Significant or Notable Festivals
The three most prestigious film festivals are commonly regarded to be that of Cannes, Berlin and Venice; these festivals are sometimes called the "Big Three." Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski's The Three Colors Trilogy were each made for these festivals, with Blue for Venice, White for Berlin, and Red for Cannes.
The Toronto International Film Festival is North America's most popular festival. Time wrote it had "grown from its place as the most influential fall film festival to the most influential film festival, period." Seattle International Film Festival is credited as being the largest film festival in the USA, regularly showing over 400 films in a month across the city. The Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, and Vancouver International Film Festival are also major festivals in North America.
- Competitive feature film: The festivals in Berlin, Cairo, Cannes, Goa, Karlovy Vary, Locarno, Mar del Plata, Montreal, Moscow, San Sebastián, Shanghai, Tokyo, Venice, and Warsaw are accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in the category of competitive feature films.
- Experimental films: Ann Arbor Film Festival was started in 1963. It is the oldest continually operated experimental film festival in North America and has become one of the premiere film festivals for independent and, primarily, experimental filmmakers to showcase their work.
- Independent films: In the US, Telluride Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Austin's South by Southwest, New York City's Tribeca Film Festival and Slamdance Film Festival are all considered significant festivals for independent film. The Zero Film Festival is significant as the first and only festival exclusive to self-financed filmmakers. The biggest independent film festival in the UK is Raindance Film Festival.
- North American: The San Francisco International Film Festival, started in 1957, is the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. It highlights current trends in international filmmaking and video production with an emphasis on work that has not yet secured U.S. distribution. The Toronto International Film Festival, begun in 1976, is regarded as North America's most major and most prestigious film festival, and is the most widely attended worldwide. Toronto's Hot Docs is the leading North American documentary film festival. Toronto also has the largest amount of film festivals in the world, ranging from cultural, independent, and historic films. The largest festival, in terms of the number of features shown, is the Seattle International Film Festival, screening 270 features, and approximately 150 short films. The Whistler Film Festival, with is amazing location and breathtaking scenery, is getting bigger every year with more than 80 screenings and a well-rounded Industry Summit. Meanwhile, the New York Film Festival only shows a few films in each year, but it still has big impact in the United States. The Sundance film festival is a major festival for independent film. The Vail Film Festival in Vail, Colorado, is one of the "Top 10 destination film festivals in the world" (MovieMaker magazine), screens over 90 films, features mostly new filmmakers and honors Rising Stars, including Jesse Esienberg, Olivia Wilde, and many more. For short film enthusiasts and cinema professionals, Sagunenay International Short film Festival (REGARD sur le court métrage au Saguenay, in French) is now a "must-go event" (Francois Levesque, Le Devoir). The Slamdance Film Festival is self-governed "by filmmakers for filmmakers".
- Latin American significance: The Cartagena Film Festival, founded by Victor Nieto in 1960, is the oldest film festival in Latin America. The Festival de Gramado (or Gramado Film Festival) Gramado, Brazil along with the Guadalajara International Film Festival in Guadalajara, Mexico are considered to be the most important film festivals of Latin America. It was first held in 1973, awarding Latin American films. The Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival has been held since 1975 in that Spanish city. While the Expresión en Corto International Film Festival is the largest competitive film festival in Mexico, specializing in emerging talents, and is held each year during the last week of July in the two colonial cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. Oaxaca Film Fest Rapidly emerging as one of the most important of Southern Mexico's. Among Spanish speaking countries the Dominican International Film Festival is held annually in Puerto Plata, DR, the Valdivia International Film Festival is held annually in the city of Valdivia. It is arguable the most important film festival in Chile.
- Animation: Founded in 1960, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival is the oldest international film festival dedicated exclusively to animation. The others are: Zagreb (f. 1972) Ottawa (f. 1976), Hiroshima (f. 1985), KROK (f. 1989), and Anima Mundi (f. 1992). There are also a variety of regional festivals in various countries. Austin Film Festival is accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences®, making all Jury Award-winning Narrative Short and Animated Short films eligible for an Academy Award®.
- Asian Film Festival: Most notable amongst the Asian Film Festivals are the Annual Mumbai Film Festival in India, with its 200,000 USD cash prize (www.mumbaifilmfest.com), Osian's-Cinefan Film Festival, which was recently expanded to include Arab Cinema as well, and the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) and Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).
- African festivals Significant African festivals based on the continent include the biannual Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou FESPACO in Burkina Faso, the annual Durban International Film Festival which has grown in importance for industry with the addition of a co-production forum and Talent Campus.
- European festivals The biggest European festival is the Cannes film festival in France along with Berlin and Venice.
- Art and Technology: Cinequest Film Festival is one of the largest film festival in the United States to celebrate the convergence of art and technology. Forbes Magazine recognized the festival and how their "film and technology forums delved into the important realms of integrating internet delivery into the home entertainment environment, creating true Internet revenue streams for film artists, and effectively leveraging the budding mobile marketplace."
- Emerging Filmmakers: The KahBang Film Festival, part of the KahBang Music-Art-Film Festival in Bangor, Maine, is one of the newest film festivals in the United States to discover and showcase the work from Emerging Filmmakers throughout the world. Their programming continues to be unique by also showcasing the best new Comedy features, Music Documentaries, and Maine made films. Each year they honor one notable actor, actress, or filmmaker with the "Kevin Norwood Bacon Award for Achievement in Cinema", acknowledging the success the recipient has achieved in being so closely connected to Kevin Bacon. One of their films is screened in the KahBang Off Screen Category, "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" which connects the honored back to the man himself. The London Short Film Festival is a BAFTA-affiliated festival which takes place in January every year and is dedicated to finding and showcasing the work of new UK talent, including specific screenings for low budget work.
- National Cinemas: There has been an increasing presence of film festivals celebrating national cinema. Large national cinema festivals include Italian, French, Russian, Korean, Spanish, German and many more. These are often held in cities with large diaspora populations. This year, Sydney hosted the world’s largest Lebanese Film Festival.
- Interdisciplinary: There are an increasing number of interdisciplinary film festivals crossing film exhibition with content form other cultural and professional spheres. Rich Pickings uses short films as a discussion aid for public conversations between with scientists, technologists, psychoanalysts and filmmakers.
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