San Francisco International Film Festival

NAME OF FESTIVAL: San Francisco International Film Festival

SINCE: 1957

WHERE: San Francisco, California, U.S.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

Founded in 1957, the San Francisco International Film Festival is the longest-running film festival in the Americas. Held each spring for two weeks and highly anticipated by its loyal, passionate audiences, SFIFF is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country's most beautiful cities, featuring some 150 films and live events with more than 100 filmmakers in attendance and nearly two dozen awards presented for excellence in film craft.

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San Francisco International Film Festival

Author Jonathan Lethem to Deliver State of Cinema address at 2012 San Francisco International Film Festival

Author Jonathan Lethem will deliver the ninth annual State of Cinema address at the 55th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 19 – May 3). Each year, the Film Society invites a public figure to discuss the intersecting worlds of contemporary cinema and visual arts, culture and society, images and ideas. This year, New York Times bestselling novelist, essayist and short story writer Jonathan Lethem investigates the “ecstasies of influence” constituting the cinematic experience. From […]

Final Deadline For Entries For 55th San Francisco International Film Festival.

The San Francisco Film Society is now accepting submissions for the 55th San Francisco International Film Festival. Works in all genres, forms and lengths are considered. The final deadline for short films is Monday, December 5; and the final deadline for features is Monday, December 12. The Festival’s Golden Gate Awards include a juried award for Best Documentary Feature with a $20,000 prize; Best Bay Area Documentary Feature with a $15,000 prize; and awards totaling […]

54th San Francisco International Film Festival Wraps; Announces More Awards

54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5) with 265 screenings of 193 films from 48 countries came to close on Thursday. Eleven films were in juried competition for the 15th annual $15,000 New Directors Award which was given to director Park Jung-bumʼs The Journals of Musan (South Korea). The Salesman by Sébastien Pilote (Canada) was awarded the FIPRESCI prize. The jury described it as “a first feature with a precise sense […]

54th San Francisco International Film Festival Award Winners; ‘Crime After Crime’ wins top documentary award

Yoav Potash’s documentary film, ‘Crime After Crime’, won the top Golden Gate Award Documentary Feature at the 54th San Francisco International Film Festival. The documentary film on the legal battle to free Debbie Peagler, a woman imprisoned for over a quarter century due to her connection to the murder of the man who abused her, received a $25,000 cash prize. The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival ran April 21 – May 5, 2011 at […]

Matthew Barney to receive POV Award at 54th San Francisco International Film Festival

The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5, 2011) will present the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award to multimedia artist Matthew Barney, perhaps best known for the five-part Cremaster film cycle. Established in 1997, the Persistence of Vision Award each year honors the achievement of a filmmaker whose main body of work is outside the realm of typical narrative feature filmmaking, crafting documentaries, short films, television, animated, experimental or multiplatform […]

54th San Francisco International Film Festival Wraps with Mathieu Amalric’s ‘On Tour’

‘On Tour’, about brassy American burlesque performers touring the French countryside, will close the 54th San Francisco International Film Festival scheduled for April 21 – May 5, 2011. French actor Mathieu Amalric directs and stars in this sexy, wistful comedy, featuring burlesque performers from San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and New York Acclaimed French actor Mathieu Amalric directs and stars in this unsentimental homage to the burlesque show and outsized female personalities barely contained […]

Screenwriter, Director Frank Pierson will receive Kanbar Award at 54th San Francisco International Film Festival

The San Francisco Film Society announced that Frank Pierson will be the recipient of the Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting at the 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5). The Kanbar Award acknowledges the crucial importance of a script in the production of an exceptional film and is named in honor of Maurice Kanbar, a longtime member of the board of directors of the Film Society, film commissioner and philanthropist […]

Christine Vachon to deliver State of Cinema Address at the 54th San Francisco International Film Festival

Indie film producer Christine Vachon will deliver the annual State of Cinema Address at the 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5). Vachon will speak on the current state of independent film and the role of producers of provocative cinema going forward. A producer for the past 25 years, Vachon has been at the forefront of the independent film movement, championing risky, emotionally demanding work from unknown filmmakers and never shying […]

54th San Francisco International Film Festival to honor Serge Bromberg with Mel Novikoff Award

The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5) will present the 2011 Mel Novikoff Award to the extraordinary showman Serge Bromberg for his invaluable work as a collector, preservationist, exhibitor, programmer and enthusiast of cinematic treasures, Sunday, May 1 at 5:00 pm at the Castro Theatre. The award, named for the pioneering San Francisco art and repertory film exhibitor Mel Novikoff (1922 – 1987), acknowledges an individual or institution whose work […]

54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5) will open with Beginners

The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5) will open with writer/director Mike Mills’ Beginners (USA 2010), starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, and Mélanie Laurent. Beginners will screen 7:00 pm, Thursday, April 21 at the historic Castro Theatre followed by the Opening Night party, 9:30 pm at San Francisco’s elegant and contemporary art gallery, Terra. Mike Mills and Ewan McGregor are expected to attend and participate in a post-screening Q&A. From […]

54th San Francisco International Film Festival Announces Documentaries in Golden Gate Awards Competition

The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5) today announced its Documentaries in Competition for the esteemed Golden Gate Awards. The International will award close to $100,000 in total prizes this year. Sixty thousand dollars will be awarded to winners in three categories: investigative documentary feature ($25,000), documentary feature ($20,000) and Bay Area documentary feature ($15,000). Winners will be announced at the Golden Gate Awards, Wednesday, May 4. Official Selections 2011 […]

54th San Francisco International Film Festival Announces 11 Films in New Directors Competition

The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5) will award close to $100,000 in total prizes this year. The New Directors Prize of $15,000 is given to a narrative first feature that exhibits a unique artistic sensibility and deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible. Seventeen countries contributed to the production of the 11 films in this year’s competition. An independent jury will select the New Directors […]

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