Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS

Now it its eighth year, the Antelope Valley Independent Film Festival (AVIFF) has developed a reputation as a filmmaker-friendly festival with standing-room only crowds and lively post-screening discussions. In 2003, over 70 filmmakers participated in the festival weekend from all areas of film production. Over 2600 people attended over 50 films in three days including a number of Oscar-nominated shorts and documentaries. The extraordinary success of recent festivals has lead AVIFF to plan the single greatest expansion in its history for the spring of 2004. The 2004 festival (May 14-16) will include:

* �the addition of a second screen with an expanded feature film schedule
* �an increased program of seminars and workshops
* �a hospitality suite for AVIFF members and visiting filmmakers
* �a screenwriting competition
* �a student scholarship program


AVIFF is also debuting a weekly cinema series, which will show historically significant classic, foreign, and independent films on 35mm for sixteen weeks each spring and fall.

Located in north Los Angeles County, AVIFF is dedicated to bringing members of the Antelope Valley community into environments where they can learn about films and filmmaking directly from the directors, writers, producers, actors, and craftspeople who create them. The festival seeks to showcase the best in undistributed short and feature films in all genres from around the world. Click here to read about AVIFF in the Antelope Valley Press. While the festival welcomes the work of first-time filmmakers, it has also consistently featured highlights from a variety of international festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Los Angeles, London, SXSW, Berlin, New York, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Student Academy Awards.


In the interest of creating a community of filmmakers during the festival weekend, AVIFF regularly provides travel and accommodation assistance to participating filmmakers. As a result, panel discussions follow all the screenings where audiences have the opportunity to directly engage with the filmmakers.

www.aviff.com