ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes a productive way to understand the work of film programming as a form of affective labor. It examines the positive forms of affect that festival work can entail that is, the pleasure and excitement experienced during the festival alongside the lesser-known affective states of despair, disappointment, and anger that need to be managed as a consequence of films being rejected from the festival. Programming is one of the most desirable and sought-after positions at a festival. The nature of film programming means that films have to be screened in a very short time frame and screening films for 12-plus hours daily is common during the busiest times. An understanding of programming at this final stage as what transpires over ten days during the festival fails to account for the fact that the bulk of the "work" of programming actually takes places in the months before the festival starts.
