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Cult Film Atmospheres : Audiences, exhibitors, and live cinema spaces

Priambodho, Hario LU (2025) In Lund Studies in Media and Communication 31.
Abstract
Cult film events like The Bad Film Festival (Gothenburg, 2019 and 2023-2025) and The B-Film Club (Malmö) offer unique atmospheres to audiences. In the two Swedish cities of Malmö and Gothenburg, exhibitors run regular festivals and standalone screenings of cult films such as The Room, Birdemic, Miami Connection, and others where an effervescent atmosphere is generated, often featuring audience participatory actions such as talkbacks, shouting out jokes, or dancing as part of the live screening events. This contravenes the commonplace norm of watching movies in the cinema where a degree of decorum and propriety are typically emphasized. With this as a backdrop, this thesis highlights the intertwining roles of cult film audiences,... (More)
Cult film events like The Bad Film Festival (Gothenburg, 2019 and 2023-2025) and The B-Film Club (Malmö) offer unique atmospheres to audiences. In the two Swedish cities of Malmö and Gothenburg, exhibitors run regular festivals and standalone screenings of cult films such as The Room, Birdemic, Miami Connection, and others where an effervescent atmosphere is generated, often featuring audience participatory actions such as talkbacks, shouting out jokes, or dancing as part of the live screening events. This contravenes the commonplace norm of watching movies in the cinema where a degree of decorum and propriety are typically emphasized. With this as a backdrop, this thesis highlights the intertwining roles of cult film audiences, exhibitors, and the material cinema space as generative factors of the cult film atmosphere. By utilizing the overarching concepts of media engagement (Dahlgren and Hill, 2023), collective effervescence (Tutenges, 2023), and atmosphere (Böhme, 2017; Tawa, 2022), it strives to argue for why and how media atmospheres matter especially in relation to audience engagement. It acknowledges that there is an element of liveness through an intense form of engagement as constituted by ambiance, mood, and ultimately atmosphere. The thesis accomplishes this through an empirical qualitative multimethod approach where audiences and cinema figureheads are interviewed, and coupled with in-person observations at specific cult film screenings, in addition to a complementary aesthetic analysis of certain films and examination of cinema website blurbs. As such, this thesis contribute insights into how audiences and exhibitors are perceiving cult films, namely how they are defining them based on individuals’ aesthetic appraisal, the perceived failures, and the replayability aspect of the films. It enriches the understanding on how identities from both audiences and exhibitors play a crucial role in the eventual generation of the atmosphere. The thesis then emphasizes the importance of examining the co-existence of ambiance and mood as integral constitutive elements, in which both are required to be present if an atmosphere is to be felt. Finally, the idea of the cult film effervescence is elucidated as a key contribution of the thesis, which is argued to be the primary characteristic of the cult film atmosphere and has the potential to facilitate audiences in forging uncanny bonds and a sense of community with others in the theatre. At its crux, the thesis advances academic research on how we can examine media as atmospheres as experienced by those who are bodily present within a specific space. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Kultfilmsevenemang som Den Dåliga Filmfestivalen (Göteborg, 2019 och 2023-2025) och B-Filmsklubben (Malmö) erbjuder unika atmosfärer för publiken som besöker dem. I Malmö och Göteborg anordnar biograferna regelbundet festivaler och fristående visningar av kultfilmer som band andra The Room, Birdemic, och Miami Connection. Kännetecknande för dessa upplevelser är den översvallande atmosfär som skapas, ofta med publikdeltagande som talkbacks, skämt eller dans som en del av live-visningarna. Detta går tvärt emot den vanliga biobesökets norm, där en viss grad av dekorum och anständighet vanligtvis iakttas. Med denna unika upplevelse som bakgrund belyser avhandlingen de sammanflätade rollerna hos kultfilmpubliken, biografägarna och det... (More)
Kultfilmsevenemang som Den Dåliga Filmfestivalen (Göteborg, 2019 och 2023-2025) och B-Filmsklubben (Malmö) erbjuder unika atmosfärer för publiken som besöker dem. I Malmö och Göteborg anordnar biograferna regelbundet festivaler och fristående visningar av kultfilmer som band andra The Room, Birdemic, och Miami Connection. Kännetecknande för dessa upplevelser är den översvallande atmosfär som skapas, ofta med publikdeltagande som talkbacks, skämt eller dans som en del av live-visningarna. Detta går tvärt emot den vanliga biobesökets norm, där en viss grad av dekorum och anständighet vanligtvis iakttas. Med denna unika upplevelse som bakgrund belyser avhandlingen de sammanflätade rollerna hos kultfilmpubliken, biografägarna och det materiella biografutrymmet som generativa faktorer för kultfilmsatmosfären. Genom att använda de övergripande begreppen medieengagemang (Dahlgren och Hill, 2023), kollektivt brus (Tutenges, 2023) och atmosfär (Böhme, 2017; Tawa, 2022) strävar avhandlingen efter att argumentera för, varför och hur medieatmosfärer spelar roll, särskilt i förhållande till publikengagemang. Avhandlingen behandlar hur det finns ett element av livfullhet genom intensiva former av engagemang som utgörs av stämning och atmosfär. Avhandlingen åstadkommer detta genom en empirisk kvalitativ multimetodisk ansats där publik och biografprofiler intervjuas, kombinerat med personliga observationer vid specifika kultfilmvisningar. Detta kompletteras med en estetisk analys av vissa filmer och granskning av biografwebbplatsens blurbs. Avhandlingen bidrar