The Philadelphia Film Festival, October 22-November 1, 2020 is an annual eleven day festival featuring Philadelphia premieres of international, domestic, and local films, as well as retrospective tributes, forums and panels, and parties.
Over the past several years, the Festival has grown to become not only a local gem that Philadelphians look forward to every year, but also an important festival within the industry as a whole. The quality of the programming has been stellar, featuring some of the most highly-anticipated and eventual award-winning films, Knives Out, Harriet, Jojo Rabbit, Marriage Story, Waves, The Irishman, Lady Bird, La La Land, and Best Picture Winners Moonlight, Spotlight, Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), 12 Years a Slave, and The Artist.
The Festival consists of over 100 films screened across the city in addition to events such as the Opening and Closing Night parties, VIP receptions, and a festival lounge open daily, where ticket holders, badge holders, and special guests can relax between shows and talk movies with patrons & guests.
The Festival also welcomes a large number of guests, bringing filmmakers, actors, distributors and industry professionals to experience the Festival and Philadelphia. These guests included filmmakers and honorees such as: Bruce Willis, M. Night Shyamalan, Damien Chazelle, Joel Edgerton, Rian Johnson, Jason Reitman, Paul Dano, Karen Gillan, Todd Haynes, Lee Daniels, Jonathan Demme, Alexander Payne, Paul Rudd, David O. Russell, and Robert Zemeckis, as well as representatives from distributors or sales agencies such as: Cinetic Media, The Film Sales Company, IFC Films, Kino Lorber FIlms, Magnolia Pictures, Music Box Films, Paramount, Preferred Content, Radius-TWC, Roadside Attractions, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisition Group, Strand Releasing, and Submarine Entertainment.
The Philadelphia Film Festival was named one of 2016’s Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee in 2016 by MovieMaker Magazine.
The Philadelphia Film Festival gives out the following awards:
Audience Award
Best Narrative Feature
Best Documentary Feature
Archie Award for Best First Feature
Pinkenson Award for Best Local Feature Film
Best Short Film