ABSTRACT
Organized around an interview with the curator of the 2009 Ahmedabad International Film Festival in India, this article inventories a number of issues germane to future discussions of the film festival as an emerging exhibition venue in India. I examine some of the existing theoretical and critical models for analyzing film festivals, and argue that the film festival should be considered as a ‘medium’ that behaves as a productive constraint on both film production and spectatorship. Finally, I consider the unique relation between the spectatorial behaviors encouraged within festival settings and the narrative strategies of Indian popular films, so as to interrogate their impact on the cultivation of a critically-oriented Indian film audience. I conclude by evaluating the promises and challenges of the infrastructural limitations faced by Indian film festivals for the emergence of alternative cinema publics.
