Dynamics of World Cinema

In preparation for the upcoming Film Festival Yearbook, which will be available from Wallflower Press in May, we had the opportunity to ‘pick the brain' of festival professionals about how their festivals fit into the international dynamics of the festival circuit.

We posed the following questions to them and have received some insightful responses.  Check back soon to see their answers; others will be published in the Yearbook.  In the meantime, we invite other festival programmers and directors to comment below.

1. As the number of film festivals around the world has increased dramatically over the last decade, the festival circuit - and the calendar of festivals that constitute it - has become a subject for discussion among festival professionals, the popular press, and academics.  Do you understand the festivals on this circuit to be linked together in substantial ways? If so, how do you see your own festival as fitting into this network?
2. Does your festival have a particular mandate in terms of regional and national programming?  What is your own philosophy in programming international cinema?  How do you work to program your festival in relation to other festivals and their programmatic philosophies?
3. What sources do you use to find content for your festival (e.g. filmmaker submissions, attending festivals, film journalists)?