Film festival
The
San Diego International Film Festival
is an independent
film festival
in
San Diego, California
, produced by the
non-profit
San Diego Film Foundation. The main event has traditionally been held annually in
the autumn
at venues in the
Gaslamp Quarter
,
La Jolla
and
Balboa Park
.
The festival hosts
celebrity awards banquets
,
panel discussions
,
retrospectives
, parties, premieres and contemporary independent
narrative
,
documentary
and
short
film screenings. Competitive juried categories vary year to year and have included foreign language, animated,
Native American
, military,
social justice
,
equestrian
, thrillers and local films made in San Diego.
Special advanced screenings for
VIP
members
[1]
and educational programs
[2]
for San Diego area high schools are held year round in addition to an annual formal
"Oscar watch party
" in the winter.
[3]
History
[
edit
]
The San Diego International Film Festival (originally just "The San Diego Film Festival") and its non-profit foundation were founded in 2001 by event planner Robin Laatz and her filmmaker husband Karl Kozak.
[4]
In its first decade, films premiering at the festival included
Roger Dodger
,
The Blair Witch Project
,
Fahrenheit 9/11
,
An Inconvenient Truth
,
Waiting for Superman
,
Napoleon Dynamite
,
Primer
,
The Machinist
and
Born Into Brothels
.
[
citation needed
]
The festival has been designated "Best Party Fest" and "Best Beach Fest" by the "Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide".
[5]
It has also been criticized along the same lines for being "more intent on throwing parties than putting quality films on the screen."
[6]
New Leadership/Native Direction
[
edit
]
In 2012, leadership passed to husband and wife producers Dale Strack and Tonya Mantooth.
[7]
According to Strack, they were modeling it after Napa Valley Film Festival, with a "longer term goal" of rivaling
Sundance
or
TriBeCa
.
[6]
The festival expanded to a second location in La Jolla the same year.
Another new change was the establishment of a "Native American Advisory Board", whose name was changed in 2017 to "American Indian Advisory Board".
[8]
Tribes represented on the AIA board include
Sac and Fox
,
Luiseno
,
Kumeyaay
,
Seminole
,
Lipan/Mescalero Apache
and the
Barona Band of Mission Indians
. Notable members of the board include character actor
Saginaw Grant
(
The Lone Ranger
,
Breaking Bad
),
Randolph Mantooth
(
Emergency!
,
Sons of Anarchy
, brother of Tonya Mantooth) and Erica Pinto, the Chairwoman of
Jamul Indian Village
.
[9]
2012-2019
[
edit
]
Notable films premiering at the festival during this time include
Silver Linings Playbook
,
12 Years a Slave
,
He Named Me Malala
,
Goosebumps
,
The Imitation Game
,
Wild
,
Lion
,
Tiger
,
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
,
Call Me By Your Name
,
Marshall
,
The Favourite
,
Widows
,
Boy Erased
,
Jojo Rabbit
,
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
,
Marriage Story
,
The Irishman
,
and
Parasite
.
[
citation needed
]
In 2013, New York area film critic
Jeffrey Lyons
was added as festival host and made honorary jury chairman. He acted as host or as co-host along with his with son
Ben Lyons
or with
Access Hollywood
film critic
Scott Mantz
, up until 2018, when Mantz hosted solo.
The festival added "International" to its name in 2016, having previously been known only as the San Diego Film Festival.
[10]
In 2016, the festival established a
Film Insider Series
for VIP members to watch featured official selections and festival winners, premieres and special advanced screenings throughout the year.
[11]
In September 2019, the festival began hosting free screenings of popular movies on
Mission Beach
.
[12]
In 2019, the festival expanded to six days and hosted a second opening night film (
The Irishman
) at the La Jolla Village.
[13]
[14]
2020-present
[
edit
]
Notable films premiering at the festival during this time include
Nomadland
,
The French Dispatch
,
Spencer
,
The Power of the Dog
,
The Lost Daughter
,
The Banshees of Inisherin
and
The Inspection
.
In 2020, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
, the festival was reduced to four days and presented 114 films both virtually and on
drive-thru
screens.
[15]
[16]
As of 2020, the San Diego International Film Festival is a qualifying festival for the
Canadian Screen Awards
.
[17]
In 2021, limited in-person screenings resumed at new venues including the
Museum of Photographic Arts
and the
San Diego Museum of Art
in
Balboa Park
, as well as the Catamaran Resort in
Mission Bay
.
[18]
A special screening was held on the deck on a historic
aircraft carrier
at the
USS Midway Museum
.
[19]
In 2022, after organizers at the
Women's Museum of California
's had ended their Women's Film Festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they joined forces with the San Diego Festival to present a women's series of films.
