Fort Lauderdale Intn'l Film Festival, Florida (USA)
October 16 - November 12
Fort Lauderdale, the haven of thousands of college students during Spring break, is well known for its tropical climate, miles of gorgeous beaches, flawlessly sunny weather (the occasional hurricane a rare exception) and for being a clean, and civilized alternative to its southern neighbor Miami. However, Fort Lauderdale is also gaining a growing reputation as a film town, with many studios setting up shop to stimulate both local and out-of-town shoots, technicians and actors kept busy with full schedules and one of the most active film commissions in the United States.

Interview with G. von Hausch, Fest Dir.

Valladolid International Film Festival (Spain)
October 20 - 28
Bunuel, Fellini, and Bergman can all say Gracias to Valladolid for jump-starting their careers in Spain. It was in this Spanish city, 120 miles northwest of Madrid, formerly the capital of the Spain, that these now-legendary directors were first premiered to Spanish audiences. Valladolid has been running since 1956 and attracts about 80,000 visitors annually making it the second-largest festival in Spain.

North America

Mexico Seizes the Gold
Chicago International Film Fest October 5 - 19
The 36th Chicago International Film Festival, which runs until Oct 19, held its award ceremony Monday night the 16th. The oldest competitive festival in the world awarded its Golden Hugo Award for the Best Feature to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Amores Perros and the Silver Hugo - Special Jury Prize to Bahman Ghobadi's A Time For Drunken Horses

AFI Gets "Brotherly"
Los Angeles International Film Festival, October 19 - 26
The Los Angeles International Film Festival, sponsored by the American Film Institute (AFI) will begin with O Brother, Where Art Thou?, from Joen and Ethan Coen (brothers, no less) and close with Philip Kaufman's Quills on October 26th.

The Kudzu Film Festival
Athens, October 18 - 22 (Georgia, USA)
A diverse program of documentaries, animation, experimental shorts, narratives, and student works will be presented during the Kudzu Film Festival. Kudzu will host several industry panels, a showcase and workshop - How to Get Started in the Film Industry in the Southeast. In anticipation of Halloween, Kudzu brings the IFC 's 1970 horror film critique American Nightmare to Athens for a two night bill, along with Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre and George Romero's Dawn Of The Dead. The judges for Kudzu 2000 are "Indie" icon Sean Gullette (Pi), Sophia Karteris (Turner South), Ed Halter (NY Underground Film Festival), Kim Adelman (DVD Shorts), and local actress Stephanie Astalos-Jones.

Hot Springs Hosts Documentary Fest
A lineup of documentary films as unique as the town of Hot Springs itself kicked off Friday at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in Arkansas. With films ranging from a sneak peek into Saddam Hussein's private life to the story of a young boy with AIDS, the festival is one of the few in the US to focus entirely on documentaries. Father-and-son duo Richard and Chris Roe open the event with Pop & Me, a collection of interviews with fathers and sons all over the world. This year's 90 films were selected from over 800 applicants.

Europe

Flanders Int'l Film Festival, Ghent (Belgium)
October 10 -21
Tributes to attending guests include Morgan Freeman and Roger Corman. The closing ceremony and awards presentation will be held on October 21st in the Crypt of the historic St Pieters Abbey. The screenings are held in the university quarter of the city, a leafy canalside area with lively bars.

"Leeding" the Innovation of Festival
Leeds International Film Festival, October 5 - 20 (UK)
While many would name Paris, California or even London as locations integral to the birth of cinema, it was in fact Leeds where the first moving images were filmed, by Louis le Prince in 1889.

Viennale Spotlights Blacklist Era
Vienna Int'l Film Festival, October 13 - 25 (Austria)
As the largest film festival in Austria, the Viennale lures more than 65,000 cinema buffs to the land of Mozart, Haider and Sacher Tortes. The 2000 program will screen 150 features in Austrian or international premieres.

Adam "Uncorks" Irish Festival
Cork Film Festival, October 15 - 22 (Ireland)
Forty-five this year, Cork is a veritable "old man" of the film festival circuit, and brings to Ireland for the first time many of the strongest players at Edinburgh, Venice and Toronto.

Wrap-up/Awards
Marco Island, Sitges, Cherbourg, Mill Valley, AFI Star Award...
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