Concluding the REBOOT journey: Three years of Reboot – on looking back and moving forward
Concluding the REBOOT journey: Three years of Reboot – on looking back and moving forward
Almost three years after the start of REBOOT, the project is now about to wrap up. The results have been published, the deliverables submitted and the milestones accomplished. We have travelled to present results at conferences, round tables and festivals, we have discussed them with representatives from the European Film Industry while at the same time trying to make a wide audience aware of what is at stake in its defence. Many of us will keep working on some of the questions tackled in these 36 months in future publications and research projects.
It’s also time to mention some aspects that personally stood out in this process.
Almost three years after the start of REBOOT, the project is now about to wrap up. The results have been published, the deliverables submitted and the milestones accomplished. We have travelled to present results at conferences, round tables and festivals, we have discussed them with representatives from the European Film Industry while at the same time trying to make a wide audience aware of what is at stake in its defence. Many of us will keep working on some of the questions tackled in these 36 months in future publications and research projects.
It’s also time to mention some aspects that personally stood out in this process.
Being a media historian specialized in the short 20th century, working for the second work package of the project came as a novelty. It meant confronting history still in the making. The different teams involved in this part looked back at the last thirty years of European film, at its stakeholders, institutions and policies. We did dozens of interviews that helped us to understand a complex field where industry, culture and policy go hand in hand. We wanted to give space to its voices, seeking to reflect its complex and sometimes competing opinions. We highlighted shifts and continuities, challenges and paradoxes. We tried to understand its problems and, while preparing policy briefs, offer solutions and advice for the future.
This meant also adopting a stance and committing to a Film Industry shaped by European values. Writing history of the present time means accepting that we are not merely observers but also participants, that we share the ecosystems with our case studies; we confront similar challenges and are moulded by the same cultural forces as the subjects we analyse. REBOOT has provided a vehicle for analysing the intricacies of the European project, but also for taking position for it.
This meant also adopting a stance and committing to a Film Industry shaped by European values. Writing history of the present time means accepting that we are not merely observers but also participants, that we share the ecosystems with our case studies; we confront similar challenges and are moulded by the same cultural forces as the subjects we analyse. REBOOT has provided a vehicle for analysing the intricacies of the European project, but also for taking position for it.
Author: By Associate Professor Fernando Ramos Arenas