National cinemas in global times : an approach to globalization, diversity, and identity in Europe today

Abstract

Due to their definition as national, films are supposed to reflect nations, identities, and a sense one may have of a country. This “belonging” to a country is particularly potent in the field of cinema due to its power of representation through images and due to its connection to the global market. However, with the evolution of society and the development toward a more global economy, the film sector, as a cultural industry, has been directly impacted. This dissertation discusses the concepts of identity and nationality and their relation to films in the context of globalization. Globalization is believed to have a negative influence on cultures and is directly associated to the idea of “Americanization” when dealing with cinema at the European level. The dependency of the film sector on the international economy makes the field more fragile and willing to integrate wider forms of collaborations at the expense, it is believed, of local interests. The aim of the research is to identify clear trends that would highlight a more global way to produce and create films in Europe and thus lead to a more standardized offer on the market. It also aims to tackle the idea of nationality that is applied to films and that contributes to the organization of the whole sector. Further, it aims to tackle the role of the European bodies in this context, and in particular whether the programs they implement in cinema answer to their discourse which stresses the protection of the diversity of European nations and the. The research is based on quantitative and qualitative data. Comparative research was also used in certain cases. The study concludes that there is more homogeneity in the film sector: more European films are indeed shot in English; the programming of big cinema venues is standardized and focuses on a few genres and nationalities; more diverse partnerships are settled in co-productions, which even if they make the film production easier, leads films content to be more mainstream; and, finally, this development toward more homogeneity leads to defining a film’s nationality being more complicated, and thus a disconnection arises between European policies’ goals and what can be concretely observed. Even though diversity is put at the top of the European institutions’ objectives, the programs implemented tend to favor a certain amount of homogeneity to better answer the needs of the market. This is a situation that emphasizes the duality of the film sector, which is divided between art that is supposed to convey specific values and industry that is very dependent on the market.