Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
2-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Program
Comparative Literature
Advisor
Giancarlo Lombardi
Committee Members
Jerry Carlson
Eugenia Paulicelli
Subject Categories
Film and Media Studies | Film Production | Italian Language and Literature
Keywords
Festival Studies, Venice Film Festival, Transnational Cinema, Film Aesthetics, Film Theory
Abstract
This dissertation investigates the history of the Venice Film Festival until 1968 to unpack the political role of this national cultural institution through which multiple national modernities and cinematic modernism circulated the world. Since its inception in 1932, the festival has always performed a double function, opening up a canon to include art films from the global south and guarding Art Film standards against Hollywood's norms. Therefore, the Venice Film Festival stands at a critical juncture between the commercial interests of the film industry and the festival's core mission to honor and showcase artistic excellence in cinema. This tension has significantly impacted the essence of the festival, defining the delicate equilibrium between commercial viability and artistic integrity. In my research, I describe the festival's history as a complex interplay between various industry entities, such as the MPAA and FIAPF, the press, and Directors’ associations. The mediation between those interests has affected the festival's role as a taste-maker and gatekeeper. Indeed, the construction of an Art Cinema canon that the festival sought to establish can be perceived as a direct outcome of this intricate and interwoven process.
This dissertation focuses specifically on the ten Venice Film Festival editions between 1946 and 1956, as during those years, the discourse around Art Cinema underwent a formative phase influenced by a multifaceted network of transnational forces. The time frame served as a crucial backdrop wherein such discourse was intricately entwined and continuously redefined within the gaps and negotiations inherent in the mediation process. By focusing on the festival's different components – selection process, awards, regulations, and knowledge produced, to name a few – I examine how the festival helped to create a discursive space that we call Art Cinema and how this space is constantly contested and renegotiated by an intricate network of various factors, including directors, media, industry, market, and nation-states.This approach allows for a deeper understanding of the festival's essence, emphasizing critical themes and conceptual frameworks that transcend individual instances and highlight the festival's broader fractured narrative.
Recommended Citation
Zamparini, Luca, "Shaping Art Cinema Canon: The Venice Film Festival's Evolution and Influence (1946–1968)" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5656