Film Festivals Archives - Celluloid Junkie

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Passion Over Profit: The Formula That Kept South African Horrorfest Alive

Twenty-one years. In the volatile world of film exhibition, particularly for independent, niche-focused festivals, this level of longevity is not just an achievement: it’s an operational anomaly. The South African Horrorfest, hosted annually in Cape Town, South Africa and co-founded by Paul B…

Cult Classics and Community: Fantastic Fest Marks 20th Anniversary Milestone

Autumn is upon us and so too is movie awards season. The unofficial opening of this window for accolades is typically marked by the launch of two major film festivals in early September, the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), both of which concluded within the p…

(From Left) Dylan Leiner of Sony Pictures Classics, Jakob Abrahamsson of NonStop Entertainment, Frank L. Stavik of Fidalgo, and Antonella Canturi of Rai Cinema's 01 Distribution and moderator Davide Abbatescianni during a Buyers In Focus session on 6 September 2025 at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival

Distribution Around the World: Buyers at TIFF Share Lessons for Theatrical’s Next Chapter

At the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival’s Buyers In Focus sessions, industry leaders from six territories revealed how they’re navigating streaming pressure, changing audiences, and TIFF’s rise as a market hub. This year’s Toronto International Film Festival (September 4–14) hosted sev…

2025 Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto at 50: TIFF Still Delivers, Even as Its Clout Wanes

At the international premiere of his long-gestating labor of love “Frankenstein,” Guillermo del Toro couldn’t stop gushing about the capital of Ontario. “This movie is the culmination of a long, long, not dating, not a casual fling, but a complete marriage to Toronto,” he said from the stage of the…

A montage of filmstars - Dwayne Johnson, Julia Robertson, George Clooney, Jim Jarmusch - sit against the Venice Film Festival sign

Venice Film Festival 2025: Streamers and Stars Own the Lido While Jarmusch Sneaks Off with the Golden Lion

Forget easing into the Lido with gondolas and red-carpet glitz — Venice 2025 (27th August to 6th September) came out swinging. Between George Clooney and Dwayne Johnson lighting up the premieres, MUBI and Netflix muscling into awards-season territory, and a record-breaking ovation for “The Voice of…

(From Left) La Frances Hui (MoMA), Jacques Jagou, Pip Chodorov, Leo Van Hee, Elodie Mellado, Bernardo Rondeau during the Promotional Strategies for Classic Films Today panel at the 78th Locarno Film Festival on August 11, 2025

Locarno Insights: Marketing Classics in the Age of Letterboxd

On August 11, at the Locarno Film Festival’s Heritage Monday roundtable, industry leaders debated how to market classic films to a new generation raised on TikTok and Letterboxd. The session, titled “Promotional Strategies for Classic Films Today,” was moderated by freelance programmer Bernardo Rond…

Locarno Film Festival 2025 - Building Sustainable Film Ecosystems in Africa - Panel - Mitchell Harper, Neigeme Glasgow-Maeda, Tshepiso Chikapa Phiri, Ema Edosio-Deelen, Yannick Mizero Kabano

Locarno Panel Champions Africa’s Self-Reliant Film Ecosystem

On 9 August, Hotel Belvedere’s Sala Granda hosted the Locarno Pro panel “Building Sustainable Film Ecosystems in Africa: Financing the Future” during this year’s Locarno Film Festival. The event brought together filmmakers and industry strategists from across the continent and beyond to explore inno…

The stage at Mediterranean Film Festival is lit up in a dark room for the awards ceremony. The left side says We Are Malta and the right says We Are Film.

Mediterrane Film Festival Showcases Malta’s Popularity with Hollywood

Most film festivals are designed to bring together audiences with the latest movies from both established directors and rising stars. Now in its third year, the Mediterrane Film Festival (MFF) seemingly has a different mission. Hosted on the island of Malta during the last ten days of June, it’s as…

Cannes Film Festival - Marche du Film 2025 - Defining and Designing European Film Success - Panel - Maja Cappello, Huub Roelvink, Peter Fornstam, Valeska Neu, Mati?ss Kaz?a, Agnieszka Moody, Gilles Fontaine

Cannes 2025: Defining the Success of European Films

The European Audiovisual Observatory’s traditional Saturday panel at Cannes’ Marché du Film, held this year on 17 May, returned to a timely and contentious question: what makes a European film successful—and how can we create more success stories? Moderated by Maja Cappello and Gilles Fontaine of th…

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panhi won the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 24, 2025 in Cannes, France

Jafar Panahi Goes From Prison to Palme d’Or at 2025 Cannes Film Festival

Jafar Panahi collapsed into his seat at the Grand Théâtre Lumière on Saturday evening during the closing ceremony of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The Iranian filmmaker had just heard actress Juliette Binoche inform the world that he had won the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize, for…