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25 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee: 2010
With a little homework, you can make sure there's a payoff for your festival circuit investment
During the year the MovieMaker office gets peppered with calls and e-mails from readers who ask us some variation of the following question: Which film festivals have the most to offer me?
We know that in today’s tight economy, with hundreds of festivals of various sizes, reputations and genres demanding entry fees between $25 and $50 each, and with a majority of moviemakers still believing that their festival strategy can make or break their indie film’s commercial prospects, readers can really use a little help from their friends at MovieMaker.
Thus, for the last several years we’ve taken it upon ourselves to compile an annual list that highlights only a fraction of the events we believe are worth our readers’ hard-earned money. Of course, a festival game plan is still essential. Think about which fests have the most to offer, which feel right and which can deliver the kind of rewards—financial or otherwise—that can seed one’s career.
While every moviemaker’s priorities vary, what follows is a list of festivals that offer something a little out of the ordinary. Sometimes it’s money, sometimes it’s a distribution opportunity and sometimes it’s the chance to be a part of an event regardless of whether your submission is even accepted.
To keep things fresh, we’ve made sure not to repeat any festivals included in last year’s list (you can read that piece here). So here are our 2010 picks; for the full text of why we chose this lot of more than two dozen fests, pick up a copy of the Spring 2010 edition, on newsstands now.
ACEFEST
New York, NY - acefest.com
Babelgum Online Film Festival
Online - babelgum.com/online-film-festival
Bare Bones International Independent Film Festival
Muskogee, OK - barebonesfilmfestivals.org
Big Bear Lake International Film Festival
Big Bear, CA - bigbearlakefilmfestival.com
Big Island Film Festival
Big Island, HI - bigislandfilmfestival.com
BIGSTAR Online Film Festival
Online - bigstar.tv/ bigstar-online-film-festival
Black Maria Film & Video Festival
Various - blackmariafilmfestival.org
Brooklyn International Film Festival
Brooklyn, NY - brooklynfilmfestival.org
Chicago International Children’s Film Festival
Chicago, IL - cicff.org
Dallas International Film Festival
Dallas, TX – dallasfilm.org
Fantastic Fest
Austin, TX - fantasticfest.com
FirstGlance Film Festivals
Philadelphia, PA & Hollywood, CA - firstglancefilms.com
Kansas International Film Festival
Overland Park, KS – kansasfilm.com
Little Rock Film Festival
Little Rock, AR – littlerockfilmfestival.org
Los Angeles Film Festival
Los Angeles, CA - lafilmfest.com
LunaFest
Various Locations - lunafest.org
Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival
Martha’s Vineyard, MA - mvfilmfest.com
Newport Beach International Film Festival
Newport Beach, CA - newportbeachfilmfest.com
San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival
San Antonio, TX - saicff.org
San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco, CA - fest10.sffs.org
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Santa Barbara, CA - sbiff.org
Shriekfest
Los Angeles, CA - shriekfest.com
Starz Denver
Denver, CO - denverfilm.org
Stony Brook Film Festival
Stony Brook, NY - stonybrookfilmfestival.com
United Nations Association Film Festival
Palo Alto, CA; Various Locations - unaff.org
Don’t see your favorite film festival listed? Readers play a large part in creating this annual list, so tell us who you’d pick and why at .
Want to read the full story? Pick up a copy of the Spring 2010 edition, on newsstands now, or sign up for a one-year subscription at the discounted rate of just $9.95 for one year: https://www.moviemaker.com/subscribe/entry_fee_2010.
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by peter on 8/02/10 at 8:57 pm
this list is ridiculous! you obviously included 25 film festivals that advertise with you!!! acefest??? are you kidding me??? these guys have been around for two (2) years and they made a list of top 25 in the country??? shame on you!!! this is really sad!!!
- Comment by Alessandra on 6/01/11 at 11:37 am
I am the event coordinator of the Miami Italian Film festival and the Atlanta Italian Film festival. We are small and we do work so much to bring Italian new movies to America, because normally New York and Los Angeles takes all the money and the prestige. We do deliver a wonderful week of events in both cities, and we have NO SUPPORT WHATSOEVER from any associations, such as Italian Cultural Insititute, to mention one. I do believe you should look into smaller and non profit organizations like ours before making a list! FYI Miami Italian Film Festival has been going on for 10 years and we are the only festival of just Italian movies in Florida! Thanks.
- Comment by logo on 9/21/11 at 6:20 am
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Thank you ... صور انمي | منتديات- Comment by Bob Burbis on 10/03/11 at 9:06 pm
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- Comment by ALISSA on 10/31/11 at 3:39 pm
I have to say I agree with the Big Bear Lake International Film festival. Attended it this year and it was awesome! Very well-run, friendly people, quality films, and of course beautiful location! Is there a way to rank top 25 “coolest” film festivals, because I think this would make the cut.
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This story was published in the Spring 2010 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
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