I just noticed the 20th anniversery Santa Barbara film festival will be held Jan 28-feb 10 about 40 miles where I live. I dont know much about film festivals except the Sundance film festival and Toronto film festival but how l33t does the Santa Barbara film festival compare with other film festivals and are there any near your area?

Fantasy Film Festival in Cologne. Been there last year for the first time and plan on going this year again.

I saw the unedited NC-17 version of SAW there, Open Water and Ginger Snaps Back. That was in the beginning of August

Toronto Film Festival, they premiered shark tale here.

You foreigners get all the cool festivals while we get all the freaking artsy fartsy talksy films. I wish there was a horror/fantasy movie festival here

I read that the Fangoria magazine has film festivals.

The Almodovar Film Festival is at the AFI Silver in Silver Spring, MD!

Although, they AREN'T showing Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

Bleh old spanish films I havent heard of. I wonder if they even have a world premiere movie. If I wanted films in spanish, I could just visit Santa Ana :mrgreen:

Yes, I know. Spoken like a true shallow minded invidividual. Thanks =D>

well...the Melbourne Independant Film Festival (or something like that...) plays at my local theater...but l missed it last September (l think...actually, l think it was canceled due to the Hurricanes). And the Florida Film Festival is in Orlando, about an hour or so away...thats in April, l believe...l might check it out if there's anything interesting playing. Nothing huge or anything.

Many, but believe it or not, some of them are even too obscure for me. I need a bit of a filtering process and their are tons of local artist film festivals and student film festivals, etc. Sorry, if I was anyone else I wouldn't have shown up to one of my student art shows without heavy coersion, I'm not going to go to any around here. Maybe if they get excellent reviews I would consider, but someone needs to check it out first. There are also alot of ethnic history related festivals, so I'm not sure if they will speak to me unless I'm seeking out a specific festival because I already harbor some interest in its past.

@Toronto people....I hear the TO film festival is quickly becoming one of the biggest ones. Is that true?

Geez neo, you couldn't have picked a worse film to bring up [-X


They premiere a good 300+ films here/ year. In 1999, they had American Beauty among the picks, and it's reception in Toronto drove it towards the Oscar win (buzz grew big time afterwards).


I believe the festival to be number 2 now in the world after Cannes.


Here is the list of films that won the People's Choice Award (The TFF doesn't have an awards program, so this is the closest thing to a top award that there is):

2004 Hotel Rwanda (2004)

2003 Zatôichi (2003)

2002 Whale Rider (2002)

20016 Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (2001)

2000 Wo hu cang long [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon] (2000)

1999 American Beauty (1999)
1998 Vita è bella, La (1997)
1997 Hanging Garden, The (1997)
1996 Shine (1996)
1995 Antonia (1995)
1994 Priest (1994)
1993 Snapper, The (1993) (TV)
1992 Strictly Ballroom (1992)
1991 Fisher King, The (1991)
1990 Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
1989 Roger & Me (1989)
1988 Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988)
1987 Princess Bride, The (1987)
1986 Déclin de l'empire américain, Le (1986)
1985 Historia oficial, La (1985)
1984 Places in the Heart (1984)
1983 Big Chill, The (1983)
1982 Tempest (1982)
1981 Chariots of Fire (1981)
1980 Bad Timing (1980)
1979 Best Boy (1979)
1978 Girlfriends (1978)

Pretty decent choices, I'd say, esp. post-1998.

Some other film festivals in Toronto:


120Seconds.com
Online digital film festival.

Alucine
Latino Film and Video festival.

Filmi
South Asian film festival.

Giggle Shorts
Comedy shorts festival.

Hot Docs
International documentary festival.

Images Festival of Film and Video
Comprehensive media arts festival.

Inside Out
Canada's largest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Moving Pictures Festival
Festival of dance on film and video.

Reel Asian International Film Festival
All films must be independently produced with an Asian/Asian North American in a key creative role.

ReelWorld Film Festival
Culturally and racially diverse film and video festival.

Splice This
International festival of super 8 film.


Telefilm Canada
Telefilm Canada's Festivals Bureau has a mandate to see that Canadian film is represented at more than 300 Canadian festivals and foreign events.

Teen Movie Festival
A worldwide movie festival for budding filmmakers from age 1 to 19. Sponsored by Levis.

Toronto Jewish Film Festival
Showcasing the Jewish experience in all its forms.

Toronto Online Film Festival
Features, shorts, animation, doc, commercials, music videos and new media projects from around the world.

Wow some weird festivals over in your peoples area. How about the major festivals around your area? Basically the ones where they have world premieres or movies like Open Water being shown

Mine had the world premiere of Ginger Snaps Back