6. Programming Perceptions: Film Festivals and the Construction of Taste

Considering several recent advertising campaigns employed by the Melbourne International Film Festival, this chapter examines the emphasis festival marketing strategies place on the role of taste within film festival programmes. Drawing on the imagery and lexicon of festival promotional material, the chapter interrogates the construction of festivals as ‘good taste’ and ‘cultured’ events. It considers the value attached to festival screenings and their role in constructing categories such as ‘quality’ and ‘world’ cinema to examine how notions of taste and worth are produced by event programmes. The chapter explores how the privileged position of festivals as cultural events not only determines their place within local environments, but further constructs their audience and the ways in which they are understood.