ABSTRACT
Described by Alex Fischer as the “lifeblood of contemporary film culture” (Fischer 2013: xi), film festivals have come to occupy one of the most important places for peripheral or non-commercial cinema to reach global audiences in recent years (Iordanova 2010: 9). Demonstrating a seemingly unquenchable demand for the particular brand of cinematic discovery specifically provided by the film festival phenomenon, the larger global environment has experienced a boom over the past thirty years. This rapid expansion has been characterized by film festivals being established in literally every corner of the world. Hannah McGill puts this development into perspective by suggesting that at least one film festival opens every thirty-six hours somewhere in the world (McGill 2011: 280).
