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A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of in one or more movie theater or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online.
Films may be of recent date and depending upon the festival's focus, can include international and/or domestic releases. Some film festivals focus on a specific format of film, such Documentary film, or runtime, such as short film festivals, or genre, such as , category of filmmakers, such as Woman, production country/region or subject matter.
Film festivals can be competitive or non-competitive, and are often regarded within the film industry as launchpads for new filmmakers and indie films, as well as boosters for established filmmakers and studio productions. The films are either invited by festival curators, or selected by festival programmers from submissions made by the filmmakers, film producers, production companies, sales agents or distributors. Audiences have the opportunity to watch in festivals films premiering months before their commercial release, or films that may not benefit from a wide release and would otherwise be hard to find.
The oldest film festival in the world is the Venice Film Festival. The most prestigious film festivals in the world, known as the "Big Five", are (listed chronologically according to the date of foundation): Venice, Cannes, Berlin (the original Big Three), Toronto, and Sundance. Other major festivals include Karlovy Vary, Locarno, San Sebastián, SXSW, Telluride, Tribeca Festival, and the three largest and most prestigious genre festivals, Sitges, Fantasia and Fantastic Fest.
Mainland Europe's biggest independent film festival is ÉCU The European Independent Film Festival, which started in 2006 and takes place every spring in Paris, France. Edinburgh International Film Festival is the longest-running festival in Great Britain as well as the longest continually running film festival in the world.
Australia's first and longest-running film festival is the Melbourne International Film Festival (1952), followed by the Sydney Film Festival (1954).
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 documentaries, 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.
Today, thousands of film festivals take place around the world—from high-profile festivals such as Sundance Film Festival (Park City, Utah), Newport Beach Film Festival and Slamdance Film Festival, to horror festivals such as FrightFest, Screamfest, Telluride Horror Show, and the Park City Film Music Festival, the first American film festival dedicated to honoring music in film.
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.
Film festivals have evolved significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Many festivals opted for virtual or hybrid festivals. The film industry, which was already in upheaval due to streaming options, has faced another major shift, and movies showcased at festivals have an even shorter runway to online launches.
The Toronto International Film Festival is the most popular festival in North America. Time wrote it had "grown from its place as the most influential fall film festival to the most influential film festival, period".
The Seattle International Film Festival is credited as being the largest film festival in the United States, regularly showing over 400 films in a month across the city.
Some general film festivals also have sections for genre films, the most prestigious ones being the Midnight section at Sundance Film Festival, the Midnighter section at SXSW, the Midnight Madness at TIFF and the Midnight section at Tribeca Festival.
There are festivals, especially in the US, that highlight and promote films made by or about various ethnic groups and nationalities or feature the cinema from a specific foreign country. These include African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Arabs, Jews, Italian, German, French, Palestinian, and Native American. The Deauville American Film Festival in France is devoted to the cinema of the United States. LGBTQ+ and Women's film festivals are also popular.
The San Francisco International Film Festival, founded by Irving "Bud" Levin in 1957, is the oldest continuous annual film festival in the United States. It highlights current trends in international filmmaking and video production with an emphasis on work that has not yet secured American distribution.
The Newport Beach Film Festival, founded by Gregg Schwenk in 1999, has emerged as the largest international cinema event in coastal Southern California, attracting over 56,000 attendees to Orange County, CA. The Festival partners with over 40 non-profit organizations and pairs each with a film that aligns with their mission. The films featured include World, North America, U.S. and West Coast premieres as well as the International Spotlight Series which celebrates foreign language films.
The Vancouver International Film Festival, founded in 1958, is one of the largest film festivals in North America. It focuses on East Asian films, Canadian films, and nonfiction films. In 2016, there was an audience of 133,000 and 324 films.
The Toronto International Film Festival, founded by Bill Marshall, Henk Van der Kolk, and Dusty Cohl, is one of North America's most important film festivals, and is the most widely attended.
The Chicago International Film Festival, founded in 1964, is North America's longest-running competitive film festival. The 60th Chicago International Film Festival, scheduled during the month of October, will host over 40,000 attendees from around the world. The Festival's program, screening 175+ films from more than 50 countries, is presented in sections including the International Competition, New Directors Competition, Documentary, Black Perspectives, City & State, and Special Presentations.
The Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF), founded in 1977, is largest film festival in Ohio and among the longest-running in the United States. The film festival is held at the Playhouse Square, which are a series of elegant theaters built in the early 1920s, and the largest performing arts center in the United States outside of New York City (only Lincoln Center is larger).
The Ottawa Canadian Film Festival, abbreviated OCanFilmFest, was co-founded by Ottawa-based filmmakers Jith Paul, Ed Kucerak, and Blair Campbell in 2015. It features films of various durations and genres from filmmakers across Canada.
