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Chuck
Jones ... who recently passed, with his wife Marian,
Chuck, Kathleen Haney and Hunter Todd.
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WorldFest is
one of the oldest and largest film & video competitions
in the world, with more than 4,500 category entries received
from 37 countries in 2006. Actually WorldFest is 12 Major
film & video competitions in one event, unlike Cannes,
Sundance and Toronto, which are just 2 competitions for
shorts and features only. Because of our 12 major competitions
and the 200+ sub-categories, WorldFest does give a lot of
awards, but they are both earned and deserved. No awards
are given in any category unless the scores from the juries
are high enough to place for honors. Overall only 15-20%
of the total category entries actually win an award at WorldFest.
However, everyone attending the Grand Awards Gala wins an
award, as we only invite the actual winners, which makes
for a delightful and enjoyable evening, since there are
no disappointed "nominees" that do not win anything.
Those that do not win an award are informed by email or
letters prior to the festival.
WorldFest Artistic
and Program Director Kathleen Haney stated, “We feel
that it is impossible to properly emphasize individual films
when the festival screening schedule is too large. We must
consider both our festival audience and our independent
filmmakers. A huge slate of 150-300 films cannot possibly
do justice to each individual film. Further, it is impossible
to see more than 50-60 films (with four shows a day) in
a ten-day festival, so it is foolish to program more than
that.” Haney continued, “We will concentrate
on only the very best, selecting new American & Foreign
Independent films that truly deserve a premiere at WorldFest.
By doing so, we can concentrate on the films and their filmmakers
and enable our faithful audience the opportunity to see
each and every film!” All 35mm films and Digital entries
are screened at the AMC Meyer Park Theatre, WorldFest -
the Indie Film Festival for the New Millennium!
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World Premiere of
"Jericho" with stars (L-R) Leon Caffee,
Kateri Walker and one of the many cowboy extras. |
In addition to honoring a different country each year, WorldFest will continue with its annual Short Film Showcase, a special review of 100+ new short and student films...from the festival that discovered Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ang Lee, John Lee Hancock, Randall Kleiser, Ridley Scott, Robert Rodriguez, Robert Townsend, The Coen Brothers, Spike Lee, Oliver Stone and David Lynch with their very first awards. WorldFest has emerged as the oldest film festival management in the world, with the same continuous director for 39 consecutive years. A few other festivals are older, but they have had as many as ten different directors. WorldFest is uniquely the only film festival in North America that is staffed and managed totally by filmmakers. All staff members have active film and video production experience, which gives them a very unique point of reference in relation to the entering filmmakers and their work. WorldFest, founded in 1961, is the oldest Independent film festival in the world, and the 3rd oldest film festival in North America.
Most USA
Film Festivals today have emerged as no more than unpaid publicity
agents for major studio distributors. WorldFest continues
to move forward to present the true independent film and its
filmmaker, offering a new venue for directors searching for
an independent forum for their works. WorldFest will have
a special emphasis on new, premiering films that are seeking
a distributor. The Festival also screens DVD video via Wagner
Media & Christie DLP Digital Projection, one of the major
sponsors of the festival.
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Director
Lionel Chetwynd and wife, Actress Gloria Carlin, from
Varian's War, a special Showtime/Sundance Channel
World Premiere. |
By having
a small, highly selective schedule of new Indie Short &
Feature films, the festival can help the film gain reviews
and a distributor, rather than merely act as a preview platform
for an upcoming release from a large US distributor. Most
of the so-called ‘Independent Films’ featured
at Sundance are quite frequently fairly large-budget films
produced by special “Indie” divisions of the
major studios. In fact, the majority of films featured at
Sundance and other “Indie” Festivals actually
already have their distribution in place. The 120-page WorldFest
program book is distributed free of charge to the public,
all attending filmmakers, all studios and every major film
festival in the world and to every known major film &
video distributor in the world. The WorldFest program book
has become an invaluable reference document for film acquisition
and review.
“Small
is Beautiful” for the 40th Annual WorldFest, where
simplicity is the byword, and a relaxed intimate atmosphere
surrounds a special selection of superb new feature and
short films. The opportunities for networking and contacts
are exceptional. The detailed 120+ page program book &
schedule features a special grid-guide for the film-buffs
that will assist them in viewing all the films. Seminars
include Cinematography, Casting, Distribution, Directing/Producing,
Writing and more.
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Remi Lifetime Achievement
Award Winners (L-R) Herb Lightman, Editor Emeritus
of American Cinematographer Magazine, Andrew Laszlo,
Cinematographer, Hunter Todd (Capt, USCG, ret) Chairman
& Founding Director ~ WorldFest |
Among the remarkable
number of WorldFest discoveries, we include just a few,
listed in alphabetical order: John Alvidson, John Badham,
Ralph Bakshi, Carroll Ballard, John Boorman, Marty Brest,
Michael Cimino, The Coen Brothers, Bryan De Palma, Jonathan
Demme, Michael Demme, Atom Egoyan, John Frankenheimer, Leslie
Linka Glatter, Charles Guggenheim, John Lee Hancock, Hal
Hartley, Randall Kleiser, Ang Lee, Spike Lee, George Lucas,
David Lynch, Paul Mazursky, Steve Poster, Robert Rodriguez,
John Sayles, Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone,
Robert Townsend, Will Vinton, Peter Weir, Hugh Wilson and
hundreds more. The winners this year will be the Spielbergs
of tomorrow and you can meet them before they are famous.
WorldFest-Houston..."Fiercely Independent" WorldFest
is one of the oldest film festivals in the world, founded
in 1961 as a film society. |
