Marina Tebieva, a trainee from Vladikavkaz, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, has returned home but not without presenting the conclusions and results of her research which was focused on existing film festivals associations worldwide and the way they are functioning and networking with each other. Please read the full report which clearly indicates some interesting networking opportunities for EFA with relevant networks in the field of film and new media. If you are interested in the full dossier and some background information on the research, please do not hesitate to contact us. FINAL REPORT Film and cinema become more and more popular in our days. Crowds of people go to the movies every day. Ones admire high speed action films or historic battle dramas; others prefer comedies, animation or documentary films. From the first moving images in Ancient Ages till nowadays, people became more interested in high-quality films. This is why we are paying more and more attention to Film Festivals. The first international film festival has been held in Venice in 1932 within the framework of the Venice Biennial, presenting products of various kinds of art. The Moscow International Film Festival is another festival belonging to the first of its kind, organized in 1935, followed by the International Film Festival in Paris in 1937 held in the framework of the World's fair. Other World's fairs hosted film festivals including Brussels, 1958 or Montreal, 1967, sometimes music and theatre festivals like in Edinburgh and Avignon hosted film festivals, which have also been organized in the frame of youth and student festivals in Moscow in 1957 or in Havana, 1978, or in the frame of regional festivals of culture in Algeria, 1969. But since 1960th, the annual independent film festival formulae began to play a leading role in cinema reviews. Film festivals unite people and increase our cultural richness; they present different producers and the results of film productions from different countries. Generally spoken there are two types of film festivals: competitive or non-competitive film festivals. Both of them can be non-specialized/general or specialized film festivals. Festivals can also be divided into different groups according to their categories: non-specialized (multidisciplinary) films, fiction, documentaries, short films, animation films, experimental & art films, regional films, according to their location or their cultural/ethnic specifics, fantastic films, gay/lesbian films, youth films or screenwriting competition etc. The international festivals are carried out by the rules established by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). The FIAPF defines the duration of film festivals, the quantity of films presented in the frame of a festival, the general conditions of selection, transportation or the storage and demonstration of pictures. Terms and lists of film festivals are reconsidered annually by the festival commission of the FIAPF. More than 800 Film festivals are annually taking place, from the most well-known international festivals to more intimate events festivals. The most prestigious group of festivals, called group A, includes film festivals taking place in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Karlovy Vary, Moscow, San Sebastian, Mar del Plata. Their openings are one of the major events of a cinematic year. Usually the first screenings of the largest masters of new cinema films are taking place here. Young actors and directors gain popularity at these festivals. According to research figures, there are a lot of existing networks in the film market worldwide, in particular with regard to film festivals. International film festivals usually promote significant creative works done by cinematographers during the year preceding the festival (occasionally two to three years). During my research I found information about different networks of Film Festivals and networks which are strongly related with Film Festivals. I divided them into 3 groups: I Festival networks consisting of Film festivals including the AG Kurzfilm e.V., German Short Film Association, the European Coordination of Film Festivals with 233 audio-visual festivals, CentEast Alliance with 18 Film Festivals from Central and Eastern Europe as its members, the EFFFF - European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation representing 17 Fantastic Film Festivals from 15 countries, the European Children Film Association including 44 companies and organizations members, coming from 16 different countries, and 192 Film Festivals in the European Children’s Film Network. The second group consists of Cinema/film networks which have Film festival/festivals among other cultural events such as the American-Scandinavian Foundation of Los-Angeles: Scandinavian Film Festival, the AIDC - Australian International Documentary Conference presenting concurrently the Adelaide Film Festival, the BEA - Broadcast Education Association: BEA Festival of Media Arts, the Hazel Wolf Environmental film network, presenting the Hazel Wolf Environmental film Festival and 12 Environmental Film Festival partners. The third group consists of Cinema/film networks mainly collaborating with Film festivals such as the AFCI - Association of Film Commissioners International with more than 300 AFCI-Member Film Commissions worldwide, the Animation World Network from over 145 countries, the EFP - European Film Promotion with 22 national export and promotion organisations from 23 countries and 7 partners among film festivals, the FIAPF - International Federation of film Producers Associations with 29 member associations from 23 of the leading audiovisual production countries which coordinates also 50 film festivals, SIGNIS - World Catholic Association for Communication withi 30 Film Festivals SIGNIS There are a lot of film festival networks and other institutions in the world of film which offer different services to the audio-visual