Of the many topical moments which one comes across in the preparation of a festival, one of the most demanding is writing the introduction to the programme. The introduction is always written in a particular moment. It follows the climax after months of intensive labour, the completion of the programme which the merciless publisher has just torn away from the hands of the programmer, although it still contained some errors. This climax is always followed by an anti-climax: the last weeks before the festival, in which the arrival of the 240 announced films must be assured, preparations must be supervised and one must try – without much luck to maintain calm. It is precisely at the point of this anti-climax that the writing of the introduction takes place.
Although an introduction can never be the same-because a festival differs from any other festival, because the organization is always at a different stage, or because the necessity to (self)justify the irrevocable choices differs from festival to festival – the festival organizers can always make their choice from different standard models of “introduction”.
First of all there is the “memorialistic” type (“When we began as far back as 19XX…”) for festivals which need to justify their existence by referring to memorable editions of the past.
Next in line is the “utilitaristic” type of introduction in the Baedeker tourist guide which has the disadvantage of often giving the same information that is also contained in the programme itself. The exact opposite of this model “pamphlet/manifesto” in which although it’s sometimes necessary to write an introduction of this kind the statements of principle are wasted, promises and tasks are categorised. There remains the most appealing introduction, that of “the complaint”, often used to complain about financial crises, or about being neglected or ignored by virtually everybody. An introduction like this will – beyond any doubt – have its effect on guests and sponsors.