RPFF industry: Lecture "Films, audiences and visibility"

Lecturer Cíntia Gil, programmer of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and Doclisboa – lecture "Films, audiences and visibility"

Probably we never had so many films available in the world and such a narrow choice in the most popular and accessible viewing context and platforms. Mainstream cinema has become captured by corporate values and business, and cinephilia seems to be today a very confusing space of contestation.

On the other hand, audiences seem to be the big Mystery in film industry: how to have impact, how to reach them, how to grow them, how to target them? However, what are audiences? What does it mean, to ask such questions and how do we address them while defending cinema as a space for the uncontrollable and the unexpected?

This talk will focus on the relation between programming and audiences, jumping between practical examples and philosophical challenges.

Cíntia Gil, born in Portugal, is part of the programming teams of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and Doclisboa and was the director of Doclisboa (Portugal), and Sheffield DocFest (UK). Gil has curated a variety of contemporary and historical film series, retrospectives and exhibitions, besides publishing articles in a wide array of publications. In addition, she has taught seminars, lectures and workshop in different institutions (Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica in Mexico, EICTV in Cuba, HGK Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design in Germany, Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona among others), and participated in numerous panels, forums and public discussions on film, documentary, festivals and film programming. Gil has served on juries in festivals such as Berlinale, Cairo IFF, Mar del Plata IFF, among others.

Lecture will be held in English. Free entrance.

RPFF 2026 industry sessions supported by National Film Centre of Latvia and Creative Europe MEDIA.

INDUSTRY PROGRAMME