Film Festivals…The Marketplace!

Film Festivals…The Marketplace!

The Marketplace. This is the most commonly known purpose of film festival events. Films are screened to attract potential buyers and distributors. It's similar to an art gallery where pieces of art are exhibited, ultimately for the purpose of being sold.

A film festival or gathering, usually annual is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon the festival's focus, can include international and domestic releases. Sponsored by national or local governments, industry, service organizations, experimental film groups, or individual promoters, the festivals provide an opportunity for filmmakers, distributors, critics, and other interested persons to attend film showings and meet to discuss current artistic developments in film. At the festivals distributors can purchase films that they think can be marketed successfully in their own countries.

There are over 3,000 film festivals every year, but these are at the top of the class. 

• Sundance. ...
• Cannes Film Festival. ...
• Toronto International Film Festival. ...
• Berlinale. ...
• Hong Kong International Film Festival. ...
• Panafrican Film and TV Festival of Ouagadougou. ...
• Rotterdam Film Festival. 

Some of the direct purposes, results, functions and perks by participating, attending a film festival. 

•     Distribution. The possibility of finding a distributor by participating in the festival process is very real. …
•          Networking. ...
•          Exhibition. ...
•         Cash prizes. ...
•         Other awards. ...
•      Learn something at panels and seminars. ...
•          Participate in Q&A. …
•         Exposure. …
•         Reviews. Get Your Film Reviewed. ...
•      Parties. …
•         Pay it Forward to Your Cast and Crew. …
•         Enjoy the chance to experience an audience watching your movie. … 

Some Trivia:

The first festival was held in Venice in 1932. Since World War II, film festivals have contributed significantly to the development of the motion-picture industry in many countries. The popularity of Italian films at the Cannes and Venice film festivals played an important part in the rebirth of the Italian industry and the spread of the postwar Neorealist movement. In 1951 Kurosawa Akira’s Rashomon won the Golden Lion at Venice, focusing attention on Japanese films. That same year the first American Art Film Festival at Woodstock, New York, stimulated the art-film movement in the United States.

Probably the best-known and most noteworthy of the hundreds of film festivals is held each spring in Cannes, France. Since 1947, people interested in films have gathered in that small resort town to attend official and unofficial showings of films. Other important festivals are held in Berlin, Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), Toronto, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Park City (Utah, U.S.), Hong Kong, Belo Horizonte (Brazil) and Venice. Short subjects and documentaries receive special attention at gatherings in Edinburgh, Mannheim and Oberhausen (both in Germany), and Tours (France). Some festivals feature films of one country, and since the late 1960s there have been special festivals for student filmmakers. Others are highly specialized, such as those that feature only underwater photography or those that deal with specific subjects, such as mountain climbing, nature the environment amount many.

Sources: Goggle, Wikipedia, Screen Daily, britannica.com, Film Festival Secrets, Script Mag