Location | San Luis Obispo, California, United States |
---|---|
Founded | 1993 |
Language | English |
Website | slofilmfest |
The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (SLOIFF) is an American film festival held in San Luis Obispo, California. It is a six-day annual event, showcasing contemporary and classic film screenings at the historic Fremont Theater, the Palm Theatre, and other venues in Atascadero, Paso Robles, and the neighboring seaside towns of Avila Beach and Pismo Beach. The current festival includes three competitions, the George Sidney Independent Film Competition, the Central Coast Filmmakers Showcase, and the Young Filmmakers of Tomorrow Competition.
The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival was founded by Mary A. Harris, a local attorney who was inspired to bring a film festival to San Luis Obispo after attending festivals in Telluride and Los Angeles. The inaugural Festival was launched in 1993 with the support of a special grant from the City of San Luis Obispo, along with the key involvement of Jim Dee and the Palm Theatre. The Festival began with a focus on classic and restored films, with Harris as the Executive Director, and Cathy Peacock as Artistic Director. Veteran film director George Sidney was the first recipient of the King Vidor Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Art of Filmmaking, and Sidney became an enthusiastic booster for the event. In recognition of his contributions to film, as well as his involvement with the Festival, the Festival’s independent film competition was named in his honor. Wendy Eidson became the festival director in 2007 to 2020 and is now led by Executive Director, Skye McLennan.
The George Sidney Independent Film Competition was introduced in 1996, in honor of the first recipient of the festival's King Vidor Memorial Award. Accepted films compete in several categories: Best Full-length Narrative Film, Best Full-length Documentary, Best Short Film, Best College Student Film. Audience Awards are also offered for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Short Film, and Best in Fest. [1]
The Central Coast Filmmakers Showcase is open to films that were produced, directed, or written by residents of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, or Monterey counties. Awards are given for Best Film Over 30 Minutes and Best Film Under 30 Minutes.
The Young Filmmakers of Tomorrow Competition is open to elementary through high school students. There are three age divisions (High School, Middle School, and Primary), with awards in each category for Best Individual Film, Best Group Film, Best SLO County Film, and Best Animated Film. [2] Many entries to this competition come from students who take part in the Youth Filmmaking Workshops held by the festival each summer.
The King Vidor Award for Excellence in Filmmaking has been presented annually since the festival began in 1993. [3] The award is named for director King Vidor, who holds the record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest career as a film director. He directed sixty-four films over his 67-year career. The award is presented as a tribute to an industry professional who has made a notable artistic contribution to the motion picture industry.
The list below shows the winners of the King Vidor Award for every year except 2003 and 2005, in which the festival did not take place. [4] [5] [6]
2023 – Rick Carter
2022 – Dale Dickey
2020 – Lawrence Kasdan
2019 - Alfred Molina
2018 - Pam Grier
2017 - Josh Brolin
2016 - Ann-Margret
2015 - Peter Bogdanovich
2014 - Jeff Bridges
2013 - John Hawkes
2012 - Sir Richard Taylor
2011 - Greg Kinnear
2010 - Alan Arkin
2009 - Malcolm McDowell
2008 - Peter Fonda
2007 - Norman Jewison and James Cromwell
2006 - Morgan Freeman
2004 - Eva Marie Saint
2002 - Elmer Bernstein
2001 - Howard Keel
2000 - Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz
1999 - Jim Dee
1998 - Stanley Kramer
1997 - Ernest Borgnine
1996 - Robert Wise
1995 - Edward Dmytryk
1994 - Delbert Mann
1993 - George Sidney
In 2012, the festival arranged for a historic screening of Citizen Kane at Hearst Castle. Citizen Kane was loosely based on the life of wealthy publisher William Randolph Hearst, and was considered by Hearst supporters to represent an unfavorable view of the newspaper magnate. Hearst went to great lengths to prevent the film from being shown, and he banned the film from being mentioned in any of his newspapers. [7] Hearst's longtime companion, Marion Davies, claimed that he never saw the movie. [8]
Ben Mankiewicz, grandson of Herman Mankiewicz, who won an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay, introduced the movie at the Hearst Castle Visitor Center as part of the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. Seventy-one years after the film’s release, it was shown at Hearst Castle for the first time. The event was preceded by a tribute to Timothy White, known for his celebrity portraits. He was awarded the festival’s Spotlight Award. [9]
In 2015 the festival arranged to show Citizen Kane at Hearst Castle again, but this time in the house's own original 50-seat screening room, as a $1,000-per-ticket fundraiser, with Ben Mankiewicz as host. [10]
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film directed by, produced by, and starring Orson Welles. Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay. The picture was Welles' first feature film. Citizen Kane is frequently cited as the greatest film ever made. For 40 years, it stood at number 1 in the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound decennial poll of critics, and it topped the American Film Institute's 100 Years ... 100 Movies list in 1998, as well as its 2007 update. The film was nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories and it won for Best Writing by Mankiewicz and Welles. Citizen Kane is praised for Gregg Toland's cinematography, Robert Wise's editing, Bernard Herrmann's music, and its narrative structure, all of which have been considered innovative and precedent-setting.
Hearst Castle, known formally as La Cuesta Encantada, is a historic estate in San Simeon, located on the Central Coast of California. Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his architect Julia Morgan, the castle was built between 1919 and 1947. Today, Hearst Castle is a museum open to the public as a California State Park and registered as a National Historic Landmark and California Historical Landmark.
Herman Jacob Mankiewicz was an American screenwriter who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane (1941). Both Mankiewicz and Welles would go on to receive the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film. He was previously a Berlin correspondent for Women’s Wear Daily, assistant theater editor at The New York Times, and the first regular drama critic at The New Yorker. Alexander Woollcott said that Mankiewicz was the "funniest man in New York".
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Charles Davies Lederer was an American screenwriter and film director. He was born into a theatrical family in New York, and after his parents divorced, was raised in California by his aunt, Marion Davies, actress and mistress to newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. A child prodigy, he entered the University of California, Berkeley at age 13, but dropped out after a few years to work as a journalist with Hearst's newspapers.
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The sources for Citizen Kane, the 1941 American motion picture that marked the feature film debut of Orson Welles, have been the subject of speculation and controversy since the project's inception. With a story spanning 60 years, the quasi-biographical film examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, a fictional character based in part upon the American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick. A rich incorporation of the experiences and knowledge of its authors, the film earned an Academy Award for Best Writing for Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles.
The authorship of the screenplay for Citizen Kane, the 1941 American motion picture that marked the feature film debut of Orson Welles, has been one of the film's long-standing controversies. With a story spanning 60 years, the quasi-biographical film examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, a fictional character based in part upon the American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick. A rich incorporation of the experiences and knowledge of its authors, the film earned an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles.
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