Festivals

The editors of Encyclopedia Britannica define a film festival as a ‘gathering, usually annual, for the purpose of evaluating new or outstanding motion pictures. Sponsored by national or local governments, industry, service organizations, experimental film groups, or individual promoters, the festivals provide an opportunity for filmmakers, distributors, critics, and other interested persons to attend film showings and meet to discuss current artistic developments in film.

There is style - which is enduring - and fashion - which is trends. Trends sometimes become fashion.

“We are all the forest and the world to someone,” says Eami, whose name means ‘Forest and World. ’ The five-year-old is not just an ordinary girl: she is Asojá, the bird-god-woman who carries the spirit of the Ayoreo Totobiegosode.

Tea Lindeburg’s feature film debut, As in Heaven, premiered at the Rotterdam and Göteborg film festivals simultaneously and received the top Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at the latter.   Lise (Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl) is the eldest child of a large rural Danish family at the end of the 19th century.

The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is known for its eclectic and diverse programs. This year, its 51st edition has gone remote, once again due to the Covid-19 surge.

Since 1995, the Sundance and Slamdance film festivals started on the same days, in the same place, Park City, Utah. Two very different roommates under the same roof – the snowy mountains and the passion for independent film-making -   teasing or snubbing each other, albeit in a respectful way.

When I landed in Jeddah a couple of weeks ago on my first visit ever to Saudi Arabia to attend the Red Sea International Film Festival, I did not expect to be greeted by a woman at the gate. She sensed the surprise on my face when I introduced myself, as she greeted me in fluent English and with cheerful enthusiasm, before leading me through a shining modern airport to the immigration desk, which was also manned by women.

The Sundance Film Fest has always been a star-maker. More directors and actors have had their breakout in the cold mountains of Utah than at any other festival in the world.

After a two-year absence due to the Covid pandemic, an estimated 40. 000 fans celebrated the return of Comic-Con to the San Diego Convention Center.

A good film festival is defined by its programming: diversity and inclusion play as much a role as does variety in all genres of filmmaking. The New Orleans fest distinguishes itself by also paying attention not only to local filmmakers but to local stories: topics that resonate with or were born from the city, the state, or the region.