A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. The films may be of recent date and, depending upon the focus of the individual festival, can include international releases as well as films produced by the organisers' domestic film industry. Sometimes there is a focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g., film noir) or subject matter (e.g., gay and lesbian film festivals). Film festivals are typically annual events.

History

The world's first major film festival was held in Venice in 1938; the other major film festivals of the world (Sundance, Berlin, Edinburgh, Cannes, Moscow, and Karlovy Vary) date back to the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival in the UK was established in 1947 and is the longest continually running film festival in the world.

The first North American film festival 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 documentary, 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 whose emphasis was on feature-length dramatic films. The festival played a major role in introducing foreign films to American audiences. Among the films shown in its founding year were Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali.

Today there are thousands of film festivals around the world, ranging from high profile festivals such as Sundance Film Festival (Park City, UT) and Cannes Film Festival (France), to horror festivals such as Terror Film Festival (Philadelphia, PA).

Entry fee

However, not all film festivals require an entry fee. Rotterdam Film Festival, for example, does not charge an entry fee to submit work. There are also many smaller film festivals in the United States, such as the Sansevieria Film Festival in Ohio or the Stony Brook Film Festival in Long Island, New York, or the Sicilian Film Festival in Miami, Florida, which do not charge entry fees, however, acceptance of films is usually more limited, and such film festivals do not necessarily attract big names in their audiences like Sundance and Telluride do. In some cases, such as the Portland Film Festival, there is an entry fee, but it is waived for filmmakers within a certain region, such as the Northwestern United States.

Significant or notable festivals

• "A" Festivals: The festivals in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Shanghai, Moscow, San Sebastián, Montréal, Locarno (since 2002), Karlovy Vary, Mar del Plata, Cairo and Tokyo are listed as "A festivals", or "category one" by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).