Sundance to Sarajevo: Films Festivals and the World they Made

At this year's Melbourne international film festival, I brought along a film critic from the Los Angeles Times for company. Between screenings, I had Kenneth Turan regale me with tales of film festivals in exotic locations like the French Riviera, the North American ski fields, the island of Cuba or the land of the midnight sun (Finland). But before I could indulge in self-pity at the thought of yet another queue in the unforgiving elements of Melbourne's winter, I also learnt of the incredible circumstances surrounding the Sarajevo film festival, which was first held in the midst of war, and the poverty of Burkina Faso, home of FESPACO (Festival Panafricaine du Cinéma de Ouagadougou), which provides a rare opportunity for Africans to see their own films. While the phenomenon of the film festival has extended worldwide (the number of festivals held annually exceeds four hundred), the particular character of each festival reflects something of its host culture. As Turan's book Sundance to Sarajevo demonstrates, each film festival contributes something different to our understanding of film as art, as commerce, and as politics.