The San Diego International Film Festival is an independent film festival in San Diego, California , produced by the nonprofit San Diego Film Foundation. The main event has traditionally been held annually in autumn at venues in the Gaslamp Quarter , La Jolla , and Balboa Park .
27-617: 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 and educational programs for San Diego area high schools are held year round in addition to an annual formal "Oscar watch party " in
54-702: A 60-foot (18 m)-by-175-foot (53 m) saltwater swimming pool, opened in May 1925 as the Natatorium. The Plunge building enclosing the pool was styled after the Spanish Renaissance architecture of San Diego's Balboa Park structures. The changing rooms appear in the Tom Cruise film Top Gun . Celebrities who once swam at the Plunge include Esther Williams and Johnny Weissmuller . The roof of
81-583: A land use designation across the majority of its land area of 36 dwelling units per acre. It also has the smallest lots in the city, ranging from 1,250 square feet (116 m ) to 2,400 square feet (220 m ). Few have been consolidated to form larger lots. Many of the structures within the community have been redeveloped into two-story homes. The wooden bridge to Ocean Beach was closed to traffic in 1950 and demolished in 1951. Attractions near Mission Beach include SeaWorld in Mission Bay Park and
108-732: 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". Tribes represented on the AIA board include Sac and Fox , Luiseño , 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,
135-569: Is Mission Boulevard. The community is divided into South Mission and North Mission. At the south end of the beach on the ocean side is a jetty ; on the bay side is a park with grass, parking and a walking path. Many residential structures in Mission Beach were built in the 1930s and '40s as summer cottages and some date as early as the 1920s. The rare airplane bungalow on Manhattan Court was built in 1924. Because of problems to work out with developing on sand, Mission Beach developed later than
162-578: Is a community built on a sandbar between the Pacific Ocean and Mission Bay . It is part of the city of San Diego, California . Mission Beach spans nearly two miles of ocean front. It is bounded by the San Diego River estuary on the south, Mission Bay Park on the east, and the community of Pacific Beach on the north. A boardwalk runs along the beaches on both the ocean and bay sides of the community. The main artery through Mission Beach
189-487: Is a well known, popular location for engaging in sports, including beach volleyball and basketball, with courts available for both. There is a public recreation center on Santa Clara Place on the bay side of Mission Beach. At the south end of Belmont Park is the Wave House Athletic Club, a full-service beachside fitness center, complete with cardio equipment, weights, fitness classes, aquatic classes in
216-749: The COVID-19 pandemic , the festival was reduced to four days and presented 114 films both virtually and on drive-thru screens. As of 2020, the San Diego International Film Festival is a qualifying festival for the Canadian Screen Awards . 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
243-436: The "Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide". It has also been criticized along the same lines for being "more intent on throwing parties than putting quality films on the screen." In 2012, leadership passed to husband and wife producers Dale Strack and Tonya Mantooth. According to Strack, they were modeling it after Napa Valley Film Festival, with a "longer term goal" of rivaling Sundance or TriBeCa . The festival expanded to
270-777: The Catamaran Resort in Mission Bay . A special screening was held on the deck on a historic aircraft carrier at the USS Midway Museum . 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. In 2023, the film festival's opening night
297-571: The Chairwoman of Jamul Indian Village . 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 . In 2013, New York area film critic Jeffrey Lyons
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#1732790653757324-1165: The Dog (dir. Jane Campion ) The Worst Person in the World (dir. Joachim Trier ) Drunk Bus - virtual village Blithe Spirit (dir. Edward Hall ) The Irishman (dir. Martin Scorsese ) - La Jolla Motherless Brooklyn (dir. Edward Norton ) Clemency (dir. Chinonye Chuckwu , US) Parasite (dir. Bong Joon Ho ) The Truth (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda ) A Hidden Life (dir. Terrence Malick ) - La Jolla (dir. Marielle Heller , US) Widows (dir. Steve McQueen ) The Favourite (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos ) Wildlife (dir. Paul Dano ) 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 ) World Premiere Denial (dir. Mick Jackson , UK/USA) List of San Diego International Film Festival award winners#Night of
351-502: The Plunge, and beach Bootcamps. Mission Beach includes Mariner's Point, the original site of the over-the-line softball-on-the-beach tournament. Thong bikinis are technically illegal on Mission Beach, but lifeguards and local police do not typically enforce the ban on such swimwear. The consumption of alcoholic beverages on the beach is illegal as of April 2008. Nudity is not allowed. Many beachgoers are local college and university students, but both tourists and permanent residents of
378-763: The Stars Honorees The San Diego International Film Festival is an independent film festival held annually in San Diego . The festival's top honorary award is the Gregory Peck Award for Cinematic Excellence that has been presented at the festival by the family of Gregory Peck since 2014. The festival also presents the Chris Brinker Award to first time directors. Those and other honorary and competitive awards presented by and at
