The program for the 15th Annual International Small Cinemas Conference, titled Changing Policies, Transforming Audiences, and Work Practices In-flux, has been officially announced. The conference will be held in Zagreb at the New Academic Scene F22 from November 5 to 7, 2024. Over the course of three days, international and local experts will discuss key challenges faced by small film industries. Special attention will be given to the impact of global streaming services, new production models, and technological innovations in film production and distribution.
The conference will be opened by Professor Katharine Sarikakis from the University of Vienna, with a lecture titled The Urgent Beauty of Small Spaces: Success and Competitiveness of the European Film Industry. This will be followed by a roundtable titled Evidence-based Policy-making for Small Film Industries, featuring scholars Ivana Kostovska from Belgium and Jakob Isak Nielsen from Denmark, alongside public policy stakeholders in the audiovisual sector, including HAVC Director Christopher Peter Marcich and Krešimir Partl, State Secretary at the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media. Additionally, the first day will feature presentations on the internationalization and production challenges of small film markets, as well as a panel on the implications of changes to Spain’s audiovisual law.
The second day of the conference will feature a panel on the competitiveness of small film industries, focusing on strategies for enhancing competitiveness through international projects like the EU initiatives Reboot, SCENE, and CresCine. There will also be sessions on the future of distribution and cinema infrastructure, the impact of global streaming platforms, and local responses to these platforms. A roundtable on the challenges of the independent cinema network in Croatia will also take place, moderated by Martina Petrović, Head of the CED – MEDIA Office Croatia.
On the third day, Professor Petr Szczepanik from Charles University in Prague will deliver a keynote lecture titled Geography of the Streaming Economy: East-Central Europe as a Digital Periphery. The remainder of the day will be dedicated to sessions on technological innovations and production incentives, with a concluding panel discussing the emancipatory potential of the screen, the decolonization of culture, and alternative distribution models.
The 15th Annual International Small Cinemas Conference is organized by the Department of Culture and Communication of the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO) in collaboration with the Zagreb Film Festival (ZFF), ZFF Industry, and the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. The conference is part of the Horizon Europe CresCine project, aimed at increasing the international competitiveness of the film industry in small European markets. The conference is free for interested participants with necessary prior registration at the following link.
You can find the full conference program here.
