Festival Strategy & Cultural Significance: Inside the Global Film Festival Ecosystem - INDUSTRY TALK
Film festivals are more than screening platforms — they are cultural engines that shape discovery, influence industry trends, and build bridges between filmmakers, audiences, and institutions worldwide.
This industry conversation brings together leading voices from major international and diaspora film festivals to explore how festivals are curated, how strategy shapes programming, and how cultural identity and mission define a festival’s global impact.
From programming decisions to audience development, from institutional partnerships to cultural diplomacy, this panel offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at how festivals position themselves within an increasingly interconnected cinematic landscape.
The discussion will highlight how Arab, Asian, French, and international festival ecosystems intersect, and how strategic leadership helps sustain artistic communities while expanding global visibility for underrepresented voices.
Panelists
Anouchka van Riel – Deputy Director of the American French Film Festival in Los Angeles, one of the key gateways for French cinema in the U.S.
Georges Chamchoum – Director of the Asian World Film Festival (AWFF), a leading platform showcasing Asian cinema in the United States and fostering cross-cultural industry exchange.
Marlin Soliman – Strategic Director of the Hollywood Arab Film Festival (HAFF), focusing on festival development, programming strategy, and international industry partnerships.
This conversation offers filmmakers, industry professionals, and cultural leaders an inside look at how festivals are built, sustained, and positioned as vital cultural institutions — and how strategy and storytelling work hand in hand to shape what the world sees on screen.
Where programming meets purpose — and culture becomes strategy.
All ticket sales are final. Tickets are non-refundable and cannot be transferred, reassigned, or used by anyone other than the original purchaser.