Migration Film Festivals Social Functions, Expectations and Challenges

This book explores the intersections of migration and film festivals, with particular attention to their social functions . Adopting an interdisciplinary and multi-bottom line perspective, the authors address the purposes and circumstances of migration film festivals; their delimitation as distinct from other genres of festivals; their cinematographic creation; and their approaches to the curation and programming of films. Numerous questions arise in the process: Is social function prone to homogenization among migration film festivals? What are these festivals’ main constraints in negotiating their social functions? What is their actual capacity to foster social transformation? How do we conceive of the fact that most migration festival goers are rarely the ones in need of changing their perceptions? How are migrants actually involved in these cultural events? What are the specific challenges that undermine migration film festivals in achieving a greater social impact, and in turning into true axes of critical reflection towards more empathetic, inclusive and respectful ways of life?

INTRODUCTION.- PART I: Framing Migrations Discourses: Contexts and Evolution.- 1.1           Migrations as Controversial Discourses in the Global Public Arena.- 1.2           Migrations in their Geographical and Contextual Spaces.- 1.2.1.     The Mediterranean Region: Paradigmatic Shifts in a Challenging Context.- 1.2.1.1 Risky Migrations and the Mediatization of Controversies Re-visited.- 1.2.2.  The sub-Saharan in Migration: a Pending Reality of a complex Duality.- 1.2.3.   Latin American Migrations Repositioned: Inconsistencies and Ambivalences Demystified.- 1.2.4.   Asian Migrations in Focus: New Challenges, Contributions and Prospects.- 1.3           The Construction of Migrations in Filmic Discourses: Cinematic Spaces in Context(s).- 1.3.1      Subjectivation, Fictionalization and Resilience: Cinematic Devices Reconsidered.- 1.3.2      Hegemonic and Counter-hegemonic Migration Discourses and Representation in Media and Cinema.- 1.3.2.1 The Spanish Case.- 1.3.2.2  The Moroccan Case.- 1.3.2.3  The Sub-Saharan Case.- 1.3.2.4  Other Mediterranean Migration Films.- 1.3.2.5  The Latin American case.- 1.3.2.6  The Asian case.- PART II: The Cosmopolitan Festivalization of Migrations in Films: A Conceptual Reading 2.1 The Conceptual Debate about Migration Film Festivals: A contribution.- 2.1.1 Migration Film Festivals in Motion: Specificities, Underlying Forces and Function.- 2.1.2 The Social Function of Migration Film Festivals: Witnessing, Negotiating, and Transforming the Public Space.- PART III: Migrations film festivals Across the Entertainment Divide.- 3.1 The internal dynamics of migration film festivals.- 3.1.1. Self-image in Migration Film Festivals: Visions and Missions.- 3.1.2 Curating beyond Entertainment: Constraints and Challenges.- 3.1.2.1. The Symbolic Frontiers of Curation in Centre-Periphery Binaries: Cannes and Beyond.- 3.1.2.2 The After Screening Activities: A Prolegomena to Film Reception.- 3.1.2.3. The Programming Dynamics: Partnerships, Promotion and Outreach in Migration Film Festivals.- 3.1.3 Challenges of Migration Film Festivals: A Critical Reflection.- 3.1.3.1 Innovation in Curation and Programming: A Contribution.- 3.1.3.2 Audiences in Migration Film Festivals: Catalyzers of Changing Perceptions.- 3.1.3.3. The Future Predicaments of Migration Film Festivals.- Conclusions.- Bibliography.- Index.

Lidia Peralta García is an Associate Professor of Audiovisual Communication in the Faculty of Communication and Documentation at the University of Granada (Spain).

Lhoussain Simour is an Associate Professor of English and Cultural Studies at Hassan II University of Casablanca (Morocco), and is Senior Research Associate at the University of Gibraltar (UK). Together, they have collaborated on publications related to cinema and migration narratives.