June film festivals kick off the summer

From one of the oldest film festivals in Europe to the newest event in Aruba, inaugurated with awards to Richard Gere and Bernardo Bertolucci, cinema is celebrated and screened around the world from animated features to documentaries, independent films to Hollywood premieres.

Starting in Sydney and ending in Munich, this movie-filled month doesn't even include the blockbusters at the cinemas:

Sydney Film Festival
June 2-14
On the heels of Cannes, Australia's top film festival in Sydney marks its 57th year with 157 films from 47 countries with world premieres, festival winners, and Australian filmmakers. This year's program includes Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer, I Am Love starring Tilda Swinton, and Oscar nominated Ajami, Winter's Bone from Sundance. There's a competition, awards, and conference. Tickets go on sale May 7.
http://sff.org.au/cms/

Aruba International Film Festival
June 4-11
This inaugural event in the Caribbean will honor Oscar winning Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor, Last Tango in Paris, The Conformist) with The Golden Aruba Award for outstanding achievement in film as part of the festivities. Also, actor Richard Gere, the official ‘host' of the fest, will receive a humanitarian award and participates in a "Conversation With" evening.
http://www.arubafilmfest.com/

Annecy International Animated Film Festival
June 7-12
The 50th annual event and largest animation festival screens family-friendly features and shorts from around the world. A film market and conference accompany the program. This year, a competition on YouTube allows the public to vote on the best animated short until May 23 from ten submissions online. www.youtube.com/annecyfestival
http://www.annecy.org/

Shanghai International Film Festival
June 12-20
The 13th Shanghai production is the mainland China's largest film festival attracting 300,000 moviegoers. It should be even bigger with the Shanghai World Expo in town. Major studio support, as China emerges in the film market, offers heft to the event.
http://www.siff.com

Edinburgh International Film Festival
June 16-27
One of the longest-running film festivals, the 64th annual Edinburgh event focuses on independent films, though not exclusively Toy Story 3 in 3D will screen on June 19.
http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk

Los Angeles Film Festival
June 17-27
This 16th fest mixes 200 indie films and Hollywood premieres from more than 60 countries for 75,000 attendees. From The Twilight Saga: Eclipse to
http://www.lafilmfest.com

Moscow International Film Festival
June 17-26
The 32nd anniversary of Russia's film fest features retrospectives, screenings of some of the best films of the past year and a competition for documentaries and narrative features, with a focus on Russian filmmakers, it includes several special programming events.
http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru

SilverDocs
June 21-27
Sponsored by AFI and Discovery Channel, this 8th annual event attracts 25,000 from nearby Washington DC and international buyers attending its International Documentary Conference. Second only to Canada's Hot Docs Fest in April, it runs eight days, screening more than 100 moving, amusing and informative documentaries from over 60 countries, including Oscar nominated films.
http://silverdocs.com/

Munich Film Festival
June 25-July 3
The 28th event highlights of Indian cinema, from Bollywood spectaculars to Mumbai Noir and the contemporary neo-realism inspired by filmmakers Satyajit Ray and Mira Nair. Germany's summer film fest is casual and accessible compared to the big Berlinale.
http://www.filmfest-muenchen.de/

RC