[20]
In 2023, the film festival's opening night is being held at Westfield UTC AMC on October 8. Where, for the festival's 22nd year, they will have a showing of the Oscar winning film,
The Holdovers
.
[21]
The Festival will be occurring October 18?22 at
Balboa Park
's
Museum of Photographic Arts
, during those 5 days there will be showing 91 films of the 3,200 films that were submitted. The theme of this years Festival is "Celebrating the power of film", meaning films will be outlining the importance of film and its impact on our society and community.
[22]
[23]
Awards
[
edit
]
Gregory Peck Award
[
edit
]
The
Gregory Peck Award for Cinematic Excellence
has been presented by the family of San Diego native
Gregory Peck
at the festival since 2014. Recipients at the San Diego festival include
Andy Garcia
,
[24]
Laurence Fishburne
,
[25]
[26]
Keith Carradine
,
Patrick Stewart
,
[27]
Annette Bening
[28]
and
Alan Arkin
.
[29]
The family originally presented the award at the
Dingle International Film Festival
in Ireland. Previous recipients include
Gabriel Byrne
,
Jim Sheridan
,
Jean-Jacques Beineix
and
Laura Dern
.
[30]
Chris Brinker Award
[
edit
]
The Chris Brinker Award was created by the family of
Chris Brinker
, a San Diego area producer best known for
The Boondock Saints
movies, who died of a brain aneurysm at the age of 42.
[31]
The award is given every year to the best first time director in competition at the festival.
Golden Eagle
[
edit
]
Since 2014, honored celebrities and winning filmmakers have been presented with a "Golden Eagle" themed statuette, sculpted by
Apache
artist Ruben Chato.
[32]
Kumeyaay Eagle Award
[
edit
]
An annual award presented to the
best film
competing in the American Indian track.
[33]
Night of the Stars Awards
[
edit
]
The festival offers other awards - Auteur, Vanguard, Humanitarian, Rising Star, etc. - that vary year to year. Honorees include:
- 2022:
Regina Hall
,
Tony Hale
,
Lisa Ann Walker
,
Colson Baker
.
[34]
[35]
- 2019:
Lindsay Wagner
,
Jared Harris
,
Pitbull
,
Jillian Bell
,
Camilla Morrone
.
[25]
[36]
- 2018:
Kenny Loggins
,
Kathryn Hahn
,
John Cho
,
Topher Grace
,
Zachary Levi
,
Alex Wolff
,
Christian Navarro
.
[37]
[38]
[39]
- 2017:
Kumail Nanjiani
,
Heather Graham
,
Taran Killam
and
Blake Jenner
.
[27]
- 2017:
Kate Beckinsale
,
Simon Helberg
and
Jason Mitchell
[40]
- 2016:
Adrien Brody
,
Geena Davis
,
Brit Marling
and
John Boyega
[41]
- 2015:
Beau Bridges
,
Michelle Monaghan
,
Eli Roth
,
Allison Pill
,
Tom Berenger
[42]
- 2014:
Judd Apatow
,
Michael B. Jordan
and
Mariel Hemingway
[43]
[44]
- 2013:
Gus Van Sant
,
Diane Ladd
,
Anne Heche
,
Penny Lane
,
Stephen Gyllenhaal
and
Martin McDonagh
.
[45]
[46]
[47]
Gala Event Films
[
edit
]
Year
|
Opening Night
|
Other Galas
|
Closing Night
|
Ref
|
2022
|
Armageddon Time
(dir.
James Gray
)
|
The Banshees of Inisherin
(dir.
Martin McDonagh
)
The Lost King
(dir.
Stephen Frears
)
Taurus
(dir. Tim Sutton)
|
Empire of Light
(dir.
Sam Mendes
)
|
[48]
|
2021
|
C'mon, C'mon
- (dir.
Mike Mills
)
|
The French Dispatch
(dir.
Wes Anderson
)
Spencer
(dir.
Pablo Larrain
)
Belfast
(dir.
Kenneth Branagh
)
The Power of the Dog
(dir.
Jane Campion
)
The Worst Person in the World
(dir.
Joachim Trier
)
|
The Lost Daughter
(dir.
Maggie Gyllenhaal
)
|
[49]
|
2020
|
Nomadland
-
(dir.
Chloe Zhao
) - drive-in
Drunk Bus
- virtual village
|
Stardust
(dir.
Gabriel Range
) - World Premiere
Blithe Spirit
(dir.
Edward Hall
)
|
MLK/FBI
- virtual village
|
[15]
[16]
|
2019
|
Jojo Rabbit
(dir.
Taika Waititi
) - Gaslamp
The Irishman
(dir.
Martin Scorsese
) - La Jolla
|
The Kill Team
(dir.
Dan Knauss
)
Motherless Brooklyn
(dir.
Edward Norton
)
Clemency
(dir.
