ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the public sphere not as a commentary on social theory so much as a map for current and future questions for film festival studies. It focuses on the potential of theories of public spheres in the study of both A-list film festivals as "heirs" of the liberal bourgeois public sphere and alternative film festivals that address specialized populations and concerns and thus recreate publics and discourses. The chapter examines film festivals as loose structures with many components that allow a great deal of flexibility of production, text, and audience. It links the potential of various formulations of public sphere to both empirical and theoretical research. Film festivals are concrete events, encompassing both time and physical spaces that allow people to congregate. In fact, multiple publics have evolved in the varied events related to the Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) and the festival has participated in and engendered multiple public spheres.
