The paper was issued by the FIAPF (the International Federation of Film Producers Associations) and “urges national and regional institutions…to adopt immediate relief measures.” It cites how festivals are not just a film industry boon but how they directly affect local economies as well. The FIAPF specifically cites the Cannes Film Festival as an example, which according to 2017 statistics created 2,000 jobs and around €200M for the local economy. The organization also cites over 4.5 million film festival admissions around the world in that same year at accredited festivals. Seeing as many of those festivals are in tandem with other arts festivals (i.e. the Biennale, Berlinale, etc.) as well as industry marketplaces, admissions numbers are important to maintain. “Supporting the festival community means supporting the entire film industry,” said the FIAPF president Luis Alberto Scalella in an issuing statement. “That is why, after standing by festivals and advocating solidarity and collaboration since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, the international producers represented by FIAPF are proud to support the call for action… This initiative sends a strong signal: film festivals do matter, accordingly they deserve economic relief measures.”
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Directors’ Words
One of the paper’s signatories is Alberto Barbera, the director of the Venice International Film Festival. “The global film industry has never been hit so badly in its entire history,” Barbera wrote in a statement. “On the eve of the reopening of theaters and restart of film shooting, it is more than necessary to join forces and make the maximum support possible. Festivals are a powerful tool at the service of cinema, culture and social development, but they have been weakened too and need to be reinforced to be able to continue their crucial and indispensable work.” It is also the “eve” of Venice’s 2020 festival, its 77th iteration and the first major in-person film festival to occur after pandemic closures. Another upcoming festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, also cited the economic importance of film festivals as well as their cultural footprint. “Film festivals are an exceptional tool for crossing the communication channels from the most distant places, giving audiences the ability to hear a rich diversity of voices,” TIFF co-heads Cameron Bailey and Joana Vicente released in a joint statement. Berlin Film Festival co-heads Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek echoed those sentiments, calling film festivals a “platform for cultural and social discourse”, as well as “a vital motor for the international independent industry”. This also comes two days after Cannes’ director Thierry Fremaux released a joint statement with Lumière Institute’s director Bertrand Tavernier to French moviegoers, encouraging them not to give up on the medium despite the setbacks the pandemic has caused. “This rentrée will enable us to better understand the real future prospects for exhibitors, distributors, producers and filmmakers,” wrote Fremaux and Tavernier. “These prospects are in our hands, your hands. In spite of alarmist predictions, cinema still exists, it never left us.”
List of Festival Signatories
Below is the list of festivals and film organizations that have signed FIAPF’s paper, courtesy of Variety. The festivals will also list their city and country of origin, if applicable. Mar del Plata International Film Festival // Mar del Plata, Argentina Sydney Film Festival // Sydney, Australia Kitzbuehel Film Festival Viennale // Kitzbuehel, Austria Minsk International Film Festival – Listapad // Minsk, Belarus Sofia International Film Festival // Sofia, Bulgaria Toronto International Film Festival // Toronto, Canada Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias // Cartegena, Colombia Festival de Cine Global Dominicano // Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Cairo International Film Festival // Cairo, Egypt Tallinn Black Nights International Film Festival // Tallinn, Estonia Tampere Film Festival // Tampere, Finland Festival de Cannes // Cannes, France Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival // Berlin, Germany International Short Film Festival Oberhausen // Oberhausen, Germany International Film Festival of India, Goa // Goa, India International Film Festival of Kerala // Kerala, India Kolkata International Film Festival // Kolkata, India Noir In Festival // Como, Italy, and Milan, Italy Rome Film Fest // Rome, Italy Torino Film Festival // Turin, Italy Biennale Cinema – Venice Film Festival // Venice, Italy Tokyo International Film Festival // Tokyo, Japan Eurasia International Film Festival // Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan Shanghai International Film Festival // Shanghai, China Krakow Film Festival // Kraków, Poland Warsaw Film Festival // Warsaw, Poland MotelX – Lisbon International Horror Film Festival // Lisbon, Portugal Transilvania International Film Festival // Cluj-Napoca, Romania Message To Man International Film Festival // Saint Petersburg, Russia Moscow International Film Festival // Moscow, Russia Busan International Film Festival // Haeundae-gu, Busan, South Korea Cinema Jove // Valencia, Spain Gijon International Film Festival // Gijón, Spain San Sebastian International Film Festival // Donostia-San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain Sitges Film Festival // Sitges, Catalonia, Spain Zinebi – Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Film Festival // Bilbao, Spain Locarno Film Festival // Locarno, Switzerland International Antalya Film Festival // Antalya, Turkey Molodist – Kyiv International Film Festival // Kyiv, Ukraine FERA: The Federation of European Film Directors FIA: The International Federation of Actors FIAD: The International Federation of Film Distributors’ Associations FIAPF: International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations FSE: The Federation of Screenwriters in Europe IVF: International Video Federation UNI MEI: The Media, Entertainment & Arts Sector of UNI Global Union UNIC: The Union Internationale des Cine?mas/International Union of Cinemas Leave your thoughts on the FIAPF’s paper urging local and national governments to enact relief measures for film festivals and the industry at-large (via Variety and ScreenDaily) this article below and in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more movie news can visit our Movie News Page and our Movie News Twitter Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Flipboard.
