In this blog we hear from the ICO’s Assistant Film Programmer Eliza Sealy, who reflects on her experiences of attending film festivals both in-person and virtually during her recently completed FEDS Traineeship, and the positives and negatives of delivering a festival online.
My desire to work within the film industry began after attending my first BFI London Film Festival. I had always loved and engaged with film, but being a part of the community created at the festival was a transformative experience. The excitement and anticipation throughout the event was palpable and the festival gave me an opportunity to converse with other cinephiles, connecting through a mutual love of cinema and discussing the films that had moved and intrigued us.
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, film festivals had to find ways to adapt or face cancellation. Online streaming platforms saved the day, allowing festivals to continue without the need for in-person screenings. Many large festivals, such as Sundance, New York and Toronto, decided to present online offerings. There were, however, some concerns around these new formats – heightened due to anxieties around the place of cinema in the age of streaming. Some festivals, including Cannes, chose to cancel instead.
These varying tactics show that views among festivals are divided. But now that in-person events in many parts of the world are more viable again, what is the future for virtual festivals? Are they here to stay? And if so, what is lost and what is gained when a film festival takes place online?
The Virtues of Online Festivals
A major advantage of virtual festivals is their ability to offer greater access to their audience, providing a way for those unable to travel there to still interact with the festival. I was able to attend the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last year, which would not have been possible if it had been solely an in-person event as in previous years. Although many film festivals do geo-block titles to specific regions, this is often less exclusionary than requiring people to travel to attend festivals in person, with all the transport and accommodation costs that entails. Online festivals allow for a larger footfall and a more diverse audience. If attending in-person festivals is not affordable or possible for all then it is likely that these events just further embed the existing disparities within the industry, meaning that those on the margins will remain there.
Additionally, virtual festivals can provide better access for people with visual or aural impairments, as online platforms usually allow the option for audio description and closed captioning to be included, something that is not always a priority at in-person festivals.
My own experience of navigating the virtual TIFF was interesting. This was my first festival as an industry professional and as a result my focus was on finding titles to programme, rather than simply seeking out films that appealed to my tastes. The smaller, more focused selection of titles available to stream from the UK encouraged me to watch films that I perhaps would not usually have selected. This led to one of my favourite watches of 2021: Tea Lindeburg’s As In Heaven. The restricted number of titles also encouraged more thoughtful film reflection. Instead of watching lots of films back-to-back, as I often would when attending a festival in person, I was able to spread out my viewing – allowing me to really take in each film and consider how it would best be programmed.
The Value of Attending a Festival In Person
However, screenings are not the sole value of a film festival. Whilst attending TIFF and London Film Festival (LFF) online last year, I couldn’t help but notice that neither could replicate the experience I’d had when attending LFF in person. Although efforts were made through director introductions and Zoom Q&As to make the virtual experience less isolating, I didn’t feel the same sense of togetherness and community that I’ve had when attending in-person events. I think it is important to preserve that experience, as these physical festivals are engaging events that bring people together and encourage discussion about such a range of subjects. I found myself missing many aspects of the in-person festival experience: getting excited to see the filmmakers post-screening, expectantly waiting at the box office for last-minute tickets and interacting with new people who I met in between screenings.
This year’s Berlinale was my first international in-person festival since entering the industry and was a wholly different experience to TIFF. The large selection of films on offer allowed me to plan my schedule around different key aims, considering films with specific audiences and venues in mind. It was helpful to hear from filmmakers about their work and get a sense of how UK audiences might interact with them. For example, the Q&A with director Nina Menkes after the screening of her film Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power contextualised the documentary within the wider cultural landscape, highlighting the real-life consequences of the male gaze. I must also admit that I was much more excited by the prospect of attending the festival in-person, and taking advantage of the chance to take in the film culture and history of the city while I was there.
Virtual screenings challenge the purpose of film festivals to be a place for audiences, filmmakers and industry professionals to come together. Physical screenings act as a useful setting for filmmakers to see how audiences interact with a film, in a way which can’t be easily replicated with a virtual screening. At a screening I attended of Khadar Ahmed’s The Gravedigger’s Wife at LFF, the post-screening Q&A was full of attendees expressing how important and meaningful his film was to them, and explaining their excitement to see Somali culture portrayed on-screen. In contrast, when a film is screened online filmmakers often have a limited understanding of how audiences interacted with their work. These conversations with audiences at film festivals are valuable as they allow them to witness people’s reactions in the moment.
A Hybrid Future?
If a festival’s aim is to bring a variety of films to diverse audiences, then virtual screenings are an incredible tool with which to do this. However, it is important to see the online and physical elements of festivals as separate things, with their own strengths and limitations. Personally, I don’t think it’s possible to replicate the incredible collective experience that takes place when attending a festival in person. However, as I’ve discussed, it’s not always viable to attend international festivals – and for many, it’s not possible at all. Virtual screenings have been a saving grace during COVID-19, enabling festivals to continue to remain active while much of the world was confined to their homes. As we appear to emerge from the pandemic, an attractive way forward might be a hybrid format where festivals offer both in-person and online screenings.
Of course, it’s important to consider the aims and objectives of a particular festival, as these may wildly differ from one to the other. In the face of the pandemic, festivals had to proceed in a way that retained their identity and ethos. Cannes chose not to continue online, and with a reputation of exclusivity and prestige, it is understandable why they made that decision. However, online elements made sense to festivals such as Cinema Rediscovered, whose aim is to bring classic cinema to as many people as possible.
Rather than seeing the emergence of virtual screenings as a threat to existing ways of doing things, this could be seen as an opportunity to make things better. If having a virtual element in some film festivals provides enhanced convenience for attendees and greater audiences for filmmakers, then it seems illogical for it now to be sidelined. The ideal future might be one where virtual and physical events can co-exist in harmony, fulfilling the aims of different festivals whilst providing greater choice and accessibility to their patrons.
Header image: Q&A with Nina Menkes at Berlinale 2022.