därmed med insikter om hur publik och biografägare uppfattar kultfilmer, hur de definierar dem utifrån individers estetiska bedömning, upplevda misslyckanden och filmernas återvisningsbarhet. Detta berikar förståelsen för hur publik och arrangörers identiteter spelar en avgörande roll för den atmosfär som slutligen skapas. Avhandlingen betonar även vikten av att undersöka samexistensen av känslor och stämning som integrerade och konstitutiva element, där båda måste vara närvarande om en atmosfär ska kunna upplevas. Slutligen belyses idén om kultfilmens översvallande atmosfär som ett av avhandlingens viktigaste bidrag, vilket hävdas vara den primära egenskapen hos kultfilmens atmosfär vilken har potential att underlätta för publiken att skapa känsloband och en känsla av gemenskap med andra i biografen. Avhandlingen främjar akademisk forskning om hur vi kan undersöka medier som atmosfärer som upplevs av dem som är kroppsligt närvarande i ett specifikt utrymme. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Atkinson, Sarah, King’s College London
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
media atmospheres, media engagement, audience studies, media industries, cult films, film, cinema, space, cult film audiences, cult film exhibitors, ambiance, mood, collective effervescence, identity, taste, bad films, musical films, affinities, parameters of media engagement, medier, atmosfärer, medieengagemang, publikstudier, medieindustrier, kultfilmer, film, biograf, rum, kultfilmspublik, kultfilmutställare, atmosfär, stämning, kollektivt brus, identitet, smak, dåliga filmer, musikaliska filmer, affiniteter, parametrar för medieengagemang
in
Lund Studies in Media and Communication
volume
31
pages
263 pages
publisher
Lund University (Media-Tryck)
defense location
SOL Hörsal, Helgonabacken 12, Lund
defense date
2025-06-05 09:00:00
ISSN
1104-4330
ISBN
978-91-8104-392-1
978-91-8104-393-8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
56eea50b-b48d-4951-a656-e5fded37dcb2
date added to LUP
2025-04-23 10:36:24
date last changed
2025-04-28 14:18:27
@phdthesis{56eea50b-b48d-4951-a656-e5fded37dcb2,
  abstract     = {{Cult film events like The Bad Film Festival (Gothenburg, 2019 and 2023-2025) and The B-Film Club (Malmö) offer unique atmospheres to audiences. In the two Swedish cities of Malmö and Gothenburg, exhibitors run regular festivals and standalone screenings of cult films such as The Room, Birdemic, Miami Connection, and others where an effervescent atmosphere is generated, often featuring audience participatory actions such as talkbacks, shouting out jokes, or dancing as part of the live screening events. This contravenes the commonplace norm of watching movies in the cinema where a degree of decorum and propriety are typically emphasized. With this as a backdrop, this thesis highlights the intertwining roles of cult film audiences, exhibitors, and the material cinema space as generative factors of the cult film atmosphere. By utilizing the overarching concepts of media engagement (Dahlgren and Hill, 2023), collective effervescence (Tutenges, 2023), and atmosphere (Böhme, 2017; Tawa, 2022), it strives to argue for why and how media atmospheres matter especially in relation to audience engagement. It acknowledges that there is an element of liveness through an intense form of engagement as constituted by ambiance, mood, and ultimately atmosphere. The thesis accomplishes this through an empirical qualitative multimethod approach where audiences and cinema figureheads are interviewed, and coupled with in-person observations at specific cult film screenings, in addition to a complementary aesthetic analysis of certain films and examination of cinema website blurbs. As such, this thesis contribute insights into how audiences and exhibitors are perceiving cult films, namely how they are defining them based on individuals’ aesthetic appraisal, the perceived failures, and the replayability aspect of the films. It enriches the understanding on how identities from both audiences and exhibitors play a crucial role in the eventual generation of the atmosphere. The thesis then emphasizes the importance of examining the co-existence of ambiance and mood as integral constitutive elements, in which both are required to be present if an atmosphere is to be felt. Finally, the idea of the cult film effervescence is elucidated as a key contribution of the thesis, which is argued to be the primary characteristic of the cult film atmosphere and has the potential to facilitate audiences in forging uncanny bonds and a sense of community with others in the theatre. At its crux, the thesis advances academic research on how we can examine media as atmospheres as experienced by those who are bodily present within a specific space.}},
  author       = {{Priambodho, Hario}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-8104-392-1}},
  issn         = {{1104-4330}},
  keywords     = {{media atmospheres; media engagement; audience studies; media industries; cult films; film; cinema; space; cult film audiences; cult film exhibitors; ambiance; mood; collective effervescence; identity; taste; bad films; musical films; affinities; parameters of media engagement; medier; atmosfärer; medieengagemang; publikstudier; medieindustrier; kultfilmer; film; biograf; rum; kultfilmspublik; kultfilmutställare; atmosfär; stämning; kollektivt brus; identitet; smak; dåliga filmer; musikaliska filmer; affiniteter; parametrar för medieengagemang}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Lund University (Media-Tryck)}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Lund Studies in Media and Communication}},
  title        = {{Cult Film Atmospheres : Audiences, exhibitors, and live cinema spaces}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/217742594/PhD_Thesis_Cult_Film_Atmospheres_-_Hario_Priambodho.pdf}},
  volume       = {{31}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}