Attendance at MIFF: 185,000 (2009?), “the nation’s most popular film event by far.” SFF: 135,000
“New viewing devices such as video iPods and iPhones and the advent of viewer-generated content are revolutionising the way people access an relate to the moving image.”

“Already there is talk of the need for ‘digital film festivals’, where films can be downloaded instead of projected in cinemas. This seems to be missing the point. Film festivals are never just about showing films. They’re about the collective experience, appealing to our instinctive need for gregariousness and sense of community.”

“It’s no accident that the trend towards downloading music coincides with a huge rise worldwide in the popularity of live music. Filmfests, for all their worship of two-dimensional images, are essentially live events—they have more in common with arts festivals than they do with cinemas.”

“But if the programs are larger than they were in the 1960s and 1970s, it reflects the way that audiences have changed. No longer is there a single, relatively homogenous audience that turns out annually to see a certain type of art house film.”

“[…] Watching a film in a festival is not like seeing it in release.” In wide release (cinema, DVD, etc.).

“The sense of occasion, often packed cinemas, the presence of filmmakers, the ability to measure films against each other, significantly enhances the experience.”

“Without distributed titles [cinema, DVD, etc.] the festivals would become more elite. Lacking the drawcards that appeal to sponsors, government and a more general film-loving public, it’s hard to see how they could survive financially.”

“For all the pressures on them—financial, technological, increased rivalry—festivals that respond strategically and adapt to changing circumstances are likely to thrive. The main reason is that independent and art house cinema is in commercial crisis around the globe. Titles that used to be assured of a cinema audience are dying. Because the old release patterns are no longer working, distributors are likely to look to the festivals as part of their launch strategies even more than they do already. And because fewer titles will be bought for cinema distribution, the festivals will retain their core role of screening aesthetically interesting work otherwise difficult to see on the big screen. Festivals will remain a bulwark against Hollywood-led blockbuster aesthetics and homogenisation, an important avenue of discovery where viewers will continue to give themselves permission to take risks, to broaden and deepen their experience and appreciation of cinema.”

Barber, L ~ CAL/Meanjin Essay: A Fistful of Festivals (01.08.2009)