3 ms·

It just strikes me as, well, self-defeating to have an international celebration of film confined to your nation's take on it and promoting your local businesse

It just strikes me as, well, self-defeating to have an international celebration of film confined to your nation's take on it and promoting your local businesses while ignoring major contributors to the medium. It seems strange to say, "Well, a film must be in a cinema" when that's not how most people watch them. (At least not the vast majority of films they watch in any of the countries I've been in.) It's not that they banned all soulless corporations producing faux art, they just banned a change in watching habits to prop up an industry with poor value proposition. Film as a medium is a valuable part of culture; theatres aren't necessarily. Theatres must offer something over sitting on the couch -- and in the US they have, introducing things like bars and food services.

Hasknewbie 9y ago
Very much this. It's going to reflect poorly on them that an international film festival can be pushed around by a local movie theater lobby. I especially liked the undertone in some pieces (not Slate) that Netflix is 'exploiting' Cannes to promote its movies, as if that was not the actual point of a festival.
vacri 9y ago
> It seems strange to say, "Well, a film must be in a cinema" when that's not how most people watch them. (At least not the vast majority of films they watch in any of the countries I've been in.) David Sedaris goes on at length about moving to France and falling in love with the film culture there, where movies are shown in small theatres very cheaply. This was back in 2000, so things may have changed, but he was very clear on the differences between the American and French theater-going experience. > Film as a medium is a valuable part of culture; theatres aren't necessarily. You should probably stop calling it 'film', then. Most theatres can still show actual films; few homes can.
- tripzilch 9y ago
  "Film" is the UK English word for the US word "movie" (which has a red squiggly because of my English (UK) spell-check). That's all it means.

Hasknewbie 9y ago

Very much this. It's going to reflect poorly on them that an international film festival can be pushed around by a local movie theater lobby. I especially liked the undertone in some pieces (not Slate) that Netflix is 'exploiting' Cannes to promote its movies, as if that was not the actual point of a festival.

vacri 9y ago

> It seems strange to say, "Well, a film must be in a cinema" when that's not how most people watch them. (At least not the vast majority of films they watch in any of the countries I've been in.) David Sedaris goes on at length about moving to France and falling in love with the film culture there, where movies are shown in small theatres very cheaply. This was back in 2000, so things may have changed, but he was very clear on the differences between the American and French theater-going experience. > Film as a medium is a valuable part of culture; theatres aren't necessarily. You should probably stop calling it 'film', then. Most theatres can still show actual films; few homes can.

tripzilch 9y ago
"Film" is the UK English word for the US word "movie" (which has a red squiggly because of my English (UK) spell-check). That's all it means.