PT Journal AU Martinek, P TI Are film festivals really a valid distribution platform? The institution of the film festival from the perspective of the distributor of "festival" films SO Iluminace PY 2014 BP 49 EP 64 VL 26 IS 1 WP https://iluminace.cz/en/artkey/ilu-201401-0004.php DE film festivals; trade fairs; film market; film industry; film distribution SN 0862397X AB The text focuses on festivals as an "alternative distribution circuit" for art films. The author's perspective and his conclusions are influenced by the position of the practitioner, the film distributor, which is useful for understanding the real functioning of film festivals for cinematic practice. The author subjects some abstract and automatically accepted concepts to a revision in order to show how Czech (but also world) festivals can or cannot concretely help the circulation of films, and thus filmmaking itself, and how the growth of specialized screenings, digitization and the way of financing affect classical cinema distribution. ER