This book is about the lived experience of film festival programming workers who have worked at some of the biggest film festivals in the UK, Australia, Europe, and the USA. Their stories are placed into the wider contexts of the political economy of film festivals and the film and screen media industries to understand the vital importance of the role of the film festival programmer and make the case for the urgent need to address the precarious employment relationship to which they are often subject. Film festival programming involves the evaluation and curation of film submissions and retrospectives that make up a film festival's programme. Programming workers research a film's wider contexts, write programme notes, and present films to a festival audience. Programming teams locate and champion new filmmaking talent, mentor filmmakers, seek to impact the trajectory of individual films and filmmakers, and contribute to the talent and product development of the film and screen media industries as a result. Film festival programming is a specialised form of work that requires in-depth knowledge of film history, the film industry, and distribution practices. But film festival programming is precarious labour - it is often insecure, low-paid work, with no rights or protections. The book reveals new insights into the power dynamics of the film festival business model and hierarchy, the barriers to achieving democratic, inclusive, and community-driven festivals, and the ways in which a festival crunch culture is driving both workers and the film festival circuit to breaking point.