Festival logo | |
| Location | Clear Lake Area, Texas, United States |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Language | English |
| Website | http://www.gulfcoastfilmfest.com |
The Gulf Coast Film and Video Festival (GCFVF), commonly known as the Gulf Coast Film Festival, is a film festival in the United States held in the Clear Lake Area of Greater Houston, Texas (United States). In 2008, 127 independently made films were submitted to the festival of which 26 were selected and shown in the festival. [1]
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon the festival's focus, can include international and domestic releases. Some festivals focus on a specific film-maker or genre or subject matter. A number of film festivals specialise in short films of a defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events. Some film historians, including Jerry Beck, do not consider film festivals official releases of film.
Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Coast in southeastern Texas. With a population of 6,490,180 people as of the 2010 United States Census, the MSA is the second-most populous in Texas after the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Colloquially referred to as Greater Houston, the 10,000-square-mile (26,000 km2) region centers on Harris County, the third-most populous county in the nation, which contains the city of Houston—the largest economic and cultural center of the South—with a population of 2.3 million. Greater Houston is part of the Texas Triangle megaregion along with the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Greater Austin, and Greater San Antonio.
Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Geographically located in the South Central region of the country, Texas shares borders with the U.S. states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the southwest, while the Gulf of Mexico is to the southeast.
Established in 1999 the Gulf Coast Film Festival features independent films from local, regional and international artists in various categories ranging from short films to documentaries.
Each year the festival grants a lifetime achievement award to an artist or film maker in recognition of their contribution. Previous winners of this award include Walter Coblenz (producer/director), Loretta Swit (actress) and Melissa Gilbert (actress), and Erin Gray (actress).
Loretta Jane Swit is an American stage and television actress known for her character roles. Swit is best known for her portrayal of Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on M*A*S*H, for which she won two Emmy Awards.
Melissa Ellen Gilbert is an American actress and television director.
Erin Gray is an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles as Colonel Wilma Deering in the science fiction television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and as Kate Summers-Stratton in the situation comedy Silver Spoons.
One of the festival's aims is to promote the Galveston Bay Area as a location for filming. [2] The festival also works with local businesses to promote tourism in the area.
The Galveston Bay Area, also known as Bay Area Houston or simply the Bay Area, is a region that surrounds the Galveston Bay estuary of Southeast Texas in the United States, within Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. Normally the term refers to the mainland communities around the bay and excludes Galveston as well as most of Houston.
