Events Archives - Celluloid Junkie

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IND/EX 2026 brought independent cinemas and film festivals together in Chicago to focus on community, sustainability, advocacy and resilience

IND/EX 2026: Big Theatre Chains Have Customers. Independent Cinemas Have Communities.

As consolidation, shifting release windows and funding pressure reshape the film business, IND/EX 2026 showed independent exhibitors and festivals organizing around community value, operational resilience and a stronger collective voice. While much of the global exhibition business gathered in Barce…

Malta Film Commissioner Johann Grech has ambition plans for the island nation's future as a filming location, and he's using the Mediterrane Film Festival to bring Malta to the industry's attention (Photo: Courtesy Mediterrane Film Festival)

How the Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta Is Putting the Island on the Map for Filmmakers

Speaking to Celluloid Junkie during the festival, Malta Film Commissioner Johann Grech lays out his ambitious strategy for the film festival, and how he hopes it will act as a springboard for further investment in the island country as a filming location. This year, the Mediterrane Film Festival ret…

(From left) Host Aylin Kazi; TikTok creator Melo Nsuka; Jackie Meire, EU Head of Social at Amazon Prime Video, UK; and actress Runa Greiner, who participated in the EFM 2026 panel "From Community to Box Office: How Fandom on TikTok Drives Impact," held on Feb 13, 2026. (Photo: Winson, courtesy of EFM)

Social Media, Fandom and the Hard Question of Conversion

The question of whether social media buzz can actually drive potential audiences to cinemas is as pertinent as ever. As the first reactions for “The Odyssey” break, we reflect on panels that explored this topic at the European Film Market earlier this year… The news that Christophe…

(From left) Ruun Nour, Vancouver International Film Festival programmer and No Evil Eye Cinema co-founder; Can Sungu, artistic director of SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA; Kira Simon-Kennedy, film producer and volunteer member with La Clef collective; and moderate Jeremy Chua, producer at Potocol and executive director of the Singapore International Film Festival, who participated in the Cannes Docs panel “Micro Cinemas and Macro Impact: Independent Exhibition as a Social and Communal Practice,” held on May 16, 2026 (Photo: © Cyril Chateau / Marché du Film)

Micro Cinemas, Major Impact: How Grassroots Exhibitors are Rebuilding Film Culture

At a time when traditional distribution remains under pressure, micro cinemas and independent exhibition spaces may be offering one of the most concrete answers to the question of how films can still find committed, physically present audiences. That was the central argument emerging from the Cannes…

(From left) Nicolas Edmery and Elisa Joliveau-Breney, film analysts at the European Audiovisual Observatory; Naohiro Kaji, director of the Culture and Creative Industries Division at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; and Martin Kanzler, deputy head of department for market information at the Observatory, who participated in the "FOCUS on World Film Market Trends" at the Marché du Film in Cannes on May 15, 2026. (Photo: courtesy of European Audiovisual Observatory)

Global Cinema Attendance Inches Up, But the Recovery Belongs to Asia, Says the Latest FOCUS Report

The global theatrical market continued its uneven recovery in 2025, with Asia emerging as the main engine of growth and Japan standing out as one of the few major territories to surpass its pre-pandemic attendance levels. That was the central message from the launch of the 2026 edition of FOCUS – Wo…

Guests arrive at the UK Cinema Association's 2026 Conference (Photo: Julie Edwards Visuals)

UKCA 2026 Conference: Box Office Optimism, Engaging Gen Z, and Leveraging the Power of Community

At the UK Cinema Association’s annual conference – which took place in May 2026 at the Vue London Westfield, Shepherd’s Bush – the mood was cautiously optimistic over the two days of talks, perhaps boosted by the buoyant reaction out of CinemaCon in Las Vegas a month earlier. The current box office…

(From left) Anthony D'alessandro of Deadline, , Eduardo Acuna of Regal, filmmaker Michael Tiddes, Blair Rich of Legendary Entertainment, Andrew Cripps of Disney and Adam Fogelson of Lionsgate during the "Future of Storytelling for the Big Screen" panel at the Regal Sherman Oaks Galleria on June 15, 2026.

The Box Office Is Back. At a Renovated Regal Theatre, the Industry Asks What Comes Next

At the “Future of Storytelling for the Big Screen” panel, executives from Regal, Disney, Lionsgate and Legendary weighed in on younger audiences, theatrical windows, premium screens and the looming Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Regal’s newly renovated Sherman Oaks Galleria theatre…

(From left) Daniel Berger, President at Oscilloscope Pictures; Sarah Mosses, Founder & CEO of Together Films; John Nein, Senior Programmer & Director of Strategy, Sundance Film Festival; Sharon 'Rocky' Roggio, Founder & Creative Director, 1946 Studios; and moderator Iddo Patt, CEO & Co-Founder of Eventive (Photo: Eventive)

Can Direct-to-Audience Distribution Give Indie Films a New Path to Theatres?

For decades, the independent film industry has operated according to a familiar hierarchy. A filmmaker completes a project, premieres at a major festival, secures a distributor, launches a theatrical run, and hopes that audiences discover the film through cinemas, home entertainment releases or – mo…

(From Left) Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, Co-Founder and Co-Presidents of Sony Pictures Classics, Dylan Leiner, EVP of Acquisitions, Production and Business Affairs at Sony Pictures Classics and Matt Brennan of the Los Angeles Times during the "How Sony Pictures Classics Navigates the World of Indie and International Cinema" panel on March 18, 2026 at the 2026 Marché du Film alongside the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.

The Long Game: How Sony Pictures Classics Still Wins at Cannes

There are easier ways to make a living than selling independent and international cinema in 2026. There are safer businesses than theatrical distribution, quieter ones than acquisitions, and certainly more predictable ones than building a release strategy around festival discovery, Oscar momentum, r…

2026 Cannes Film Festival - Palais des Festivals

Cannes 2026: Strong Films, Thin Buzz and a Market Finding New Footing

A strong competition without a consensus breakout, a Marché reshaped by private capital, and a Hollywood no-show that raised uncomfortable questions about the festival’s global reach. The 79th Cannes Film Festival closed on May 23 the way it opened — with defiance. No major Hollywood studio tentpole…