The Sundance Film Festival founded by Sterling Van Wagenen (then head of Wildwood, Robert Redford's company), John Earle, and Cirina Hampton Catania (both serving on the Utah Film Commission at the time) is a significant festival for independent film.
The Woodstock Film Festival was launched in 2000 by filmmakers Meira Blaustein and Laurent Rejto to bring high-quality, independent films to the Hudson Valley region of New York. In 2010, Indiewire named the Woodstock Film Festival among the top 50 independent film festivals worldwide.
The Regina International Film Festival and Awards (RIFFA) founded by John Thimothy, one of the top leading international film festivals in western Canada (Regina, Saskatchewan) represented 35 countries in 2018 festival. RIFFA annual Award show and red carpet arrival event are getting noticed in the contemporary film and fashion industries in Western Canada.
Toronto's Hot Docs, founded by filmmaker Paul Jay, is a North American documentary film festival. Toronto has the largest number of film festivals in the world, ranging from cultural, independent, and historic films.
The Seattle International Film Festival, which screens 270 features and approximately 150 short films, is the largest American film festival in terms of the number of feature productions.
The Expresión en Corto International Film Festival is the largest competitive film festival in Mexico. It specializes in emerging talent and is held in the last week of each July in the two colonial cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato.
Other Mexican festivals include the Guadalajara International Film Festival in Guadalajara, Oaxaca Film Fest, the Morelia International Film Festival in Morelia, Michoacan Mexico, and the Los Cabos International Film Festival founded by Scott Cross, Sean Cross, and Eduardo Sanchez Navarro, in Los Cabos, Baja Sur, Mexico are considered the most important film festivals in Latin America. In 2015, Variety called the Los Cabos International Film Festival the "Cannes of Latin America".
The Lima Film Festival is the leading film festival in Peru and one of the most important in Latin America. It is focused on Latin-American cinema and is organized each year by the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
The Valdivia International Film Festival is held annually in the city of Valdivia. It is arguably the most important film festival in Chile. There is also Filmambiente, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, an international festival on environmental films and videos.
The Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, founded in 2006, is dedicated to screening the newest films from the English-, Spanish, French- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean and the region's diaspora. It also seeks to facilitate the growth of Caribbean cinema by offering a wide-ranging industry programme and networking opportunities.
The Lusca Fantastic Film Fest (formerly Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest) was also founded in 2006 and is the first and only international fantastic film festival in the Caribbean[1] Lusca Film Fest Official Website devoted to Sci-fi film, Thriller film, Fantasy Films, dark humor, bizarre, Horror film, Anime film, Adventure film, virtual reality, and Animation film in Short film and feature films.
Various regional festivals occur in various countries. The Austin Film Festival is accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which makes all its jury-award-winning narrative short and animated short films eligible for an Academy Award.
The Sahara International Film Festival, held annually in the Sahrawi refugee camps in western Algeria near the border of Western Sahara, is notable as the only film festival in the world to take place in a refugee camp. The festival aims to provide cultural entertainment and educational opportunities to refugees and raise awareness of the plight of the Sahrawi people, who have been exiled from their native Western Sahara for more than three decades.
Chennai International Film Festival has been organized since 2002 by the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation (ICAF), the Government of Tamil Nadu, the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, and the Film Federation of India.
The Jaipur International Film Festival was founded in 2009 and International Film Festival of Kerala organized by the Government of Kerala held annually at Thiruvananthapuram.
The International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, is a major documentary and short film festival.
The Mumbai Women's International Film Festival (MWIFF) is an annual film festival in Mumbai that features films made by women directors and technicians.
The Calcutta International Cult Films Festival (CICFF) is a popular international film festival based in Kolkata which showcases international cult films.
YathaKatha International Film & Literature Festival (YKIFLF) is an annual film & literature festival in Mumbai showcasing literature collaboration in cinema via various constructive discussions and forums. 3rd edition of the festival was held from 28 November-1 December 2024 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
On the other hand, some festivals—usually those accepting fewer films and perhaps not attracting as many big names in their audiences as do Sundance and Telluride, require no entry fee. Many smaller film festivals in the United States, such as the Stony Brook Film Festival on Long Island, the Northwest Filmmakers' Festival, and the Sicilian Film Festival in Miami), are examples.
The Portland International Film Festival charges an entry fee but waives it for filmmakers from the Northwestern United States, and some others with regional focuses have similar approaches.
Several film festival submission portal websites exist to streamline filmmakers' entries into multiple festivals. They provide databases of festival calls for entry and offer filmmakers a convenient "describe once, submit many" service.
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