The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is an annual independent film festival held each March in San Jose, California and Redwood City, California. The international festival combines the cinematic arts with Silicon Valley’s innovation. It is produced by Cinequest, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that is also responsible for Picture The Possibilities and the distribution label Cinequest Mavericks Studio LLC. Cinequest awards the annual Maverick Spirit Awards. In addition to over 130 world or U.S. premieres from over 30 countries, the festival hosts writer's events including screenwriting competitions, a shorts program, technology and artistic forums and workshops, student programs, and a silent film accompanied on the theatre organ. Founded in 1990 as the Cinequest Film Festival, the festival was rebranded in 2017 as the Cinequest Film & VR Festival and expanded beyond downtown San Jose to Redwood City. It took its present name in 2019.
The National Center for Jewish Film is a non-profit motion picture archive, distributor, and resource center. It houses the largest collection of Jewish-themed film and video outside of Israel. Its mission is to collect, restore, preserve, catalogue, and exhibit films with artistic and educational value relevant to the Jewish experience, and to disseminate these materials to the widest possible audience.
The San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) is an annual event organized by Pacific Arts Movement that takes place every November in San Diego, California.
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.
Reel Affirmations (RA) is a non-profit, all-volunteer LGBT film festival in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1991 and held every year in mid-October, as of 2011 Reel Affirmations was one of the largest LGBT film festivals in the United States. Baltimore's Gay Life newspaper called it "one of the top three films festivals for the entire LGBT community." A 2007 guidebook claims it was one of the largest LGBT film festivals in the world. A listing of LGBT film festivals claims it is the largest all-volunteer film festival in the world.
The San Antonio Film Festival (SAFILM) was founded in 1994 by Adam Rocha as a video festival. It was later renamed the San Antonio Underground Film Festival and then finally the San Antonio Film Festival. It is now the biggest film festival in South Texas.
Debra Chasnoff was an American documentary filmmaker and activist whose films address progressive social justice issues. Her production company GroundSpark produces and distributes films, educational resources and campaigns on issues ranging from environmental concerns to affordable housing to preventing prejudice.
The GI Film Group was founded in 2007 by Army veteran Laura Law-Millett and Brandon Millett and established the GI Film Festival (GIFF) with the goal of preserving the stories of American veterans past and present through film, television and live special events. GIFF's flagship festival is held each May during Armed Forces Month in Washington, D.C. from 2007 to 2018.
The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) was founded in 1980. The San Francisco–based organization, formerly known as the National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA), has grown into the largest organization dedicated to the advancement of Asian Americans in independent media, specifically the areas of television and filmmaking.
The Washington Jewish Film Festival (WJFF), in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's oldest and largest Jewish film festivals. Focusing on Jewish and Israeli issues, the festival has shown hundreds of films ranging both in genre and theme and held in the Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater in the Washington DC Jewish Community Center and other cinemas in Washington and suburban Maryland and Virginia. The festival was founded by Aviva Kempner in 1989 and has successfully run for over twenty years and is presented by the Washington DCJCC's Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts.
Stephane Gauger was a Vietnamese-born American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer.
The Boston Jewish Film Festival (BJFF) is an annual film festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world. The festival presents features, shorts, documentaries, and conversations with visiting artists in order to explore the Jewish identity, the current Jewish experience and the richness of Jewish culture in relation to a diverse modern world.
The San Diego International Film Festival is an independent film festival in San Diego, California, produced by the non-profit San Diego Film Foundation. The main event has traditionally been held annually in the autumn at venues in the Gaslamp Quarter, La Jolla and Balboa Park.
Deaf Jam is a 2011 documentary film directed and produced by American filmmaker Judy Lieff. The film centers on the experience of Aneta Brodski, a deaf teenager living in Queens, New York, who becomes immersed in the dynamic and three-dimensional form of American Sign Language poetry. When Aneta, an Israel-born ASL poet, eventually meets Tahani, a Palestinian, spoken word poet, the two begin to collaborate, creating a new form of poetry that gains recognition in deaf and hearing communities alike.
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.
Jewish Motifs International Film Festival is a major Jewish-themed film festival held annually in Warsaw, Poland. The festival has been held every year since 2004.
The Moscow Jewish Film Festival is an annual international film festival, which aims to gather in the program features, documentaries, shorts and animated films on the subject of Jewish culture, history and national identity and contemporary problems. In 2015, Moscow joined a list of cities that celebrate this festival.
Penny Lane is an American independent filmmaker, known for her documentary films. Her humor and unconventional approach to the documentary form, including the use of archival Super 8 footage and YouTube videos, have earned her critical acclaim.
The Oakville Festivals of Film and Art is a not-for-profit organization that runs the Oakville Film Festival, as well as special screening and Arts events such as the Sheridan/OFFA Annual Screening series. The festival celebrated its 10th year in 2023, and has been held the third week of June every year for over 10 years. The festival includes a juried award competition with senior members of the Canadian film and production communities, and Audience Choice Awards for the best feature and best short film. The festival uses Film Freeway for its submissions, which are open 1st November every year, and has a track record of programming over 70% of its programming from the platform. The festival screens its films at three primary venues in Oakville: Film.ca Cinemas, The Five Drive In, and the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts.
