Iluminace 2021, 33(2):5-25 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1700

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

Constantin Parvulescu¹, Jan Hanzlík²

¹ Babes-Bolyai University

² Vysoká škola ekonomická

² Univerzita Karlova

This 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 Netflix. It focuses on European film cultures and critically engages the umbrella concept of "European film." The article argues that EU funded VOD platforms tend to favor bigger European film 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 Netflix tend to generate less disparities between European film cultures than European providers. The article also questions the increasingly commercial mindset that drives such efforts to globalize European film through digital viewing services and regards it as a cause of peripheralization. It advocates consideration of the diversity of European film output in such globalized and increasingly profit-driven contexts.

Keywords: Digital Periphery, Peripheralization, VOD platforms, East-Central European Film, Netflix, Film industry

Published: June 1, 2021  Show citation