances of particular sites.
Introduction
1. History, Structure, and Practice in the Festival World
2. The Films of the Festivals
3. Auteurs, Critics, and Canons: Extratextual Elements and the Construction of Festival Films
4. Film Festivals and Film Industries
5. Festivals as Public Spheres
6. The Hong Kong International Film Festival as Cultural Event
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Filmography
Index
