'Alternative' film exhibition and cultural policies in Portugal: challenges and

opportunities of digitization

Luísa Barbosa: Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, Lisbon (aluisabarbosa@gmail.com) Helena Santos: Faculty of Economics, University of Porto (hsantos@fep.up.pt)

ACEI 2018, RMIT, Melbourne

'Alternative' film exhibition (non and semi-commercial exhibition) Most developed countries have policies for film exhibition and distribution 'beyond commercial cinema'

promoting national/regional filmographies (EU), and/or

stimulating cultural diversity through cinema, and/or

reducing territorial inequalities, and/or

countering the US hegemony (Hollywood)

Film societies have been the key-players of 'alternative' exhibition

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Digitization: A new agenda?

* Despite some crisis in film attendance, young people remain an important segment, and in some countries young theatrical attendance has been growing

* Digitization of screens is close to 100% in developed countries. Nevertheless, equipment is expensive, and non-commercial exhibition requires public intervention

* The case for 'European cinema' and the European Single Digital Market

* New possibilities for 'alternative' exhibition (non-theatrical venues, 'community' exhibition, rural exhibition…) – need for changes in exhibition and distributing policies

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10.3 M (2% of EU28)

Residents

21.3% (EU28: 19%)

Pop. aged 65 and over

16% (EU28: 17.2)

Young people (individuals aged 15 to 29)

48% (EU 28: 77.5%)

Pop. with upper secondary education or over (individuals aged 25 to 64) (2015)

27.3% (EU 28: 33.4%)

High level of educational attainment (%; individuals aged 25 to 54, ISCED 5-8) 2

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Public policies for cinema: 1971 (Minister of Culture: 1995) Main support programs address production A special support for European and other minority

filmographies; and for the internationalisation of the Portuguese films.

Support for festivals (3-years program) Support for the "Network" ("Alternative exhibition circuits";

mainly film societies), since 2004

Cinema in Portugal (1)

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The Alternative Network is not really a network A per year amount of c.100.000€ for c.20 entities Minimum n. of sessions: 30/year Fragile entities, in terms of conditions (space, human resources,

financial resources, programming) Recent strategies: exhibition of (relative) contemporary

(feature) films, and preview releases Parallel initiatives: - Portuguese Cinema in Motion program (since 2012, ICA) - National Plan for Cinema, since 2013 (partnership between the Minister of Culture - ICA and the Portuguese Cinematheque - and the Ministry of Education).

Chaski Group - Communitarian Cinema, Peru

High reputation of the Portuguese (art) cinema…

Theatrical venues all over the country – no programming policies

High territorial inequalities – also regarding commercial exhibition

Cinema is not accessible to all people

Cinema in Portugal (2)

Abi Feijó (1995) Lusitanian Fado, 5’30'', PT/UK

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165

547

173

571

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Venues Screens

Venues and screens, 2015 and 2017 (ICA)

2015 2017

2017 5 screens per 100000 inhabitants Average audience per session: 23 A small market: max. audience/film, 2017: 787 724 (Fast & Furious 8)

33%

16% 13%

13%

21% 4%

N. of screens, 2017 (%, N=571)

Lisbon Metropolitan Area

Porto Metropolitan Area

North Region (exc. PMA)

Central Region

South Region (Alentejo + Algarve)

Islands (Açores + Madeira)

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Note: Digital screens

67%

34%

51%

15%

65%

32%

49%

15%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Municipalitieswithout screens

(N=308)

Population withno exhibition

Screens: Lisbonand Porto

MetropolitanAreas

Screens: Lisbonand Porto (cities)

Film exhibition in Portugal, 2015 and 2017 (ICA)

2015 2017

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Coastal vs Inland municipalities: N. of screens, 2017*

* The area of the municipalities is proportional to the value of the variable

Our study (2013-)

Non-commercial exhibition remains poorly studied within the EU, including in Portugal

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Port

o F

ilm S

oci

ety

Mapping and characterising the entities: Who are they? How do they work?

