There’s no denying the glamour and allure of ultra-hip festivals like Sundance and Cannes. But with thousands of film festivals worldwide, there are plenty of other (perhaps lesser-known) fests that have brands of cool that are just as noteworthy as the big boys—you just need to know where to look. With that in mind, MovieMaker
Magazine has announced the “25 Coolest Film Festivals,” a list available online at
http://www.moviemaker.com/mailinglist/lt.php?id=N0sGCV5RAwACAxoEBgBPBwVTAVI%3D
and in the Summer issue of MovieMaker Magazine (on newsstands now, featuring a cover story on Taking Woodstock’s Emile Hirsch).
The list is filled with fests that all have something unique to offer independent moviemakers. Some are competitive genre fests (like the Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX and the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival in Sebastopol, CA), some avoid awards altogether (see the Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington, NC and Roger Ebert’s Film Festival in Champaign-Urbana, IL) and some are just plain different (like the “What the Hell Did I Just Watch?” Comedy Festival in Seattle, WA).
As is MovieMaker’s standard procedure, the list was compiled after consulting with hundreds of independent moviemakers, festival directors and moviegoers. “As a magazine written by, for and about independent moviemakers, the most important criteria for any ‘best’ list like this is moviemaker feedback,” says MovieMaker editor Jennifer Wood. “When we put out the call for a list of the coolest film festivals, we were truly overwhelmed by the response—and delighted to be introduced to several new and off-the-beaten-path events.”
Here is the complete list, in alphabetical order, of the 25 Coolest
Film Festivals of 2009:
Ann Arbor Film Festival
Big Apple Film Festival
Big Island Film Festival
Boulder International Film Festival
Brooklyn International Film Festival
Coney Island Film Festival
Cucalorus Film Festival
Disposable Film Festival
Environmental Film Festival
Fantastic Fest
Gen Art Film Festival
Indie Memphis Film Festival
Lake Placid Film Forum
Locarno International Film Festival
Phoenix Film Festival
Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
San Francisco Frozen Film Festival
Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival
Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival
South by Southwest
Sunscreen Film Festival
Trail Dance Film Festival
United Film Festivals
“What the Hell Did I Just Watch?” Comedy Festival
Woods Hole Film Festival
