The Peripheralization of East-Central European Film Cultures on VOD Platforms

Abstract

Th is article draws on previous research on European digital peripheries and explores the way they are created on the interfaces of VOD (video-on-demand) catalogues. Our analysis distinguishes between quantitative and qualitative peripheralizations and considers both European providers who received subsidies from the EU and global services such as Netfl ix. It focuses on European fi lm cultures and critically engages the umbrella concept of "European fi lm. " Th e article argues that EU funded VOD platforms tend to favor bigger European fi lm cultures such as France, and disfavor smaller ones such as those from East-Central Europe (Czechia, Romania, Hungary, etc.). It shows that streaming giants like Netfl ix tend to generate less disparities between European fi lm cultures than European providers. Th e article also questions the increasingly commercial mindset that drives such eff orts to globalize European fi lm through digital viewing services and regards it as a cause of peripheralization. It advocates consideration of the diversity of European fi lm output in such globalized and increasingly profi t-driven contexts.

Film Heritage on Demand? Curation and Discoverability of “Classic Movies” on Netflix

“…At the same time, Czech older films are most often offered only for the territory of the Czech Republic or the Czech and Slovak Republics, so their reach is purely local. This tendency supports the previously outlined thesis about the peripherality of small CEE cinemas and the deepening of cultural hegemonies in the VOD market (Parvulescu and Hanzlík 2021).…”

Lost in the Stream: An Overview of Online Distribution of Latin American Films Co-funded by European Film Funds

“…The methods employed in this study -especially with regard to examining the tagging, cataloguing, and gatekeeping policies of streaming services -derive in part from the works of Constantin Parvulescu and Jan Hanzlík and their research on digital peripheries, 4 adapted to the specific requirements of studying cultural production of Latin America. Niamh Thornton's "Bridges, Streams and Dams: The Multiple Negotiated Strategies of Distribution and Access in Latin American Cinema" 5 also contains highly useful examples of studying streaming services and their relationships with small cinemas.…”

Platform nations

“…The EU offers a particularly interesting case of increasingly intense regulatory efforts that contribute to both regionalisation and nationalisation of digital content at several levels. Central to these efforts is the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), which, since being revised in 2018, introduced the obligation for streaming companies to invest in indigenous audio‐visual production and to broadcast a minimum of 30% of European content (Parvulescu & Hanzlík, 2021). One of the legal pillars of this move is copyright legislation, which has been historically linked to national territorial borders and continues to operate in this way (Polčák, 2020).…”

“…Existing research on Netflix content after 2018 suggests some evidence of increase in domestic production and greater presence of dubbing into national languages, but the dominance of US content continues (ibid.). Critics have also pointed out that the AVMSD continues to privilege the digital content of larger EU nations over the production of smaller nations (Parvulescu & Hanzlík, 2021).…”