“Mature at Birth”: the Beijing International Film Festival between the National Film Industry and the Global Film Festival Circuit

This chapter discusses the state-driven Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) that was established in 2011 as a major international film event. Through an adaptation of structures, managerial features and marketing strategies well established by top-tier international films, Pollacchi argues that the BJIFF attempts to translate the model of the long-established European film festivals to the Chinese context. By looking at the BJIFF through the lens of an intangible asset such as reputational capital, the author tackles the strategy and the impact of such a large-scale event both in relation to the domestic market and the international film festival scene.