Film Festivals: Where they stand in the digital climate

Every year dozens of new film festivals pop up around the world, and Australia is no exception. Miguel Gonzalez asked Australia’s festival directors what the proliferation of these events mean to screen culture and the local film industry.

As the screen industry migrates to the digital world, there’s one experience that cannot yet be replicated online: the excitement of a film festival.

Festivals are not only major community events, but essential to the survival of film culture; they provide audiences with alternative visions of the world and content that not only differs from the standards established by Hollywood blockbusters, but also goes beyond the release limitations of the local art house distribution system. They can provide the film industry with a space for the exchange of ideas and cooperation.

For Adelaide Film Festival director Katrina Sedgwick, the ultimate goal is to create a critical mass of energy that mobilises an audience to take risks and see things they wouldn’t normally see, and then provide a context for them to talk about.

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