The 'Alternative Network and beyond'

Phase 1: Production of empirical data (2013-2014) Internet search on multiple sources: 558 entities that had organized a film screening at a certain point Phase 2: Qualitative analysis of the entities previously identified

more than half the entities (52%) were left out final sample: 266 entities Entities with regular exhibition: 140 Phase 3: A survey (Nov 2015-May 2016) In-depth characterisation N=75 (validated responses)

43.2; 43%

47.4; 47%

9.4; 10%

Type of exhibition (%, N= 266 entities)

Regular exibition

Events (eg festivals, …)

Both

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Non-

commercial

exhibition +

no

commercial

exhibition

(9%)

No

exhibition

(57%)

Non-

commercial

exhibition

(29%)

Film exhibition in Portugal, 2016: % municipalities (N=308)

See: https://exibicaonaocomercialdecinema.weebly.com/ (English version soon…)

Phase 1

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Non-commercial exhibition (59%)

Non-commercial exhibition + no commercial exhibition (9%)

No exhibition (26%)

Film exhibition in Portugal, 2016: % population

Phase 1

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Metropolitan

Areas of Lisboa

+ Porto (54%)

Lisboa +

Porto

(cities)

(40%)

Other cities

(district

capitals)

(21%)

High density

(municipalities)*

(51%)

Low density

(municipalities)**

(18%)

Alternative exhibition in Portugal, 2012-2014: % agents (entities) with regular exhibition, N=140

* 1500 inhabitants per km2 or more + total population of at least 50000 inhabitants ** < 100 inhabitants per km2 (rural areas)

Phase 1

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Cultural

associations

(not only film

societies) (75%;

N=138)*

Main activity:

cinema (53%;

N=136)

At least 1 session

per month (79%;

N=121)

Alternative exhibition in Portugal, 2012-2014: % agents (entities) with regular exhibition (respondents)

* Broader category: 87% (not for profit) (of which 15% [18] are university students' associations)

Phase 1

Persistence of high territorial concentration:

North Region (except Porto Met Area) as an

exception: 38% of the entities

Only 15% (28 entities) have been subsidised by the Portuguese Film Institute (ICA)

12 entities have been granted since the beginning of the ICA program (2004)

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Some results of the in-depth characterisation (1) (N. of entities: 75)

41

19 15

48

24 15 12

36

61

15

48

27

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ICA

Localisation Activity Main activity(cinema)

Financial support

Film societies in Northern Region: 19, of which 13 outside Porto Met

Phase 3

Urban concentration (and Met Areas) Regular exhibition (minimum 1 session/month) Cinema as the core activity (exclusively or not) No financial support The role of the local government (municipalities)

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Some results of the in-depth characterisation (2) (N. of entities: 75; with formal workplace: 55)

Phase 3

33

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15 17 14

11 10 13 12

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Exhibitionrights

Formal office/workplace (73%, N=55)

Exhibition 'on the fringes' (problems with distribution) Informal conditions (equipment, workplace) Role of (some) municipalities (local government)

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Some results of the in-depth characterisation (3): Human resources 1 (see N - entities)

Phase 3

Small organizations People are related to cinema (skills/ expertise)

16 13

17

24

16

12

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Up to 3people

4 to 5 6 to 10 Up to 3people

4 to 5 6 to 10

People (N=58 entities) People dedicated to filmactivities (N=58 entities)

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63

37 28

35

18 16

86

14 20

67

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Gender Age Education Work

Some results of the in-depth characterisation (3): Human resources 2 (%, N= 203; 61 entities)

Phase 3

Male Young (average age = 38) Highly educated The role of volunteers

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Regina Pessoa (2005), PT/Can, 7'53''

Analysis still in-progress There is alternative exhibition beyond the 'Alternative network' -

Need for a real network (even within the 'Alternative network') Programming policies and partnerships at local levels (public venues all over the territory) Distribution and exhibition policies (Digitization policies)

Precarious and informal practices - Dependency on distributors Audience and community embeddedness International comparison (EU and outside) + good practices

Integrated and differentiated policies

A new agenda?…