The 20th NECS Graduate Workshop seeks to explore new ways to study film festival networks, the circulation of knowledge, films, experiences, and the production of film canons within those networks.

We consider it necessary to reevaluate different interdisciplinary methodologies and explore new ways to analyze film festivals as an integral part of film cultures. In light of the rapid technological progress, we must ask ourselves not only what is to be gained from these methods, but also what their limits are and how we can make these limits transparent and productive for a fruitful scholarship.

In our two-day workshop we want to mobilize multiple perspectives for the analysis of film festivals. The workshop will take place in the form of in-depth conversations based on papers to prompt the discussion with fellow early career researchers and a senior respondent within small panels.

Keynote speaker: Aida Vallejo (University of the Basque Country).

Senior festival studies scholars in attendance: Marijke de Valck (Utrecht University), Senem Ayşe Duruel Erkılıç (Mersin University), María Paz Peirano (Universidad de Chile), Aida Vallejo (University of the Basque Country).

People are welcome to join the Graduate Workshop taking place in Potsdam, Germany from February 14-15, 2023 as an active audience member and participate in the discussions with us. There is no conference fee, however, an active NECS membership is required.

If you would like to participate in the workshop, please register until the 12th of February with Lucy Pizaña: . Places are limited and we will proceed with a first come first served policy.

The keynote at the Filmmuseum Potsdam is open to the general public and has a free entrance policy.

Programme

14 February 2023

9:00 – 10:00 @ Filmuni “Flyer”

Arrival with Coffee / Tour through Filmuni / Welcome

10:00 – 12:00 @ Filmuni “Flyer”

Panel 1: Oral Tradition, the Past and the Future

Chair: Karen Sztajnberg

Juliana Muylaert (Fluminense): Film Festival Studies and Oral History: Possibilities and Challenges
Sinclair Portis (Michigan State): Oral-Visual Worldmaking: Afrofuturity within Film Festivals
Saara Tuusa (Turku): Ethnography of Film: Film Festival as a Site of Embodied Authorship

Respondent: María Paz Peirano

12:00 – 13:30 Lunch

13:30-15:30 @ Filmuni “Flyer”

Panel 2: Investigating Survival Strategies

Chair: Lucy Pizaña

Onur Aytaç (Mersin): Festival Funds in Turkey and Independent Cinema
Katrina Ross A. Tan (Los Baños): Cinema Rehiyon Goes Digital: Audience Engagement Strategies in an Online Film Festival
Pedro Tinen (A.-v.-Humboldt-Stiftung/Oberhausen): The Film Markets as Film Forums: Debating Cultural and Audiovisual Policy

Respondent: Marijke de Valck

15:30 – 18:00 Break & transfer to Filmmuseum Potsdam (keynote location)

18:00 – 19:30 Keynote @Filmmuseum Potsdam

Aida Vallejo: Documentary Film Ecosystems. Mapping Festivals, Institutes and Networks

20:00 Dinner

15th February 2023

9:00 – 10:00 @ Filmuni “Flyer”

Speed Dating / Mentoring Rounds

10:00 – 12:00 @ Filmuni “Flyer”

Panel 3: Festival Ecosystem

Chair: Skadi Loist

Fengyun Zhang (UCLA): Film Festivals in Exile and the Remaking of Independent Chinese Cinema
Dianora Hollmann (Ca’ Foscari): The Transformative Dimension of Film Festivals: An Ecosystemic Approach to the European Case
Yulia Yurtaeva-Martens (Film University Babelsberg / Leibniz-Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut): And What about the TV Festivals?

Respondent: Senem Ayşe Duruel Erkılıç

12:00 – 13:30 Lunch

13:30 – 15:30 @ Filmuni “Flyer”

Panel 4: Screening the Canonisation Process

Chair: Maja Korbecka

Carine Bernasconi (Lausanne): “It’s a great day for Iranian Cinema!”: The Construction of a So-Called Iranian Cinema through the European Festival Network
Isadora Campregher Paiva (Frankfurt/Main): Constructing the Weimar Canon: The Role of Early Film Societies
Pengnan HU (Amsterdam): Making the Silk Road International Film Festival in Fuzhou: The Dynamics of Propaganda, Astute Actors, and Hidden Agendas

Respondent: Aida Vallejo

15:30 – 16:00 Coffee break

16:00 – 18:00 @ Filmuni “Flyer”

Final Round

The 20th NECS Graduate Workshop is held in English and is planned as an in-person event only, taking place in presence in Potsdam. The workshop (February 14-15, 2023) is timed to take place right before the Berlin International Film Festival (February 16-26, 2023) so that people can easily attend the festival afterwards. Participants will need to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses. Travel information, as well as a list of affordable hotels and other accommodation will be provided. Workshop attendance is free, but valid NECS membership is required to participate. Participants must register with NECS at https://necs.org/user/register. For the terms of NECS membership, please also refer to our website: https://necs.org/faq.

Please address all inquiries to and .

20th NECS Graduate Workshop organizers: Lucy Pizaña, Maja Korbecka, Skadi Loist