On greening film festivals: The environmental impact of film festivals and their future design and operation

Abstract

As the effects of global warming become more pressing each industry, all social domains, every political party, and all individuals need to contribute efforts to bend environmental hazardous developments and reduce the impacts of climate change. As academics specialising in film festivals, we initiated a roundtable to bring together several film festival organisers and scholars to compare notes on the general impact of film festivals on the environment and to anticipate future directions for greening the sector. This is an edited transcript of the roundtable that took place on 13 January 2022 via Zoom. The roundtable begins with opening statements by the invited participants. Amaia Serrulla from San Sebastian International Film Festival and Fabienne Merlet from Locarno Film Festival give accounts of the sustainability measures at these A-list film festivals. Rachel Dodds and Laura Marks introduce their initiatives for greening the sector of festivals through consulting and the Small File Media Festival project respectively. The issue of film festival sustainability is gaining traction and the experiences of forerunners like San Sebastian and Locarno are fast-becoming models for future action on the part of festivals, the communities they serve, as well as their funding agencies and sponsors.