Founded in 1957, the San Francisco International Film Festival is the longest-running film festival in the Americas. Held each spring for two weeks, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in the country’s most beautiful city, featuring some 150 films and live events with more than 100 filmmakers in attendance and nearly two dozen awards presented for cinematic excellence. The Festival attracts an annual audience of more than 80,000.

“Few festivals are more suited to their city than the International. It’s clearly a festival programmed by those who love film for people who love film.” — Alex Romanelli, editor, Variety

 

The SANTA CATALINA FILM FESTIVAL is a film festival that not only celebrates the art and entertainment of film in all of its forms, but also Santa Catalina Island in all of its rich history, glory, and beauty.

Through screenings and associated events, the festival aims to present a wide spectrum of filmmaking - feature films, documentaries, screenplays, animation, short films, experimental, student work, big budget, micro-budget, trailers and soon…

The SANTA CATALINA FILM FESTIVAL awards mainstream films in various categories, but the Isla Earth Award, for the Conservation Series, is presented by the Catalina Island Conservancy, our beneficiary, honoring filmmakers that have their similar mission in protecting, educating and promoting the power of nature.

The SANTA CATALINA FILM FESTIVAL brings film enthusiasts and filmmakers together to better enjoy the art and fun of filmmaking, but also to enjoy the beauty and hospitality of Santa Catalina Island.

The Film Festival offers our guests the opportunity to learn, grow and exhibit films within the unique and romantic setting of Los Angeles County’s Pacific treasure. The festival will also offer attendees quality films that will entertain, educate, and inspire their own interests. Film professionals, and the interested public, will have the opportunity to gain industry knowledge through festival activities,
education centers, and seminars with our guest speakers.

The SANTA CATALINA FILM FESTIVAL is about the filmmakers’ opportunity to entertain, educate and inspire their audience, just like the island itself.

The San Francisco Film Society and the New York International Children's Film Festival present the first NY/SF International Children’s Film Festival, a three-day celebration of diverse, enlightening, inspiring and entertaining films for kids ages 3–18 and their families, September 24–26 at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema. NY/SFICFF features short, feature, animated and documentary films from around the world with filmmaker guests in attendance, a special Opening Night party and an interactive director’s workshop.

The San Francisco Film Society presents the fifth annual San Francisco International Animation Festival (SFIAF), a four-day celebration of the Bay Area’s preeminence as a hub for one of the most creative forms in cinema, November 11–14 at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema. This year’s International Animation Festival ranges from FX-based features to family-friendly cartoons and includes Hayao Miyazaki protégé Sunao Katabuchi’s Mai Mai Miracle, the Decemberists-inspired Here Come the Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized, six wildly diverse shorts programs and a live animation and musical performance by artist duo Semiconductor.

“SFIAF explores the many forms of animation as both an artistic practice and a mode of production,” said programmer Sean Uyehara. “Each year it’s exciting to discover and present a range of work from established artists such as anime director Sunao Katabuchi and this year’s Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award recipient Don Hertzfeldt to works by emerging talents such as Brent Green and Skye Thorstensen to the unique work of the innovative duo Semiconductor.”

The San Francisco Film Society, New Italian Cinema Events of Florence, Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco present New Italian Cinema, November 14–21 at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema. The eight-day festival is dedicated to bringing Italy’s newest directors and films to Bay Area audiences and celebrating the country’s rich cinematic tradition. The 2010 edition opens with Ferzan Ozpetek’s humorous drama Loose Cannons and a three-film retrospective of this talented and prolific auteur’s work, and closes with Paolo Virzì’s moving new film The First Beautiful Thing. The core program of New Italian Cinema features seven recent films by breakthrough filmmakers vying for the City of Florence Award.

The San Francisco Film Society will present the second annual Cinema by the Bay, a celebration of the passion, innovation and diversity of Bay Area filmmaking, the intelligence and probing spirit of local directors and the incredible depth and breadth of America’s film and media frontier, November 5–8 at the Roxie Theater, Southern Exposure and the Lab. The four-day festival will feature new work produced in or about the San Francisco Bay Area and provide a compelling window into Bay Area film culture and practice at its best. CBTB includes features, shorts, narratives and documentaries from well-known and emerging local talent.