This year’s keynote speaker is professor Chris Berry (King’s College London).
Title: Chinese Film Festivals: Sites of Translation
Abstract:
As Film Festival Studies has emerged as a research field in the last ten years, so too has the concept of the “international film festival circuit.” This talk argues that within this framework, film festivals should be understood as sites of translation – and in two senses. First, film festivals translate cultures through the circulation of films, showcasing ideas of nation, gender, class, ethnicity and from other countries and to guests from other countries. Second, film festivals also translate the concept and practice of the international film festival into the local cultures where they are hosted. Film festival culture is a product of Europe. How has it been translated in the Sinosphere? This talk takes the Hong Kong and Shanghai international film festivals as case studies.