San Francisco International Film Festival

San Francisco International Film Festival
LocationSan Francisco, California, United States
LanguageInternational
Websitehttps://sffilm.org/sffilm-festival/

The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and video production with an emphasis on work that has not yet secured U.S. distribution. In 2009, it served around 82,000 patrons, with screenings held in San Francisco and Berkeley.[1]

In March 2014, Noah Cowan, former executive director of the Toronto International Film Festival, became executive director of the SFFS and SFIFF, replacing Ted Hope.[2] Prior to Hope, the festival was briefly headed by Bingham Ray, who served as SFFS executive director until his death after only ten weeks on the job in January 2012.[3] Graham Leggat became the executive director of the San Francisco Film Society on October 17, 2005. The Scottish-born Leggat died on August 25, 2011, from cancer, aged 51.[4]

The 63rd edition of the festival, originally scheduled for April 2020, was ultimately postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] The 67th edition of the festival took place from April 24 to April 28, 2024.[6]

  1. ^ "San Francisco Film Festival Bucks Economic Trends to Set New Records for Revenue and Attendance." sffs.org. 7 May 2009. San Francisco Film Society. 29 June 2009 "San Francisco International Film Festival Bucks Economic Trends to Set New Records for Revenue and Attendance - San Francisco Film Society". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
  2. ^ "Producer Ted Hope to run SF Film Society". sfgate.com. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Bingham Ray - S.F. Film Society director - dies". sfgate.com. 24 January 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  4. ^ Garchik, Leah (2011-08-27). "Graham Leggat, leader of S.F. Film Society, dies". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  5. ^ Pereira, Alyssa; SFGATE (2020-03-14). "SF International Film Festival canceled amid coronavirus concerns". SFGate. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  6. ^ "SFFILM Festival". SFFILM Festival. Retrieved February 13, 2023.