Film festival - Definition and Overview

A film festival is a mostly annual festival showcasing films, usually of a recent date, sometimes with a focus on a specific genre (e.g. animation) or subject (e.g. gay and lesbian film festivals).

The world's first major film festival was held in Venice in 1932; the other three major film festivals of the world (Cannes, Berlin and Locarno) date back to the 1940s and 1950s.

The festivals in Venice, Cannes, Berlin, Karlovy Vary and (since 2002) Locarno are listed as so-called "A festivals". New films may be screened at only one of these festivals.

See also: List of film festivals

External links and references

• South Beach Magazine (http://www.southbeach-usa.com/scene/scene1/miami-film-festival/miami-film-festival-2003.htm/) Article on the Miami International Film Festival.
• Sundance to Sarajevo: Film Festivals and the World They Made, Kenneth Turan, University of California Press, hardback, ISBN 0520218671.