Festival Footprints

Over the last ten years, an increasing number of film festivals have started investing time and resources into implementing environmentally sustainable initiatives. Film festivals impact the environment negatively through their energy consumption, waste production, and the transportation methods used by guests. In order to facilitate the sustainable transition of film festivals it is essential to understand the motivations driving sustainable change and investigate the barriers hindering this process. While several studies have focused on the relationship between cultural events and sustainability, which highlight the difficulties of implementing sustainable practices in these fields, there is limited research specifically on film festivals and focused on industry professionals. This research uses International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) as a case study to address the following question: How are intrinsic and extrinsic motivations driving film festival professionals to implement sustainability practices? Importantly, the research also investigates the factors hindering the implementation of sustainable practices. Thematic analysis of interviews with seven film festival professionals and one sustainability expert revealed intrinsic motivators, such as personal and organizational values, to be essential drivers of change. The strongest extrinsic motivators include the responsibility to raise awareness and the festival’s public image. Among the significant barriers are the need for support by policymakers, external organizations, and sustainability experts. In addition, IFFR was unanimously recognized as inherently unsustainable, complicating further its sustainable transition. As film screenings and international travel inevitably emit greenhouse gases into the environment, finding sustainable solutions is challenging. The findings emphasize the need for increased resources allocated to sustainability efforts, and more importantly, the need for clear guidelines and standardized regulation to facilitate the implementation of sustainable practices for festival organizers. The research highlights the importance of gradual implementation of sustainability initiatives to ensure effective long-term implementation and limit negative audience reception. By investigating the complex landscape of sustainability in film festivals, this research provides insights into the most common drivers and hindering barriers to implementing sustainability practices. These insights contribute to the broader literature on this topic and serve as a foundation to understand how best to implement these practices and overcome barriers to sustainability through strategic planning.