The curtains have dropped, the awards are engraved and the carpet is rolled up — what now? After nearly an entire year dedicated to reaching one night, what can we expect from the film industry after its biggest awards ceremony?
After the Oscars, audiences will return to theaters to stay up-to-date on new releases. Leaving winter behind and stepping into spring, movie-goers will be excited to find that the 2024 line-up appears promising, despite what theaters have recently looked like.
The start of the year is notorious for seeing few high-quality theater releases. The “January dump,” which unfortunately frequently extends well into March, refers to the movies that did not perform well in audience test screenings and that studios opt just to throw out when the movie industry is preoccupied with awards.
Due to this reputation, anticipated blockbusters and award contenders purposefully avoid release dates during these months. While not genre-exclusive, many lower-budget horror, sci-fi, and comedies (at least those that are not sent directly to streaming) fill the theaters during this time. Being cast away to this wasteland of movies does not sound ideal, but it benefits profits as they have virtually no competition.
So, with a sly shoutout to the “Ricky Stannicky’s,” “Argyles’s” and “Madame Web’s” of this world, I can assure you that 2024 movies will get better, as they already are proving to be with some great March releases.
The best way to get a sense of what great movies are to come (and to get ahead on your Oscar betting for next year) is to track festival circuits. There are five primary recognized festivals whose outcomes often influence the film industry the most: the Sundance Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.
The repercussions of film festivals are vast because of the large number of industry-involved attendees. Film festivals allow filmmakers, actors, producers and many others to meet and discuss their work. They also serve as major networking events for those you may think are past the networking phase of their careers. When big names are the first to interact with your emerging work, you get important people “on your side,” which is handy when campaigning for a film later on.
Filmmakers choose which festival to enter their film into based on which best suits their work style and which distributors they hope to impress. Many distributors attend festivals to scout out new content — another way in which festivals set the tone for the rest of the year.
Usually, the movies that win awards at festivals remain most prominently “on the radar” throughout the rest of the year. In this way, film festivals act as an extension of the awards season though they are so spread apart both in time of year and cultural relevancy.
Sundance and Berlin have already run for the 2024 season, with Sundance running from Jan. 18 to 28 and Berlin from Feb. 13 to 23. Some prize winners were expected, like Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” and Aaron Schimberg’s “A Different Man.” Others, like Alessandra Lacorazza’s “In The Summers,” snuck up on audiences and stole the show, winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
Film festivals serve as a way to expand our cinematic world, showcasing a diverse range of artistry on a platform that transforms the global scale of movies. They bridge the gap between major markets and indie films, putting promising newcomers on the same level as their more seasoned colleagues. Some of today’s most successful directors — Wes Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, Richard Linklater, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ava DuVernay and the Coen Brothers — got big breaks because of recognition at film festivals.
Approaching the spring and summer, when festival work is at its peak, paying attention to film premieres will ensure you get the chance to see some great films, expand your movie-going horizons and help you navigate the next awards season.
