Film Programming: Curating for Cinemas, Festivals, Archives

by Peter Bosma

This study explores artistic choices in cinema exhibition, focusing on film theaters, film festivals, and film archives and situating film-curating issues within an international context. Artistic and commercial film availability has increased overwhelmingly as a result of the digitization of the infrastructure of distribution and exhibition. The film trade's conventional structures are transforming and, in the digital age, supply and demand can meet without the intervention of traditional gatekeepers--everybody can be a film curator, in a passive or active way. This volume addresses three kinds of readers: those who want to become film curators, those who want to research the film-curating phenomenon, and those critical cinema visitors who seek to investigate the story behind the selection process of available films and the way to present them.

Genres: Film

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2015

About the author

Peter Bosma (1960) studeerde Nederlands en theaterwetenschap aan de Universiteit Utrecht. Hij is werkzaam in het praktijkveld als filmmedewerker bij LantarenVenster, Rotterdam. Als or-lid heeft hij de urgentie van een goed doordacht en helder uitgevoerd peoplemanagement ervaren.
Hij heeft een brede ervaring als docent in het hoger onderwijs, zowel hbo als universiteit.

Reviews

[Nina Di Salvo · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I didn’t necessarily find this book to be a waste of time, but, it really is just a general overview of film curation and not as expansive as I was expecting. There are some hidden treasures within this manuel (get ready because that is the style of writing), and a noteworthy amount of name dropping (for both filmmakers, curators, critics, programmers, films themselves, etc) that you could find useful upon further research. This book should be supplemented with an open google chrome window so you can personally expand your intellectual intake while reading.

In Short Cuts, Peter Bosma discusses cinephila and it’s relationship to every individual viewer (who come into the theatre, or wherever they take in their content, with a unique, customized collection of previously digested films, which impacts their current viewing experience), current trends in curating/how the company actually brings in an audience to keep the business prosperous, distribution and how people receive their content in this current era, curating specifically for film theaters, festivals, and archives, and the good ol’ question “what is cinema?” Most of this information you will receive in film school if you’re curious and actually use your professors knowledge, or actively watch interviews with filmmakers, critics, curators, etc. For me, I most enjoyed the chapter on curating for film archives because this was new information for my current level of exposure, expanding my awareness of the historical and current work occurring in national and international film archives, how they promoting and collect film heritage, specific companies, institutes, museums, etc. There was a great discussion about film art, found footage films, and seeing film as an art historian, which I so loved because it is (STILL) so rare that you see video incorporated in a modern art exhibit. It is still largely disregarded and it was nice to see some discussions on this matter.

The case studies in the final chapter of the book were useful, it was nice to put all of the information into context, and you can also easily do so by looking at the Metrograph, Film at Lincoln Center, Alamo, or other cinema house to observe how they program their events/craft their scheduling. It definitely is an under-viewed Artforum with such a vast collection of options, despite our medium being so young.

Again, I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from reading this book, but understand how microscopic it is written about shallow/broad concepts, it gets very redundant, very quickly.

[Grace]

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