industry. The film festivals networks, set up to develop exchanges, cooperation and the transfer of good practice, encourage international partnerships between members and promote the cultural dimension and socio-economic roles of festivals. They coordinate the implementation of projects and activities, manage administrative and financial resources and provide advice and technical support on request. The largest one of them, The European Coordination of Film Festivals, for example, consists of 233 member festivals that are committed to promote the film culture, to develop all forms of services and joint-projects that aim at strengthening their Members’ popularity and the circulation of the diversity of European movies. Above all, they implement joint projects such as the Classic Documentaries where festivals have agreed to highlight the cinema as an important part of the European film heritage by showing films like The Sound of Shorts and Films for Children. “15 by 15: The European Film Heritage” is another project promoted by the European coordination. It is a touring programme of 15 films from the 15 different countries of the European Union chosen by 15 filmmakers. Participating in one of these projects offers the opportunity to festival members to be awarded by the European Coordination. The awards rotate amongst the member festivals, giving them the opportunity to either have a prize for the first time or boost the endowment of their prizes. SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication, has among its activities such as the creation of radio, video, and television studios, the promotion of television programmes, the production and distribution of programmes, supplying specialized equipment, training professionals, strong relationships with 30 main film Festivals (Cannes, Berlin, Monte Carlo, Venice, Ouagadougou…). It gives recommendations to film festivals about new films and organizes special events in the framework of a festival including workshops and educational seminars. SIGNIS also sends its representatives as critics or consultants to the festivals. Since 1925-1926, SIGNIS collaborates with the International Federation for Film Producers Associations. As an advocate for producers, FIAPF helps to formulate policies and coordinates political action in key areas of the movie industry. With 29 member associations from 23 leading audiovisual production countries, FIAPF is the only organisation of film and television producers with a global dimension. FIAPF is also a regulator of international film festivals, including some of the world’s most significant ones. FIAPF’ International Film Festivals’ Regulations are a trust contract between the film business and the festivals which depend on their cooperation for their prestige and economic impact. The Royal Film Archive in Brussels, member of the Federation of film Archives, is a big institution which proposes more than 150 films to the public. It is one of the important sources of film recourses for film festivals and movie theaters. The Royal Film Archive collaborates constantly with more than 15 Film Archives and other 30 general archives all over the world. Furthermore, there are networks of film festivals which bring together festivals according to a special genre. Usually they aim at promoting specific kinds of films, such as European Children’s Film Association, European Federation of Fantastic Film Festivals, German Short Film Association or Animation World Network. Other Film festivals like Africa Film Festival Leuven can not be considered real film festival networks, but they have strong relationships with other film festivals and theaters and they usually organize African festival’s screenings in several European cities at the same time. All these associations try to collaborate in all kinds of business, as for productions, distribution, exhibitions, cultural actions, media education and training of professionals. They implement many initiatives to reach their aim, especially focusing on networking and the exchange of worldwide audiovisual programmes, involving professionals from both the cultural and the industry sectors. But, of course, it is necessary to remember that cinema has always to be considered in relation with other cultural fields such as theatre, music and literature: only an ideal combination of the image and the sound, created by talented directors, producers, actors and musicians, gives that creative unique masterpiece to the world which we call film. Besides, by means of a clear language, sometimes completely unexpected, new horizons of knowledge are opened through films which give life to classical artists, composers, writers and poets: for the first time people get in contact with legendary masterpieces of classical opera, ballet or the fine arts through the film. In this respect, the role of the film festivals is very important. The main aim of each film festival is to improve the overall public awareness of culture, to promote the cultural dimension and the socio-economic role of art, to encourage a positive attitude towards the world of culture. This is very important as especially children and young people have more and more access to culture through film festivals. To mention only some of the most interesting examples, more than 100 000 people were welcome at the 31st Flanders International Film Festival Gent which took place between October 5th and 16th, 2004. "The impact of music on film" was the overall theme and included a competition for the most harmonious combination of music and image. This year’s edition also proposed interesting meetings with Antonio Pinto, David Arnold and Belgian composers such as Wim Mertens and Sioen who discussed "The impact of music on film" with the young public. Another example of the close relationship between cinema and music is the film “BAD BOY MADE GOOD”which was represented at the festival in World Cinem. It tells the story of the 20th century’s most notorious works of