Tournaments of Values at the European Film Market

With film sales markets becoming increasingly popular events where the film business gathers several times each year, I argue in this paper that they should be understood as events where important gatekeeping process are taking place. That is to say, sales markets are the point where important decisions about films are made, where sales agencies negotiate access to international markets, and where they exert influence over the sort of access given to specific films. Drawing on qualitative methods such as participant observation and interviews, I develop a case study of the European Sales Market (EFM) in Berlin. I analyse value creation processes at the EFM, focusing specifically on the disposition of exhibition space and the importance of film screenings. Drawing on literature about tournaments of value, I demonstrate that sales markets endow films with significant values, exercising a powerful role over the process of enabling cultural flow. I also demonstrate that there is a symbiotic relationship between the EFM sales market and the Berlin International Film Festival, providing a context from which films can generate attention. I provide new insights into film sales processes within sales markets, and the role of sales agents in influencing such processes. I argue that sales markets exert an important influence over gatekeeping by creating social and cultural hierarchies that impact on the sales process of films.