THE HOLLYWOOD REEL INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL®™
Hollywood's most star-studded film festival for new & independent filmmakers.
CELEBRITY GUESTS
The longest-running film festival at L.A. LIVE / Staples Center, also has the largest program for new film screenings, as well as Hollywood premieres with celebrity guests: Pierce Brosnan (James Bond), Jamie Foxx (Django), Sharon Stone (Casino), Hilary Duff (Lizzie McGuire), Josh Brener (Silicon Valley), Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds), Donna Mills, Laura Prepon (That 70s Show), Timothy Busfield (West Wing), Frances Fisher (Titanic), Melissa Gilbert, Uwe Boll (Postal), Alan Howarth (Halloween), John Ennis (Mr. Show), casting director Bonnie Timmerman (Black Hawk Down), Lin Shaye (Insidious), Sally Kirkland, Dominique Swain, Clark Duke (The Office) ...and so many more, all guests of the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival.
FESTIVAL HISTORY
Growing to prominence from early days at Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Cinema, the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival now partners with the largest, most glamorous venue in Los Angeles: L.A. LIVE / Staples Center / Microsoft Theater, hosting over two weeks of film premieres annually.
Dedicated in our mission to recognize the best new filmmakers, and discover important cinema around-the-globe; HRIFF combines film premieres, parties, and celebrity events, all held in iconic cinema venues of Hollywood & Los Angeles, California USA.
CINEMA LEGENDS
HRIFF Award of Excellence recipients include some of the greatest cinema luminaries of all time, including Peter O'Toole, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Warren Beatty, Kirk Douglas, Martin Landau, Vanessa Redgrave, Gerard Depardieu, Frances Fisher, Tinto Brass, Don Hertzfeldt, Robert Drew, Bill Plympton, Helmut Berger, John Heard, Ruben Ostlund, Jon Polito, Robin Williams, Elaine May, and Harry Dean Stanton.
HOLLYWOOD ALUMNI
Werner Herzog, Ron Howard, Michael Apted, Errol Morris, D.A. Pennebaker, Emily Mortimer, James Franco, James Caan, Fred Roos, Paul Rudd, Guy Pierce, Joe Lo Truglio, Blake Anderson, Mercedes Ruehl, Ian McShane, Edward James Olmos, Sandra Oh, Lisa Kudrow, Jason Alexander, Bryce Dallas Howard, Elliott Gould, Terri Polo, Janeane Garofalo, Zack Braff, Winnie Holzman, Martin Starr, Fred Willard, Tony Hale, Richard Lewis, Doug Jones, David Arquette, Carla Gallo, Bai Ling, C. Thomas Howell, Harry Lennix, Dean Cameron, Takuji Suzuki, Daryl Hannah, Tom Noonan, Jeremy Sisto, and Jonathan Pryce are just a few of the notable HRIFF alumni that have participated in past Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festivals.
ACADEMY AWARD© WINNING DISCOVERIES
Oscar© and Golden Globe© winning & nominated HRIFF premieres include "The Lighthouse", "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood", "Manchester By The Sea", "The Act of Killing", "Anomalisa", "Force Majeure", "The Look of Silence", "Rules Don't Apply", "Trumbo", and "At Eternity's Gate". HRIFF premieres to win other major awards include "Lucky", "Blade of the Immortal", "The Sisters Brothers", and "Killing of a Sacred Deer".
Academy Award© Winning Shorts that premiered at HRIFF include "The Lady In Number 6" short documentary, the animated work of Bill Plympton, and the Oscar© Winning animated film "Mr. Hublot".
A few HRIFF discoveries to receive wide distribution and acclaim include "The Act of Killing", "Force Majeure", "Bridegroom", "The Look of Silence", "Assault on Wall Street: Bailout", "Day At The Pool", "Henri", "Sex, Violence and Family Values", "Forget Me Not", "Bible Storyland", "The Silent Thief", "The Lady In Number 6", "Drive", ...and many more.
NEW TALENT DISCOVERIES
HRIFF may be the biggest festival for new talent discoveries, with recent success stories that include Keir Gilchrist (now the star of Netflix's Atypical), Alanna Masterson (from winning HRIFF Award for Best Actress, to starring in a lead role with AMC's The Walking Dead for six seasons), Alex Meraz (cast in Twilight & DC's Suicide Squad), Toby Hemingway (Black Swan), Tyler Blackburn (Pretty Little Liars), and HRIFF Award Winner Savannah Kennick, now starring in the latest episodes of Netflix's Arrested Development.
CINEMA RETROSPECTIVES & RESTORATIONS
Festival retrospectives have included tributes to: Kenneth Lonergan, Haskell Wexler, Michael Mann, John Cassavetes, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Warren Oates and Dusan Makavejev, as well as festival-funded restorations of rare films from Tinto Brass, Hugo Niebeling and more.
LARGEST L.A. FILM FEST WITH BROADEST CATEGORY SELECTION
The Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival's size allows multiple weeks of film programming, and as a result can offer the largest, most inclusive selection of submission categories for festival screenings and showcases with the broadest range of genres, styles and categories: Feature Films, Short Films, Dramatic Films, Drama Shorts, Comedic Films, Comedy Shorts, Narrative Films, Non Narrative Films, Documentary Features, Doc Shorts, Animation, Horror, Action, Thriller, Mystery, Noir, Musicals, Westerns, L.G.B.T.Q. Films, Student Films, Music Videos, Screenplays, Teleplays, Live Table Readings, V.R. Virtual Reality, Web Content, Episodic Television and Streaming Content, International, American, and Global World Cinema are all welcome in our festival's screening programming, with screening categories specifically devoted to premiering a significant number of films from all the above categories (and more), ...in front of our large festival audiences!
These impressive offerings combine to create the only Hollywood Film Festival not-to-be-missed for both audiences and independent filmmakers.
HRIFF is the only Hollywood Film Festival known world-wide for screening the largest selection of up-and-coming filmmakers, while hosting the biggest selection of celebrity guests and attendees!
Our festival invites you to Join the historic family of HRIFF filmmakers, by submitting your project today!
HRIFF Selected Films are eligible for HRIFF Awards of Merit.
20 Awards of Merit are given annually at L.A. LIVE / Staples Center at the historic HRIFF Award Ceremony & Gala.
Film Award Winners of Merit are eligible for potential sponsored prizes - as announced each season during the festival.
Screenplay Contest 1st Place awarded $10,000.00
All Unproduced Screenplay Contest entries are eligible for HRIFF Screenplay Awards.
Award of Excellence Honors for Lifetime Achievements in Cinema are given each year at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival Award Ceremony & Gala.