music, George Antheil’s (composer and pianist) “Ballet mecanique”, which not only presaged many important musical movements, but was so technologically advanced that it could not be performed during the composers lifetime. It wasn’t until 1999, with the assistance of a computer, a sampler, and 16 MIDI-controlled Disklavier player pianos, that Lehrman, another composer of our days, was able to realize the work as the composer envisioned it. Another world cinema film, “RHYTHM IS IT!” records the first big educational project of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. The orchestra ventured out of the ivory tower of high culture into boroughs of low life for the sake of 250 youngsters. They had been strangers to classical music, but after arduous but thrilling preparation they danced to Stravinsky’s “Le Sacred u Printemps” (“The Rite of spring”). Recorded with a dreath-taking fidelity of sound, this film by Thomas Grube and Enrique Sanchez Lansch documents the stages of the Sacre project and offers deep insights into the rehearsals of the Berlin Philarmonic Orchestra. “Rhythm is it!” is a delightful and moving record of the fascination of music, of the need for safeguarding education and training, of passion, diligence, love, esteem and zest. Different events in the field of culture in cinema are taking place almost in all biggest film festivals. The XX Moscow International Film Festival, in 1997, dedicated a special programme to the 400-anniversary of the World Opera, “Film and opera”, with several screenings of film-operas. Concerts by Maurice Jarre and Michel Legran concerts have taken place and a series of documentary features were shown during the Warsaw International Film Festival “MUSIC FOREVER”, etc. Above all, there are a lot of film festivals which are specialized in films on art. Recognized around the world as the most prestigious festival of its kind, the International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA) is the only festival in North America which is focused on films on art. The 1st FIFA was opened in 1981. It presented 50 films from 12 countries at one theatre, the Cinémathèque québécoise. This year, the 22nd edition will present 240 films from 30 countries in 8 different venues, which are: Canadian Centre for Architecture, NFB Cinema, Cinémathèque québécoise, Goethe-Institute, Art Contemporary Museum, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Place des Arts and McCord Museum. From its very beginning, FIFA has had as mandate to promote films on art through public screenings; to encourage the national and international film industry in order to maintain and increase their annual production in this field; to encourage talent and quality by awarding prizes; to increase public awareness and appreciation of art. FIFA encompasses all the arts, of any period or style, in the following disciplines: painting, sculpture, architecture, design, crafts, fashion, decorative arts, museology, restoration, photography, cinema (portraits of directors and actors, film shoots, special effects), literature, dance, music, theatre. Another example of the close relation between film and other aspects of culture is The Russian Film Festival “Literature and Cinema” in Gatchina which aims at promoting the historical, literary and cinema past, closely linked to one another. On the one hand, Gatchina is the city connected to names of Great Russian writers including Pushkin, Kuprin, and Nabokov. On the other hand, in Gatchina many films and more than 100 pictures such as "Suvorov", "Katerina Izmaylov", "Rimsky - ??rsakov" and others are exposed. The film festival "The Literature and Cinema” widely uses all kinds of arts in cultural programs: a theatrical performance, poetic readings, musical and choral concerts, various art and literature exhibitions, thus keeping an adherence to Biennale from which the first film festivals have grown. Of course, films are basically individualistic and can hardly be compared to one another. And one half of the film is created in the mind of the viewer, who is an individual as well. Knowing that films create emotions, entice the taking on of new identities and give information, we must not define strict rules for high or low quality, but have to find an open collection of ideas which can bring us closer to a common valuation of arts. And this is the leading goal of the Film Festivals worldwide. “…I believe that film and film culture is extremely important to our time. I often tell people that one of the reasons I love film is that it functions like opera did in the 17th and 18th centuries- that is, issues of the day that were controversial to public forum suddenly were prosecuted through drama on the operatic stage - often with the "story behind the story." Cinema is a powerful voice - for expressing not only serious issues, but for chronicling every day life in comedy and tragedy, fact, and fantasy. It is interesting that when there is little communication between cultures-- perhaps even for reasons of censorship and prohibition-- somehow photographic images, and films get through…” James Koenig. President of the American Scandinavian Foundation of Los Angeles and Founder/Director of Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. Finally, we can draw the conclusion that film festivals take an important part in world cultural resources. They help us to get a wider point of view by presenting real pieces of arts. It is well-known that the commercial "mass"-cinema industry has an outstanding success: the commercial feature film covers about 90% of the Russian and European film-distribution market in relation to films on arts, documantaries or short films. But this situation is changing at the moment and to my opinion, film festivals are one of the main reasons for this change: festivals as cultural events seem to be unique indicators and promoters of the world cinema quality. And this is the real reason for the existence of brilliant film festivals worldwide.