278 members signed-up
Our second event to be held in Belgrade, 7th December
We are pleased to announce that our next event will be in collaboration with the Alternative Film/Video Festival Belgrade, and focus on the theory and practice of experimental film festival organisation. This special event will be part of the 1st Alternative Film/Video Research Forum.
The Film Festival Academy launched in New York
Our first event was successfully delivered at the start of the New York Film Festival's 50th edition. This was a dedicated exploration of New York film programming specifically for New York audiences; and a second session that involved a detailed interrogation of film festival form.
News
26th October, News
Second Film Festival Academy event to be held in Belgrade on Friday, 7th December
We are pleased to announce that our next event will be in collaboration with the Alternative Film/Video Belgrade, with a focus on researching experimental/avant-garde film and programming experimental/avant-garde film festivals.
12th October, News
Missed the inaugural event in New York City? View the full report here
The Film Festival Academy held its first event at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, 27th/28th September 2012; sessions focused on the two themes of New York-specific film programming, and film festival form.
10th October, News
Columbia University Press offer 30% discounts off film studies books to Film Festival Academy members
Film Festival Academy members can claim a 30% discount off all Film and Media Studies titles published or distributed by Columbia University Press!
6th October, News
Laurent Crouzeix, festival director, joins the Film Festival Academy Advisory Board
We are delighted to announce that Laurent Crouzeix, one of the organisation and programming team behind the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival – the most important short film festival in the world – has...
30th September, Events
The Film Festival Academy launched in New York
The themes of our first event in New York were: New York film programming, looking at the various institutions – festivals, cinemas, museums, galleries – involved in programming specifically for New York audiences; and an...
23rd September, News
Mitch Levine, leading film festival consultant, joins the Film Festival Academy Advisory Board
We are delighted to announce that Mitch Levine, founder of The Film Festival Group – a global consulting firm for festivals, distribution companies and the independent film world, specializing in startup strategies, strategic...
Publications
Marijke de Valck
Film Festivals: From European Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia
Focusing on the world's most famous festivals – Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Rotterdam – Film Festivals tells the story of a phenomenon that began in the midst of geopolitical disputes in war-torn Europe...
Testimonials
'The Film Festival Academy has my full support. It is amazing that in a market overflowing with all kinds of professional training it has taken until today to come up with a simple and great idea: high level opportunities for the exchange of ideas and programmes for learning more about the complex art and the technical skills of running a film festival. Anybody who has participated in any of the rather dubious endeavours that were made in this field before will appreciate the non-profit approach of the Film Festival Academy; anybody who knows its founders will trust their professional knowledge and personal integrity. I will support the Film Festival Academy in every possible way.'
'The inauguration of the Film Festival Academy brings important and long overdue attention to film festivals as cultural locations for the traffic in filmmaking, from glitterati events with red carpets, to those that shed light on human rights abuses, to the world-building projects of activist communities.'
'The Film Festival Academy offers a much needed interchange of views between filmmakers, festival programmers and academics doing research on film festivals. That this interchange takes place not in the academy but at festivals themselves will be a huge boon to film festival scholarship and to an important sharing and deepening of the perspective of those interested in not only theorizing but also intervening in the continued growth of these events which play such a crucial part in the disseminating of a global cinema and in the breaking down of commerical barriers.'
'The new Film Festival Academy initiative is to be very much welcomed by all film festival professionals and anyone interested and involved in the increasingly central role played by film festivals in the international cinema industry; this is definitely the right thing at the right time and promises to be an exciting and important development that will be of great service to all of us working in the film festival arena.'
'The enormous growth of film festivals – in number, location, diversity, and artistic influence – is accelerating by the day. But not until now has their importance to global culture been matched by an organization with the cinematic acumen, media savvy, networking skills, and expert leadership needed to provide top-level support, training, information, and connectivity for participants in all areas of festival activity, from programmers and publicists to filmmakers, academics, and critics. The arrival of the Film Festival Academy is the most exciting development in years for moving-image professionals everywhere.'
'The unswerving positive response from film festivals, professionals and academics regarding the launch of the Film Festival Academy comes as no surprise. Sharing between academia and industry is essential in developing highly-trained film professionals and we look forward to the collaboration between film schools, film institutes, festivals and other film industry partners through this unique platform.'
'Do Film Festivals need an Academy in this day and age? The answer is, resoundingly, yes! A complex mixture of the professional and the cultural, the economic and the cinephilic, film festivals today are increasingly complex beasts – and no festival is an island unto itself. Connected in a tight web of international exchanges, comparisons and manœuvres, festivals are all about giving value to particular films or particular types of films – and finding, or creating, the audiences for them. The new Film Festival Academy is ideally placed to integrate the already widely scattered field of researches, discussions, trainings and co-operative interrelationships occurring within and between the literally thousands of film festivals in the modern globe. It is a new world on every level – from the challenge of projection formats to the politics of curating – and the Film Festival Academy will open the doors to it.'
'The creation of the Film Festival Academy is a very important step in the ongoing process of consolidation and exchange on the European festival scene. I wish all possible success to this important initiative.'
'The role of the film festival in today's digital world is constantly being re-evaluated and debated, but it's clear that film festivals are still as relevant and important as they have ever been. The Film Festival Academy should provide an important focus for the rich and diverse amount of film festivals in the world while giving festival practitioners an important outlet for networking and collaboration.'
'The Film Festival Academy has a great potential to become a truly valid platform for creative film festival professionals willing to share knowledge and experience on a collaborative basis. This initiative should be welcomed with enthusiasm and excitement.'
'To focus on film festivals, not in opposition to but in articulation with critical and scholarly thought, is what world cinema needs in order to be understood in all its complexity. The Film Festival Academy deserves our applause and support for providing, for the first time, a common platform for festival professionals, critics and passionate spectators.'
Members
Nikolai Nikitin
Festival Consultant, Germany
Abigail Parsons
Festival Organiser, USA
Ilana Rein
Film Director, USA
Festival news
25th May
Adeline Monzier to head Unifrance’s office in New York - Institutions – France
She is expected to step down from her role as manager of Europa Distribution in September
25th May
My Sweet Pepperland : Make laugh, not war - Cannes 2013 – Un Certain Regard
Hiner Saleem takes a look full of humour, hope and music at the shambles and archaisms of a Kurdistan slowly picking up the pieces
25th May
The Selfish Giant wins the Europa Cinemas Label - Cannes 2013 - Awards
The film by British director Clio Barnard is rewarded at the Directors’ Fortnight. The other two major prizes go to Me Myself and Mum