Cinequest Film Festival
| Location | San Jose, California, USA |
|---|---|
| Language | International |
| Website | http://www.cinequest.org |
The Cinequest Film Festival is an annual independent film festival held in San Jose, California. As one of the top discovery film festivals, this annual event highlights the work of new and existing filmmakers and the film technologies that effect film making, exhibition and distribution. Cinequest serves Maverick film artists, movie lovers and students. Each year, the festival awards its "Maverick Spirit Award" to honorees selected by the festival's organizers.
Cinequest, a not-for-profit 501(c)3 institute, produces the Cinequest Film Festival, Cinequest's Picture The Possibilities, and its distribution label, Cinequest Mavericks Studio LLC.
The next festival will take place from February 28 to March 13, 2016.
The twenty-fourth annual Cinequest Film Festival took place from March 4, 2014 to March 16, 2014. With over 2000 film submissions to Cinequest Film Festival 24, they presented 175 films from 43 countries, including 86 World, North American, and U.S. Premieres.[1][2]
History
Filmmakers Halfdan Hussey and Kathleen Powell founded Cinequest in 1990. The festival occupied a single theater (the Camera 3 Cinemas in San Jose) and showed 60 films during this debut event. In subsequent years, the festival has grown to a thirteen-day event, showing over 150 films and attracting over 100,000 attendees.[3] Presently, the festival screens at the California Theatre and Camera 12 Cinemas.
Cinequest Film Festival has gained a reputation as a true discovery event: Chris Gore’s Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide said you “find the future of film at Cinequest".[3]
Awards
Cinequest offers several awards during the festival season. The Maverick Spirit Awards, the Maverick Innovator Awards, and the Media Legacy Awards highlight notable individuals in film and technology. The Maverick Individual awards are given to films at the conclusion of the festival via jury and audience voting.
Maverick Spirit Awards
The Maverick Spirit Award is given to influential individuals who embody the independent and innovative mindset. It is the most prestigious award given at the Cinequest Film Festival. Over the past 24 years, Cinequest has honored the following artists:
Maverick Innovator Awards
The Media Innovator Award honors technologists whose thoughts, methods and innovations have significantly advanced their industries, their careers, and the world.[4] Cinequest has honored the following people:
| Year | Honoree |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Marty Cooper Matthew Modine |
Media Legacy Awards
The Media Legacy Award honors film journalists, "the champions who provide audiences and, thus, life blood for artists and films".[5] Cinequest has honored the following people:
| Year | Honoree |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Kenneth Turan Harry Knowles Eric Kohn |
Film Awards
There are several awards handed to exemplary films on the Closing Night of the festival. Films are selected either by a panel of judges or audience surveys and votes.
The most noteworthy awards are:
•Top Film - Awarded to the best film in any category.
•Best Documentary Feature
•Best First Feature - Awarded to a director's first feature-length film they created.
•Best Short Narrative Film
•Audience Favorite Narrative - Awarded to the most popular narrative film by audience surveys and screening attendance.
•Audience Favorite Documentary - Awarded the most popular documentary film by audience surveys and screening attendance.
Listed below are all of Cinequest's awards:
Maverick Film Competition
•Maverick Spirit Award (Feature Film)
•Best First Feature
•Best Documentary Feature
•Best Short Narrative
•Best Short Animation
•Best Short Documentary
•Best Student Short
New Visions Program
•New Visions Award (Feature Film)
Global Landscapes
•Global Vision Award (Feature Film)
Screenplay Competition
•Screenplay Award (1st, 2nd, and 3rd places recognized)
Audience Award
•Audience Award Narrative Feature
•Audience Award Documentary Feature
•Audience Award Short Film
Cinequest "Firsts"
Cinequest consistently innovates and succeeds in new ventures. Some Cinequest firsts include:
• Cinequest led the surge for the digital film making, exhibition, and distribution revolutions, showcasing and implementing technologies such as QuickTime and 24P HD cameras prior to industry adoption.
• First film institute to provide a comprehensive U.S. distribution solution for festival films – encompassing DVD, Internet, TV, and select theatrical releases.
• First independent distributor to engage in direct Internet-to-TV distribution.
• First in the world to enable online DVD/HD-quality experience of feature films.
• First festival to present coinciding live and online experiences for their audience, allowing film lovers worldwide to view festival presentations in real time.
• First festival to bring short films to handheld mobile devices.
• First festival to create and to implement its own server system for digital content.
• First festival to accept ALL digital film formats with digital projection on ALL screens.
• See Notable Debuts below for a list of actors, directors, and films that debuted at Cinequest
Notable Debuts
Independent films that premiered at Cinequest that went on to further distribution by a major movie studio:[6]
Oscar Nominees
Several short films shown at Cinequest have received nominations for Academy Awards. In recent years, these have included
| Year | Films |
|---|---|
| 2004 | (A) Torzija |
| 2005 | Ryan (Won) Little Terrorist |
| 2006 | Cashback 9 The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello Our Time is Up |
| 2011 | The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (Won) Wild Life Raju |
| 2014 | "Mr. Hublot (Won)" |
References
- ↑ http://variety.com/2014/film/markets-festivals/cinequest-fest-blends-high-tech-with-cinematic-arts-1201115823/
- ↑ http://www.cinequest.org/cqff24-wrap-release
- 1 2 http://www.moviemaker.com/archives/festivals/festival-spotlight-friday-onwards-and-upwards-with-cinequest-2014/
- ↑ http://cinequest.org/media/CQFF24_PR_MaverickAwardRecipients.pdf
- ↑ http://www.cinequest.org/media/CQFF24_PR_MediaLegacy.pdf
- ↑ http://www.cinequest.org/cinequest-programming-highlights
Daily, G. (2004). Cinequest's Maverick Approach to Streaming. Emedia—The Digital Studio Magazine, 17(6), 10-12.