Before, there was the court and the commoners, the nobility and the multitude of masses. Now, there is one giant mass of content that has lost the balance between offer and demand. Production is at its highest point, distribution at its lowest, with fewer titles getting real windows (Read Alessio Cocco’s guide to Inflight Entertainment, link). The gap between products made and products seen is widening dramatically.
The American model, primarily private and market-driven, answers first to the audience because it demands box-office return and gives legitimacy only based on ticket sales. Lauded filmmakers serve brands to create human-centered stories for their marketing (Read Michael Rowley’s Branded Documentary, link). Meanwhile, the market shows an appetizing empty space for a new event in LA in 2028 (Read Patrick Zuchowicki’s The Void in the TV Market, at link).
On the other side of the Ocean, European cinephiles shame the product for the market, annoyed by words like “commerciability” and “entertainment”, pursuing “art” that is mainly funded by public money. But what is art without an audience? Territories use that art to attract cinetourism, and then complain about the wild crowds of tourists invading from all over the world. Meanwhile not enough actions are done to preserve that digital cultural heritage (Digital Archives, link).
Baby boomers who make, produce, finance, and sell films are complaining about audiences abandoning movie theaters — while sitting on data showing it’s their own generation staying home, not Gen Z or millennials, who are showing up in force (but require entertainment and giant P&A budgets).
This September 2026, the Aristocracy of Taste vs. the Democracy of Applause meets in the legitimacy of the choice of festival directors (Read Antonio Bracco’s Two Directors. One tightrope., at link), who are tracing their own path. The Golden Lion and a People’s Choice Award represent two genuinely different value systems, not just two different festivals, but they are part of the same game.
I’d love to receive your comments on this:
Federica Pazzano
Editor-In-Chief
Read more: Cinema & Video International Issue #208
