“We need to keep making stuff, regardless of what the situation is”: creativity and the film festival sector during COVID-19

Abstract

PurposeIn-person film festival experiences have faced uncertain futures since the spread of COVID-19. Snap-lockdowns, unclear and rapidly changing rules to public density allowances in theatres, distribution and challenges of “working-from-home” have become prominent issues to creative and cultural workers employed within the film festival ecosystem. The purpose of this paper, drawing from a series of interviews with film festival directors, organisers and workers within Australia, offers insight into the working lives of those employed within the film festival sector during 2020.Design/methodology/approachUsing the research team's existing professional networks and a targeted approach of participant recruitment, this paper draws upon interview data from 5 semi-structured interviews with participants located in various Australian capital cities, who were working in the film festival sector during 2020. Participants were all mid-career, having at least 5 years of employment experience within the film festival ecosystem (directors, programmers and content creators) as well as having experience in other adjacent cultural and creative work.FindingsThe results in this study highlight common concerns of the legacy precarity has on professional and creative practice for those engaged in creative and cultural work, but also of unusual and unexpected opportunities for creativity and new film festival delivery beyond the dominant mode of in-theatre only experience pre-COVID-19.Originality/valueThe originality of this study lies in its qualitative exploration of the various employment experiences of Australian film festival workers during COVID-19.

Festival hiatus, resilience and innovation during COVID-19: learnings from the Edinburgh festivals

“…The findings revealed that Edinburgh's Festivals responded in similar ways to other events and festivals, initially by changing venues and moving content online (Teevan, 2021). These changes enabled the festivals to engage with artists and audiences in new ways in creating content and experiences (Richards and Pacella, 2022). The findings also show how a new and comprehensive support network was established with both external support through government subsidies (Davies, 2020) and also campaigns and support from new grant-making bodies.…”

“…Yet researchers have noted that the desire to reach out and connect with audiences despite the COVID-19 restrictions led to opportunities for creativity and new festival delivery models (Richards and Pacella, 2022). Examining the 2020 Burning Man festival, Rowen (2020) noted the role of audiences and festival organisers in co-creating content and, with the move to online delivery modes, proposed that festivals were moving beyond their geographical and temporal boundaries.…”

Was it Doomsday? First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on the Polish Cultural Industry

“…Simultaneously, the main barrier to developing activities using computerised solutions was the lack of sufficient financial resources that cultural institutions could spend on this purpose (Raimo et al, 2021). Changing ways of functioning for entities in the cultural industry was also considered in terms of prospective creativity within the framework of professional activities (Richards & Pacella, 2022).…”

The moderator role of COVID-19 risk perception in the impact of festival experience quality on life satisfaction

“…The COVID-19 pandemic restricted human mobility worldwide, and the event industry was also profoundly affected during this period (Davies, 2021; Chi et al , 2022; Richards and Pacella, 2022). Film festivals, which have an essential place in the field of event management, were also negatively affected due to uncertainty (Bachman and Hull, 2022; Hanzlíka and Mazierska, 2022; Richards and Pacella 2022). The rise in hybrid film festivals, which consist of online screenings, began in response to the uncertain nature of event management (Richards and Pacella, 2022).…”

“…Film festivals, which have an essential place in the field of event management, were also negatively affected due to uncertainty (Bachman and Hull, 2022; Hanzlíka and Mazierska, 2022; Richards and Pacella 2022). The rise in hybrid film festivals, which consist of online screenings, began in response to the uncertain nature of event management (Richards and Pacella, 2022). With the slowdown of the pandemic and the gradual lifting of restrictions, social and cultural events such as film festivals have started to be held face-to-face with mask and distance measures.…”