Chinonye Chuckwu
, US)
Parasite
(dir.
Bong Joon Ho
)
The Truth
(dir.
Hirokazu Kore-eda
)
|
Marriage Story
(dir.
Noah Baumbach
) - Gaslamp
A Hidden Life
(dir.
Terrence Malick
) - La Jolla
|
[50]
[51]
|
2018
|
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
(dir.
Marielle Heller
, US)
|
Everybody Knows
(dir.
Asghar Farhadi
)
Widows
(dir.
Steve McQueen
)
The Favourite
(dir.
Yorgos Lanthimos
)
Wildlife
(dir.
Paul Dano
)
|
Boy Erased
(dir.
Joel Edgerton
)
|
|
2017
|
Marshall
(dir.
Reginald Hudlin
, US)
|
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Call Me By Your Name
(dir.
Luca Guadagnino
)
Thelma
(dir.
Joachim Trier
, Norway)
Killing Gunther
(dir.
Taren Killam
) - World Premiere
The Last Movie Star
as
Dog Years
(dir.
Adam Rifkin
)
|
Dismissed
(dir. Benjamin Arfman, US)
World Premiere
|
|
2016
|
Other People
(dir. Chris Kelly, US)
|
Lion
(dir.
Garth Davis
, Australia)
Denial
(dir.
Mick Jackson
, UK/USA)
Julieta
(dir.
Pedro Almodovar
, Spain)
|
The Eagle Huntress
(UK/Mongolia)
|
|
2015
|
Septembers of Shiraz
(dir.
Wayne Blair
)
|
Blackway
as
Go With Me
Diablo
(dir.
Lawrence Roeck
)
Youth
(dir.
Paolo Sorrentino
, Italy)
He Named Me Malala
|
|
|
2014
|
Wild
(dir.
Jean-Marc Vallee
, US)
|
The Imitation Game
(UK/US)
The Equalizer
(dir.
Antoine Fuqua
)
|
You're Not You
(US)
|
[52]
|
2013
|
12 Years a Slave
(dir.
Steve McQueen
, UK/US)
|
The German Doctor
(dir.
Lucia Puenzo
)
|
August: Osage County
(US)
|
[53]
|
2012
|
|
Silver Linings Playbook
(dir.
David O. Russell
)
Seven Psychopaths
(dir.
Martin McDonagh
)
Quartet
(dir.
Dustin Hoffman
, UK)
The Sapphires
(dir.
Wayne Blair
, Aus)
|
|
[54]
|
2011
|
50/50
(dir.
Jonathan Levine
, US)
|
Like Crazy
(dir.
Drake Doremus
)
|
The Bully Project
(dir. Lee Hirsch)
|
[55]
|
2010
|
|
Waiting For "Superman
"
|
|
[56]
|
2008
|
The Lucky Ones
(dir.
Neil Burger
)
|
|
Morning Light
(dir. Mark Monroe)
|
[57]
|
2004
|
|
The Machinist
(dir.
Brad Anderson
)
Primer
(dir.
Shane Carruth
)
Dear Frankie
(dir.
Shona Auerbach
)
Born Into Brothels
(dir.
Zana Briski
)
|
|
[58]
|
2003
|
|
Broadway: The Golden Age
(dir. Rick McKay)
Mothers & Daughters
|
|
[59]
|
2002
|
Rodger Dodger
(dir.
Dylan Kidd
, US)
|
Now You Know
(dir.
Jeff Anderson
, US)
|
Anything But Love
as
Standard Time
(US)
|
[60]
|
Partnerships
[
edit
]
Films frrom San Diego that win or are nominated in the
48 Hour Film Project
are screened during the festival every year.
The San Diego International Film Festival has partnered with the
San Diego County Office of Education
and the
San Diego Unified School District
to bring films about social issues like homelessness, water pollution and refugees to area high schools.
[39]
The festival - along with the
GI Film Festival
, FilmOut San Diego,
San Diego Asian Film Festival
,
San Diego Latino Film Festival
,
Horrible Imaginings Film Festival
- submits films to San Diego Film Week, a city-wide spring showcase produced by Film Consortium San Diego. Submitted films are eligible to win San Diego Film Awards.
[61]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
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. Retrieved
2019-09-27
.
- ^
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- ^
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, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, pp. 175?201,
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.
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.
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.
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- ^
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"
.
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- ^
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.
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.
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.
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.
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- ^
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.
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a
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.
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.
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.
- ^
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
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. 2019-04-02. Archived from
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. Archived from
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on 2018-10-15
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
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.
KUSI News
. Retrieved
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.
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Zee, Michaela (2022-09-07).
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
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.
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. 2018-04-19
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.
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 2019-09-21. Archived from
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
San Diego Film Week 2019
. Retrieved
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.
External links
[
edit
]