International Film Festivals as Field-Configuring Events
Studies examining the issue of organizational field evolution, especially on cultural field's, have found that some events shape the process by acting as 'purveyors of legitimacy' (Anand and Peterson, 2000). However, no research is forthcoming on events such as international film festivals that serve a similar function. A new theoretical framework - field-configuring events (FCEs) by Lampel' and Meyer (2008) seeks to rectify the lack of attention paid to 'events' by organization scientists. . Adopting their framework, my research explicates one such event in cultural industries, particularly the global film in9ustry - international filin festival. Towards that end, my PhD thesis spawns four papers - one conceptual and three empirical papers. First, I articulate international film festivals as field-configuring events, and identify some of their key characteristics: spatial embededness, temporal recurrence, programming, premiership, juried competition, film markets, side bars, and accreditation. Second, I examine the organization, strategy, and performance of international film festivals. I propose that a prototypical international film festival is a competition of 'films, and its perfonnance is dependent on two resource streams: reputation of nominated films/film makers, and reputation of members of the jury panel. Third, I explicate the macro linkages between an FCE and national film institutions such as BFI through a process known as retrospective consecration. I propose that international film festivals such as Cannes, Venice, and Berlin directly impact.BFI's efforts of anointing the best British films of the 20th century or 'BFI Top Ido'. Finally, I focus on the micro linkages between international film festivals and BFI choices, particularly focusing on how the. choices emerge from a voting college. The BFI's 'Top 100' voting college consists of three groups of respondents or 'cultural hierarchies' - experts, peers, and the public, and I propose that international film festivals represent a fonn of critical recognition and shape expert choices.
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