Film festival

Film festivals
List of film festivals Europe North/Central America Oceania Documentary film festivals New Media art festivals

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. The films may be of recent date and, depending upon the focus of the individual festival, can include international releases as well as films produced by the organisers' domestic film industry. Sometimes there is a focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g., film noir) or subject matter (e.g., gay and lesbian film festivals). A number of film festivals specialise in short films, each with its defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events.

History

The first major film festival was held in Venice in 1932; the other major film festivals of the world (Berlin, Edinburgh, Cannes, Moscow, and Karlovy Vary) date back to the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival in the UK was established in 1947 and is the longest continually running film festival in the world. Raindance Film Festival is the UK's largest celebration of independent film-making and is taking place in London in October^[1].

The first North American high film festival was the Columbus International Film & Video Festival, also known as The Chris Awards, held in 1953. According to the Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco, "The Chris Awards (is) one of the most prestigious documentary, educational, business and informational competitions in the U.S; (it is) the oldest of its kind in North America and celebrating its 54th year."

It was followed four years later by the San Francisco International Film Festival held in March 1957 whose emphasis was on feature-length dramatic films. The festival played a major role in introducing foreign films to American audiences. Among the films shown in its founding year were Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali.

Today there are thousands of film festivals around the world, ranging from high profile festivals such as Sundance Film Festival (Park City, UT) to horror festivals such as Terror Film Festival (Philadelphia, PA).

Digital feature film distribution began in 2005, along with the arrival of the world's first online film festival, the GreenCine Online Film Festival, sponsored by DivX^[2] *.

Entry fee

The Berlin Film Festival in 2007

Most film festivals require filmmakers to pay an entry fee to have their works considered for screening. This is especially commonplace among larger film festivals, such as the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, South by Southwest and even smaller "boutique" festivals such as the Miami International Film Festival and the British Urban Film Festival in London.

However, not all film festivals require an entry fee. Rotterdam Film Festival, for example, does not charge an entry fee to submit work. There are also many smaller film festivals in the United States, such as the Stony Brook Film Festival in Long Island, New York, or the Sicilian Film Festival in Miami, Florida, which do not charge entry fees; however, acceptance of films is usually more limited, and such film festivals do not necessarily attract big names in their audiences like Sundance and Telluride do. In some cases, such as the Portland Film Festival, there is an entry fee, but it is waived for filmmakers within a certain region, such as the Northwestern United States.

Significant or notable festivals

Red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes.

The three most prestigious film festivals are commonly regarded to be that of Berlin, Cannes and Venice;^[3] these festivals are sometimes called the "Big Three."^[4] Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski's The Three Colors Trilogy were each made for these festivals, with Blue for Venice, White for Berlin, and Red for Cannes.^[3]

• "A" Festivals: The festivals in Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin, Shanghai, Moscow, San Sebastián, Montréal, Locarno (since 2002), Karlovy Vary, Mar del Plata, Cairo and Tokyo are listed as "A festivals", or "category one" by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).^[5]

• Experimental films: Ann Arbor Film Festival was started in 1963. It is the oldest continually operated experimental film festival in North America and has become one of the premiere film festivals for independent and, primarily, experimental filmmakers to showcase their work.

• Independent films: In the US, Telluride Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival^[6][7], Austin's South by Southwest, and New York City's Tribeca Film Festival, are all considered significant festivals for independent film. The biggest independent film festival in the UK is Raindance Film Festival^[8].

• Latin American significance: The Cartagena Film Festival, founded by Victor Nieto in 1960, is the oldest film festival in Latin America.^[9] The Festival de Gramado (or Gramado Film Festival) Gramado, Brazil along with the Guadalajara International Film Festival in Guadalajara, Mexico are considered to be the most important film festivals of Latin America. It was first held in 1973, awarding Latin American films. The Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival has been held since 1975 in that Spanish city. While the Expresión en Corto International Film Festival is the largest competitive film festival in Mexico, specializing in emerging talents, and is held each year during the last week of July in the two colonial cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. Among Spanish speaking countries the Dominican International Film Festival is held annually in Puerto Plata, DR, the Valdivia International Film Festival is held annually in the city of Valdivia. It is arguable the most important film festival in Chile.

• North American significance: The San Francisco International Film Festival, started in 1957, is the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. It highlights current trends in international film and video production with an emphasis on work that has not yet secured U.S. distribution. The Toronto International Film Festival, begun in 1976, is now the major North American film festival and the most widely attended worldwide. Toronto's Hot Docs is the leading North American documentary film festival. The largest festival, in terms of the number of features shown, is the Seattle International Film Festival, screening 270 features, and approximately 150 short films. Meanwhile, the New York Film Festival only shows a few films in each year, but it still has big impact in the United States. The Sundance film festival is a major festival for independent film.

• Animation: Founded in 1960, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival is the oldest international film festival dedicated exclusively to animation. The others are: Zagreb (f. 1972) Ottawa (f. 1976), Hiroshima (f. 1985), KROK (f. 1989), and Anima Mundi (f. 1992). There are also a variety of regional festivals in various countries.

• Environmental Significance: The Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital was founded in 1993 by Flo Stone. 2009 marks the inaugural year of the Environmental Film Festival at Yale University, featuring feature-length documentaries and short films intended to raise awareness and encourage discussion about the world's most pressing environmental issues.

• International Digital Film Festival /2007 / Bucharest / International / Kinofest is the first digital film festival in Romania. Kinofest has the explicit goal of promoting young film-makers, artists and their work - film, music and visual art-wise; and also, to cultivate the interest in and promote the arts and media culture among the general public through independent film, video and new media making / http://kinofest.com/

• Traveling Film Festivals: Dawn Breakers International Film Festival is a recent notable international film festival among Gadabout, UNAFF, United Nations Association Film Festival and Media That Matters Film Festival.

See also

• List of film festivals

References

Further reading

• Turan, Kenneth, Sundance to Sarajevo: Film Festivals and the World They Made, Los Angeles, University of California Press, 2002, hardback, ISBN 0-520-21867-1.
• Watson, Nigel, "The Sense and Sensationalism of Film Festivals", Talking Pictures website
• GreenCine Online Film Festival Winners [1]