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 film festivals focus on a specific filmmaker, genre of film, or subject matter. Several film festivals focus solely on presenting short films of a defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events. Some film historians, including Jerry Beck, do not consider film festivals as official releases of the film.
The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival takes place in Park City, Utah, in late January and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization, which also hosts a screenplay competition, workshops, screenings throughout the year and events with an emphasis on independent films with budgets under US$1 million.
The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii.
CPH:DOX is the official name for the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, an international documentary film festival established in 2003 and held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark. CPH:DOX has since grown to become one of the largest documentary film festivals in Europe with 114,408 admissions in 2019.
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June 2020. In addition to the annual festival, Hot Docs owns and operates the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, administers multiple production funds, and runs year-round screening programs including Doc Soup and Hot Docs Showcase.
Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers’ creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the careers of screenwriters, who historically have been underrepresented within the film industry.
Birds Eye View (BEV) is a UK charitable organisation established in 2002 to celebrate and support women's work in film, most notably by way of an annual film festival in London that places women at the heart of the creative vision. The last festival was held in 2014 and since 2015 they have operated a year-round charitable mission to bring ever-greater audiences to films by women, funded by the British Film Institute, under their 'Reclaim The Frame' banner.
The COLCOA French Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival in Hollywood, created and presented by the Franco-American Cultural Fund (FACF), a unique partnership of the DGA, the MPAA, la SACEM and the WGA West. The goals of the festival are to showcase the diversity of French cinema and TV series, to promote French films and talent among the film industry and to contribute to cross cultural understanding. The COLCOA French Film Festival is open to professionals and general audience.
The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is an international film festival held in Atlanta, Georgia and operated by the Atlanta Film Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Started in 1976 and occurring every spring, the festival shows a diverse range of independent films, with special attention paid to women-directed films, LGBTQ films, Latin American films, Black films and films from the American Southeast. ATLFF is one of only a handful of festivals that are Academy Award-qualifying in all three short film categories.
The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from 125 countries and programmed 271 films. Attendance has grown to nearly 43,000. The festival also offers a screenplay competition with features, teleplays and shorts categories and a web series competition. In addition to tendays of film screenings, the festival provides industry panels, music showcases, parties and receptions. The Nashville Film Festival is also an Academy Award qualifying festival.
Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers from all over the world. At the core of the programs is the goal to introduce audiences to the artists' new work, aided by the institute's labs, granting and mentorship programs that take place throughout the year in the United States and internationally.
A growing number of film festivals are held in the Arab world to showcase films from the region as well as international standouts. In addition, institutions and organizations in other parts of the world are increasingly honoring the new generation of filmmakers in the Arab world with Arab film festivals.
CinemAsia Film Festival is a leading Asian film festival in Europe. The first edition of CinemAsia was in 2004 and started as a biannual film festival. Since 2012 the festival is an annual film festival held in March. The festival has a focus on independent Asian films and the film program consists of the best and most recent fiction and documentary in all genres from Asia. In this way the festival enhances the Asian visibility in culture and media. The most famous awards of the festival are the Audience Award and the Jury Award.
Pascale Ferran is a French film director and screenwriter. In 2007, her film Lady Chatterley won five César Awards including Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Adaptation. Her 2014 film Bird People was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Ferran also wrote the screenplay for The Red Turtle, an animated film by Michael Dudok de Wit, that competed in the Hawaii International Film Festival on 12 November 2016.
The Beijing International Film Festival, abbreviated BJIFF, is a film festival in Beijing, China. Founded in 2011, along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of China's two biggest film festivals. The festival is one of the world's most prominent film festivals. Since its launch, it has been heavily attended by Hollywood executives, directors, producers, and studio heads, as well as filmmakers and actors from all over the world. It serves as an international venue for different cultures around the globe to communicate.
The Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) is an international film festival which takes place annually in York, England, at the beginning of November. Founded in 2011, it is a celebration of independent film from around the world, and an outlet for supporting and championing filmmaking.
Sibs Shongwe- La Mer is a screenwriter, film director, musician, TED (conference) talks alumni and visual artist born in Johannesburg, South Africa. His critically acclaimed debut feature film, Necktie Youth premiered in the Panorama section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival and numerous top tier international film festivals, winning "Best South African Feature Film" and "Best Direction" at the Durban International Film Festival in 2015. The film went on to garner a multitude of awards including "Best Achievement in Cinematography" and "Best Achievement in editing" at the 2015 South African Film and Television Awards. Necktie Youth was theatrically released in South Africa (2015) at Ster-Kinekor and on the iTunes Store & DStv Box-office. The film was later released in the Netherlands, Brazil & American VOD between 2016 and 2017. Mid 2016, Shongwe-La Mer signed representation contracts with top London film lit agency Casarotto Ramsey & Associates , Rick Yorn's legendary LBI entertainment & Hollywood heavy weight CAA.
Berlinale Talents, formerly Berlinale Talent Campus, is the talent development programme of the Berlin International Film Festival. An annual summit and networking platform for 200 outstanding creatives from the fields of film and drama series, the events take place in February at the three venues of HAU Hebbel am Ufer Theatre in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Berlinale Talents is organized and directed by Florian Weghorn as programme manager and Christine Tröstrum as project manager.
Kayli Carter is an American actress. She portrayed Sadie Rose in the Netflix western TV series Godless, and Amber McCarden in the movie Bad Education, opposite Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney. Her role in Private Life was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female.
Jonathan Wysocki is an American writer, director and producer of independent films. He is known for his feature film Dramarama (2020), and for his award winning short films A Doll's Eyes (2016) and Adjust-A-Dream (2014).
