Founded in 1957, SFFILM Festival is the longest-running film festival in the Americas. Refreshingly intimate for a festival of its size and scope, the event combines a range of marquee premieres, international competitions, compelling documentaries, new digital media work, live music performances, and star-studded red carpet events. The SFFILM Festival is deeply rooted in the finest traditions of film appreciation, both as an art form and as a meaningful agent for social change, and is an important showcase for the most searching and innovative films from around the globe. The 2021 SFFILM Festival presented 106 films from 41 countries with 15 world premieres. 57% of Festival films were directed by female filmmakers, and 57% of Festival films were directed by BIPOC filmmakers. Programs were presented online via sffilm.org and at the Fort Mason Flix Drive-In in San Francisco. The Festival’s awards and prizes recognize the best in emerging international and Bay Area talent by honoring remarkable innovation in documentary, narrative, animation, experimental, and youth-produced works. Filmmakers with work in the Festival lineup can also take advantage of industry meetings and networking events hosted by SFFILM Makers, the organization’s artist development arm. “[SFFILM] Festival is situated in one of the most culturally diverse and progressive places on Earth, a place that harbors curiosity, creativity, innovation, internationalism, and a strong support for the arts…Indeed, beyond diversity and inclusion, one of the guiding principles of the festival is the desire to inspire a more civil discourse about the issues that affect us today.” —San Francisco Chronicle “The annual flagship event for what is quickly becoming one of the most innovative film organizations in the US.” —IndieWire Golden Gate Awards—The Festival’s Golden Gate Awards recognize the best of international and Bay Area talent by honoring innovation in narrative and documentary features, mid-length, shorts, animation, experimental, family films, and youth-produced works. More than $30,000 will be awarded by independent juries in several categories including the McBaine Documentary Feature Award; the McBaine Bay Area Documentary Feature Award; a New Directors Prize for the director of a first narrative feature; and awards in other categories of mid-length, shorts, youth-produced, and family films. Audience Awards—Decided by audience ballot throughout the Festival, Audience Awards for Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature are announced on Closing Night. In addition, SFFILM Festival is an Academy Award–qualifying festival for all short film categories (documentary, live action, and animated), and a qualifying festival for the annual Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction filmmaking, founded in 2007 to honor exemplary craft in documentaries. “The SFFILM Festival screening experience is one of the best in the nation. There is so much thoughtfulness that goes into the programming and the surrounding events. The staff is incredibly supportive, and the screenings are well attended by a diverse and engaged audience—it’s a filmmaker’s dream.” —Filmmaker Kelly Duane de la Vega, co-director of The Return
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For photos and press materials visit sffilm.org/press
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