DIGISCREENS: Identities and Democratic values on European digital screens: Distribution, reception and representation

DIGISCREENS: Identities and Democratic values on European digital screens: Distribution, reception and representation

At a time when streaming platforms provide access to film and television from all over the world, DIGISCREENS focuses on how these platforms contribute to transform social and cultural dynamics in Europe. The project asks how the increased possibilities for audiences to watch audio-visual content from a great geographical diversity affect our construction of identity and understanding of the other, as well as our negotiation of democratic values such as equality, inclusion and solidarity.

DIGISCREENS is a transdisciplinary project that studies film and TV distribution, reception and representation in the light of the last decades’ policies for increased diversity and inclusivity on screen. In particular, we problematize how European distribution policies and individualised algorithms govern public and commercial platforms, creating both “filter bubbles” and a promise of common democratic values and models of identity.

By investigating digital film and TV distribution, representation, and reception in Norway, Sweden, France, Spain and Lithuania, this project discusses how transnational distribution and consumption of audio-visual content may create social encounters and a sense of global integration. By combining methodologies from media studies, anthropology, literature, cultural and political analysis, we compare how members of different social and cultural groups perceive their roles, rights and democratic participation in contemporary Europe.