A film festival is an
organised, 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 (e.g., film noir) or subject
matter (e.g., horror film festivals). A number of film festivals specialise in
short films of a defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual
events. Some film historians do not consider Film Festivals as official
releases of film, like Jerry Beck. The best known film festivals are the Venice
Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, the Toronto International Film
Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and the Berlin International Film Festival,
the latter being the largest film festival worldwide, based on attendance. The
Venice Film Festival is the oldest major festival. The Melbourne International
Film Festival is the largest film festival in the Southern Hemisphere and one
of the oldest in the world.
History
Venice held the first
major film festival in 1932. Other major and older film festivals of the world
include:
•
Moscow International Film Festival
(1935)
•
Cannes Film Festival (1946)
•
Festival del film Locarno (1946)
•
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
(1946)
•
Festival del Cinema di Salerno (it)
(1946)
•
Edinburgh International Film Festival
(1947)
•
Yorkton Film Festival (1950)
•
Berlin International Film Festival
(1951)
•
Melbourne International Film Festival
(1952)
•
International Film Festival
Mannheim-Heidelberg (IFFMH) (1952)
•
International Film Festival of India
(IFFI) (1952)
•
San Sebastián International Film
Festival (1953)
•
Sydney Film Festival (1954)
•
Mar del Plata International Film
Festival Argentina (1954)
•
Taormina Film Fest (1955)
•
Seminci, Valladolid, Spain (1956)
•
London Film Festival (1956)
•
San Francisco International Film
Festival (1957)
•
Kraków Film Festival (1960)
•
International Film Festival for Children
and Youth in Zlín (1961)
•
Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival
(1963)
•
Chicago International Film Festival
(1965)
•
Tashkent International Film Festival of
countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America (1968)
•
Molodist Kyiv International Film
Festival (1970)
•
International Film Festival Rotterdam
(1972)
•
Telluride Film Festival (1974)
•
Atlanta Film Festival (1976)
•
Cairo International Film Festival (1976)
•
Toronto International Film Festival
(1976)
•
Cambridge Film Festival (1977)
•
Cleveland International Film Festival
(1977)
•
Montreal World Film Festival (1977).
•
Hong Kong International Film Festival
(HKIFF) (1977)
•
Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) (1978)
•
Durban International Film Festival
(DIFF) (1979)
•
Montreal International Festival on Films
on Art (FIFA) (1981)
•
Torino Film Festival (1982)
•
Fantasporto, Portugal (1982)
•
Istanbul International Film Festival
(1982)
•
Filmfest München (1983)
•
Tokyo International Film Festival (1985)
•
Warsaw International Film Festival
(1985)
•
Fort Lauderdale International Film
Festival (1986)
•
Guadalajara International Film Festival
(1986)
•
Santa Barbara International Film
Festival (1986)
•
Prix Europa 1987
•
Melbourne Queer Film Festival (1991)
•
Shanghai International Film Festival
(1993)
•
Atlantic Film Festival (1980)
•
Busan International Film Festival (1996)
•
Milano Film Festival (1996)
•
International Film Festival of Kerala
(IFFK) 1996
•
Rome Film Festival (1996)
•
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
(PÖFF) 1997
•
SEOUL International Women's Film
Festival (SIWFF) 1997
•
Sofia International Film Festival (SIFF)
1997
•
Kathmandu International Mountain Film
Festival (2000)
•
Transilvania International Film Festival
(2002)
•
Chennai International film festival
(2003)
•
CinemadaMare Film Festival (2003)
•
Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF)
2004
•
Jalari in corto (2004)
•
Vail Film Festival (VFF) 2004
•
Jecheon International Music and Film
Festival (JIMFF) (2005)
•
Lucca Film Festival (LFF) 2005
•
Io Isabella International Film Week
(2005)
•
Biografilm Festival (2005)
•
Beloit International Film Festival
(2006)
•
Filmsaaz (Short film festival) 2008
•
Los Cabos International Film Festival
(CIFF) 2012
•
Regina International Film Festival and
Awards (RIFFA) 2014
•
Valletta Film Festival, Malta (2015)
•
All Lights India International Film
Festival (ALIIFF) 2015
•
Great Indian Film and Literature
Festival (2015) (GIFLIF)
•
United International Film Festival
(UIFF) 2016
•
Covellite International Film Festival
(CIFF) 2016
•
Falmouth Film Festival (2016)
•
International Film Festival and
Awards‧Macao (IFFAM) (2016)
The Venice Film
Festival in Italy began in 1932, and is the oldest film festival still running.
Raindance Film Festival is the UK's largest celebration of independent
film-making, and takes place in London in October.
Australia's first and
longest running film festival is the Melbourne International Film Festival
(1952), followed by the Sydney Film Festival (1954). Edinburgh International
Film Festival is the longest running festival in Great Britain.
North America's first
and longest running short film festival is the Yorkton Film Festival,
established in 1947. The first film festival in the United States 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, which emphasized feature-length dramatic films. The festival played a
major role in introducing foreign films to American audiences. Films in the
first year included Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and Satyajit Ray's Pather
Panchali.
2016 study shows Regina
international film festival and awards (RIFFA) the latest trend and promising
event of western Canada (Regina, Saskatchewan) attract international film
industries, students, enthusiast and fashionista to the prairies.
Today, thousands of
film festivals take place around the world—from high-profile festivals such as
Sundance Film Festival and Slamdance Film Festival (Park City, Utah), to horror
festivals such as Terror Film Festival (Philadelphia), and the Park City Film
Music Festival, the first U.S. film festival dedicated to honoring music in
film.
Digital feature film
distribution began in 2005, along with the world's first online film festival
the Green Cine Online Film Festival, sponsored by DivX.
Film funding
competitions such as Writers and Filmmakers were introduced when the cost of
production could be lowered significantly and internet technology allowed for
the collaboration of film production.