Cinema and Digital Turn: The Concepts of 'Market' and 'State' in Comparative Politics

The digital turn in cinema diffusion corresponds to the dematerialization of traditional 35 mm prints to digital film copies. This unprecedented rupture with the way of showing films since the beginnings of the Cinematographer raised some interrogations about the ability of cinema diffusion sectors to survive this technological revolution. As a consequence, public policies designed to monitor the digital turn incrementally emerged in the last 10 years. This proposal aims to show that the current compromise, still not stabilized, reveals concurrent principles of public action legitimacy in this field, between free play of competition, promotion of cultural diversity, or support to independent diffusion companies. The comparison between several national contexts (USA, Quebec and France) tackles the key concepts of “Market” and “State” used in comparative politics and sheds light on specific national configurations (combination of film industry structure, history of State intervention and independent actors’ capacity for mobilization).