405-585: The award at the Dingle International Film Festival in Ireland. Previous recipients include Gabriel Byrne , Jim Sheridan , Jean-Jacques Beineix , and Laura Dern . 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. The award is given every year to the best first time director in competition at
432-562: The building rolled open to make it both an indoor and outdoor pool. The Mission Beach Plunge (now using fresh water) and the Giant Dipper are the only remaining attractions left from Spreckels' original park; the other structures were razed in the late 1980s. The Plunge was saved from demolition after the Save Mission Beach Plunge Committee of residents put a measure to save the pool on the ballot, which
459-996: The festival are here organized by year and by award. Oct 16-20, 2024 Audience Choice Awards: Oct 18-22, 2023 Audience Choice Awards: Oct 19-23, 2022 Audience Choice Awards: Oct 14-24, 2021 Audience Choice Awards: Oct 15-18, 2020 Audience Choice Awards: Oct 15-20, 2019 Audience Choice Awards: Oct 10-14, 2018 | Jury Awards: Audience Choice Awards: Oct 4-8, 2017 | Jury Awards: Audience Choice Awards: Sept 28-Oct 2, 2016 | Jury Awards: Audience Choice Awards: Sep 30-Oct 4, 2015 | Jury Awards: Audience Choice: Sep 24-28, 201 4 | Jury Awards: Audience Choice: Oct 2-6, 2013 | Jury Awards: Audience Choice: Audience Choice: Audience Choice: Audience Choice: Sept 27-30, 2007 Sept. 27 – Oct. 1, 2006 Audience Choice: Sept 21-25, 2005 Audience Choice: Sept 29 - Oct 4, 2004 SDiFF2024 October 17, 2024 SDiFF2023 No awards banquet
486-623: The festival. Since 2014, honored celebrities and winning filmmakers have been presented with a "Golden Eagle" themed statuette, sculpted by Apache artist Ruben Chato. An annual award presented to the best film competing in the American Indian track. The festival offers other awards - Auteur, Vanguard, Humanitarian, Rising Star, etc. - that vary year to year. Honorees include: The Lost King (dir. Stephen Frears ) Taurus (dir. Tim Sutton) Spencer (dir. Pablo Larrain ) Belfast (dir. Kenneth Branagh ) The Power of
513-852: The historic amusement park Belmont Park in South Mission Beach. Belmont Park was originally built as the Mission Beach Amusement Center by John D. Spreckels in 1925 to stimulate real estate sales and to promote his electric railway. Belmont Park now features the original wooden Giant Dipper Roller Coaster as well as newer rides such as the FlowRider at Wave House, Vertical Plunge, Krazy Kars, Tilt-a-Whirl, Liberty Carousel, Crazy Submarine, The Beach Blaster, and The Chaos. Designed by architect Frank Walter Stevenson, The Mission Beach Plunge in Belmont Park,
540-404: The importance of film and its impact on our society and community. 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 , Laurence Fishburne , Keith Carradine , Patrick Stewart , Annette Bening , and Alan Arkin . The family originally presented
567-409: The neighboring communities of Ocean Beach to the south and Pacific Beach to the north. As a result of a new official subdivision in 1914, encouraged by land sales in those next-door communities and a new wooden bridge linking Mission Beach with Ocean Beach, John D. Spreckels offered small lots for sale. As a result, Mission Beach is the most densely developed residential community in San Diego with
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#1732790653757594-606: The winter. 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. 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 . The festival has been designated "Best Party Fest" and "Best Beach Fest" by
621-541: The year. In September 2019, the festival began hosting free screenings of popular movies on Mission Beach . In 2019, the festival expanded to six days and hosted a second opening night film ( The Irishman ) at the La Jolla Village. 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
648-610: 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. 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
675-977: Was approved unanimously in 1987 by San Diego voters. The Plunge closed in 2014 because of disrepair. Plans to rebuild the Plunge were approved in January 2016. The pool reopened in July 2019. Also nearby, immediately east of SeaWorld, is an unlined landfill . From 1957 to 1962 large amounts of industrial waste, including millions of gallons of chromic, hydrofluoric, nitric, sulfuric, and hydrochloric acids, dichromate , cyanide , and carbon tetrachloride , were deposited into this landfill. No remediation efforts have occurred. Mission Beach offers opportunities to participate in sunbathing , horseshoes , surfing , bicycling , skateboarding , Frisbee tossing , and other outdoor activities. A local skating club, "Skate This!," performs for free on weekends, executing trick skating and dancing on both rollerblades and traditional skates. It
702-462: Was held at Westfield UTC AMC on October 8. For the festival's 22nd year, they will have a showing of the Oscar winning film, The Holdovers . The festival was on October 18–22, at Balboa Park's Museum of Photographic Arts. During those 5 days there were showings of 91 films of the 3,200 films that were submitted. The theme of the festival was "Celebrating the power of film", meaning films will be outlining
729-751: Was held in 2021 due to the 2023 SAG/AFTRA strike . Oct 20, 2022 | The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla Confirmed Festival Guests: Jung Ryeo-won , District Attorney Summer Stephan Oct 14-24, 2021 No awards banquet was held in 2021 due to COVID-19 protocols about social distancing. No awards banquet was held in 2020 due to COVID-19 protocols about social distancing . Oct 18, 2019 | Pendry Hotel San Diego Host: Scott Mantz Confirmed Festival Guests: Stephen Gyllenhaal , Cindy Marten . Oct 11, 2018 | Pendry Hotel San Diego Mission Beach, San Diego Mission Beach
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