RESOURCES
Barlinale was born out of the need and desire to break from the political hypocrisy and censorship of the (let’s name it!) Berlinale. However, we don’t give a pass to other large festivals whose exploitative practices continue to push filmmakers to ignore the sustained calls to boycott.
Despite its horrid reputation, “down stream” festivals continue to trade on Berlinale’s name, plucking films from its programme to slot into their own. For filmmakers, landing a spot in a premiere festival can lead to the festival run needed to dazzle the funders they are dependent on.
This is in part because many of these very festivals don’t pay filmmakers anything. What then for the un-fundable films, or for filmmakers who have no access to funding? Perhaps some drinks and maybe even a tote bag made by another disenfranchised worker the world over.
The film industry exists in a tenuous relationship with the larger community of truly independent cinema. It is thanks to festivals that we can see a multi-million and zero dollar film screen side by side. That this small production go on to receive nothing is unacceptable.
The following is a work-in-progress page dedicated to the articles and resources needed to address the exploitation underpinning the festival landscape. Filmmakers and festivals alike are invited to pour over these texts to move this collective conversation forward.
We at Barlinale believe that how we show films, changes how we make them. Be you a programmer or a filmmaker, as cultural workers, we must push these institutions if ever we expect them to be allies in the struggles that their programs reflect.
