SANTIAGO, Chile — Film festivals are navigating turbulent times. Many have been affected by public-sector cuts and the impact of COVID-19. However, they are continuing to adapt and evolve in the wake of the pandemic, setting new priorities and responding to a volatile political landscape and the state of cinemagoing globally. This was evident at Chile’s Sanfic Industria last week, during a round table discussion titled “Film Festivals’ Present and Future.”

Panel speakers took in honchos at three top Latin American events – Sanfic artistic director Carlos Nuñez, Rio de Janeiro Film Festival director Ilda Santiago and Estrella Araiza, managing director of Mexico’s Guadalajara Festival.

Panellists also included representatives from two festivals renowned for their inclusion of Latin American movies: José F. Rodríguez, senior programmer at Tribeca, which regularly awards films from the region such as Uruguay’s “Don’t Let Me Go” this year, and Javier García Puerto, a programmer at Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival. Both screen films that challenge stereotypes, featuring Spanish-language movies, such as Tribeca winner “Huesera” from Michelle Garza  and Agustin Toscano’s “I Trust You,” a 2023 Tallinn Rebels With a Cause best director laureate.

The following are five key takeaways from the panel, moderated by LatAm Cinema’s Gerardo Michelin. The observations made during the round table will resonate with many events around the world.

An Ever Evolving New Normal

Two notable examples illustrate this point. Following March 2020, the Tribeca Film Institute indefinitely suspended its funding programs. In 2021, the Tribeca festival shifted its dates from mid-March to early June, which, as Rodríguez acknowledged at Sanfic, has been a “roller coaster.” The festival is now exploring ways to expand its industry activities, including a WIP showcase curated by financiers and distributors, and an industry week dedicated to panels and meetings. At the Rio Festival, 20 years ago, Brazil was “a long way from the rest of Latin America,” said Santiago. Today, thanks in part to increased co-production, Rio “can see the possibility of attracting young audiences who attend to see Latin American films,” added Santiago, who was in Chile for the first time to watch movies.

Festivals, Markets: A Vital Launchpad

Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile, Latin America's top four markets, collectively released 600 films last year, only a 3% decline from 2019, according to Marché du Film’s “Focus” reports.

Despite this, the combined box office of the top five countries in Latin America reached $1.72 billion in 2023, representing a 21% increase from 2019.

In a shrinking marketplace, gaining visibility is crucial for films. Festivals and markets are, therefore, one of the few ways to achieve this. But competition is fierce. At the Edinburgh TV Festival on Tuesday, panelists generally agreed that there are too many projects vying for a decreasing number of broadcaster commissions. A similar sentiment emerged at Sanfic. “We have fewer viewers, fewer theaters, and less distribution. For whom are we producing more, and why? What is the purpose?” Rio’s Santiago asked.

The repercussions of overproduction in a shrinking market were evident throughout the panel discussion.

No Cannes, Venice Reduxes: A Larger Focus on Local, Regional Fare

“You could create a festival just from titles premiering at Berlin and Toronto,” Santiago observed. But she won’t be doing anything of the kind. Both Rio and Sanfic tap vital public sector funding. Guadalajara draws down federal, Jalisco region and municipal funding, said Araiza. Meanwhile, with more ambitious productions still struggling to fully recover from the pandemic, local film market shares in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico stood in 2023 at 7.6%, 3.2%, 3.1%, 1.2% and 4%, according to “Focus.” Hardly surprisingly, one of the biggest priorities of all three Latin American events is to showcase  local productions.  “The role [that festivals have] as a launch-pad for local, Latin and Ibero-American talent is super important for us,” said Nuñez. Santiago and Araiza agreed.

Fewer Films

Boosting films’ visibility has cascading effects. “We believe in creating an event, not just going to see a film but also a performance or a conversation with Paul McCartney, David Fincher or Steven Soderbergh,” said Tribeca’s Rodríguez. Festivals are also reducing the number of films they show. Guadalajara screened 194 films this June. “We’ll never get back to the numbers of films we had before the pandemic,” said Arailza. “We could have 50, 60 more films, but we’re interested in giving each film a platform,” Nuñez adds. Santiago agreed. She used to program 400 films, now screens 200. At the Tallinn Black Nights Festival, “we used to screen 400 films before the pandemic. Now, including shorts, we’re at around 300, 200 of which are feature films,” said García Puerto.

Festivals Focus on Audiences

Film festivals are also acutely focused on their films reaching audiences, especially a newer generation of moviegoers. This is partly a cultural imperative: to introduce young viewers to cinema before they're absorbed by online platforms like YouTube. But as young audiences drive the box office rebound globally, they are also making up an increasingly large portion of festival crowds. “There are a lot of young people, 20-30s, who are returning to theaters. The 30s-50s are still a little-bit more inclined to stay home, which could be because they got used to streaming during the pandemic, but we think we’ll get them back,” said Nuñez, who added that attendance is gradually increasing at Sanfic, now around 40,000. The question is what festivals ultimately serve for, observed García Puerto. “Why do we speak so much about co-production funds and we don’t talk about distribution funds? How many films can you produce which are never seen? We should make more workshops about building audiences, not just the creation of films,” he added.