The Sacramento International Film Festival ("SFF") is an arts organization with year round activities, culminating in an annual film celebration each year in late March and continuing to early April

Mission

Combining parties, live speakers, events and film screenings, the festival has come to be regarded as a centerpiece for the film scene in Sacramento, California

Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

, United States, though it has inspired or supported several similar events (i.e. French and Jewish fests). The festival only screens films that have not previously shown in or near Sacramento

Sacramento

Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...

. The stated mission of SFF is to be a catalyst for greater appreciation of Cinema as art, build the local filmmaking community and work with Hollywood and independents alike to showcase Northern California

Northern California

Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...

 as a dynamic place to shoot and screen movies.

History

The Sacramento Film Festival has its roots in the Sacramento Festival of Cinema, making it the oldest concurrently running film screening event in the Sacramento region. The Festival of Cinema began in 1995 under the guidance of Founder and Director Kenneth Segura Knoll. In 1999 Mr. Knoll transferred management of the event to Access Sacramento
, a Public, educational, and government access

Public, educational, and government access

Public, educational, and government access television, refers to three different cable television specialty channels...

 (PEG) cable tv station which had been a supporting partner to the festival since its beginning. Access Sacramento's Executive Director, Ron Cooper, assigned Managing Director duties to his outreach coordinator, Martin Anaya.

In 2004, due to budget and staffing cuts Access Sacramento management decided to trim the Festival down to just one component, the highly successful "Place Called Sacramento" local film incubation program, started by Mr. Cooper and Anaya. Not wanting many of the other festival programs to suffer, Martin Anaya asked for and received Access Sacramento's blessing to continue the larger Festival independently under the new banner "The Sacramento Film Festival".

Mission

Today the goals of SFF organizers are to offer programming and events for film enthusiasts of all economic, cultural and educational backgrounds and boast kudos from some very big talent.

"I've been to over a dozen festivals and I must say that this was the best overall experience I've had... doing the "Pitchfest" was equally rewarding and everything was first class."

This quote was expressed by Michael J. Parness, (Director of My Suicidal Sweetheart/Max and Grace

My Suicidal Sweetheart

My Suicidal Sweetheart is an American independent dark comedy film written and produced by Michael Parness. The initial working title of the film was Saving Grace; this title was later changed to Max & Grace during production, and remained in place prior to its release on the film festival circuit...

with David Krumholtz

David Krumholtz

David Krumholtz is an American actor best known for playing Professor Charlie Eppes in the television series Numb3rs. He appeared as Seth Goldstein in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and its two sequels, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas...

 and Natasha Lyonne

Natasha Lyonne

-Early life:Lyonne was born Natasha Braunstein in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of Yvette Lyonne, a product licensing consultant, and Aaron Braunstein, a native of Brooklyn who worked as a boxing promoter. Lyonne grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household...

.)

Goal

Festival promoters supply essential networking opportunities and open dialogue with filmmakers and consumers through on-line technologogy and a hospitable attitude at their shows. The stated goal of the festival is to serve and promote the Sacramento community as a cultural center for film arts.