AFFN Industry: Monuments or Cancel Culture? How to present controversial films and controversial filmmakers

The history of cinema is full of controversial filmmakers and films. How should we approach them today? What are the appropriate circumstances and contexts in which they can be re-presented, re-evaluated, and interpreted? When evaluating a film, should we focus more on the filmmaker’s personality or on the work itself? To what extent does a filmmaker’s private behaviour influence a film as a collective work? And how should we sensitively view films created in different social and historical contexts? These are the questions that film festivals, archives, and cultural institutions are grappling with today. The debate will provide a space for diverse perspectives and will seek to strike a balance between oversimplified judgments and a lack of critical reflection. The goal is not to find the “right answer”, but to initiate a discussion on how to treat our film heritage responsibly, sensitively, and in all its complexity.