Gatekeepers or Gardeners? How Major Festivals Cultivate and Curate the Global Film Ecosystem 

Film festivals are often understood through the films they select, but their influence begins much earlier. They identify emerging voices, create points of entry into the international industry, and increasingly accompany filmmakers as they move from short films and early projects towards their first or second features. Discovery is no longer limited to recognizing a completed film. It also involves identifying potential, supporting artistic development, and building professional relationships that can sustain a filmmaker’s career. This expanding role is particularly important at a time when the pathways into independent cinema are becoming more fragmented and difficult to navigate. Alongside their public programmes, festivals now operate laboratories, workshops, residencies, and project-development initiatives intended to support filmmakers before and after a premiere. Yet the same institutions that nurture talent also decide who receives access to visibility, mentorship, financing, and professional networks. The power to discover is inseparable from the power to exclude. Do talent programmes open the gates to filmmakers who might otherwise remain unseen, or do they extend the festival’s gatekeeping role to an even earlier stage of the creative process? When festivals invest in filmmakers over several years, are they creating space for artistic independence, or are they inevitably shaping the work according to established expectations of what can travel internationally? Can a festival act as a genuine gardener while continuing to operate within competitive hierarchies of premieres, selection, and prestige? What responsibility follows the moment of discovery? And who remains outside these opportunities, despite the growing language of inclusion and access?