Mission: The 49th Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival is a unique event that focuses on the Independent Filmmaker, for both short and feature films. The film festival is totally dedicated to the Independent Filmmaker for both short and feature films. It does not accept any entries from major studios or distributors. We feel that it is the Indy filmmakers that need the exposure and the awards, not the multi-million dollar major studio films. We maintain an active archive of all of our past winners in cooperation with Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona. The database will eventually be digitized and available on the Internet. More than 15,000 titles are being prepared for the WorldFest/ASU Database and Archives. It is the largest film and video archive of its kind in the world. WorldFest also offers a series of high-level seminars and workshops during the ten-day festival. The subjects include; directing, producing, distribution, animation, special effects, cinematography and writing screenplays. In the past, the animation seminar was conducted by Chuck Jones and the cinematography seminar was conducted by Vilmos Szigmund. All festival events are open to the public. More than 25,000 attend the ten-day event each year. WorldFest began as a film society in August, 1961 and became a competitive international film festival in April 1968. It is the 3rd oldest International Film Festival in North America, after San Francisco and New York. WorldFest is the first and oldest film festival in The South. It is now the oldest Independent Film Festival in the world! It premieres more than 175 new Short &Feature Films every April. All WorldFest events are fully open to the public. We present 9 Master Classes in all aspects of film/video production and more than 550 intl filmmakers attend the festival each year.
Target demographics: Filmmakers & writers advance their careers.
Direct beneficiaries per year: 275 Students, 97 local agencies. 550+ Intl Filmmakers.
Geographic areas served: Houston and the World
Programs: 9 Master Classes in Film/Video Production, Special Family Film Programs, Scholarships to outstanding Media Students, Honors and Awards for Creative Excellence.
film-lover
General Member of the Public
07/31/2015
Rating: 5
07/31/2015
An amazing international film festival in Houston! We have attended for many years. We always see wonderful new films, and get to meet the actual filmmakers in person. We have never seen a bad film at this event, and the shorts are truly fantastic! We have also attended some of their Master Classes, including an exciting on on the use of Drones in film-making, and one one NASA filming. Everything is open to the public, there are no exclusive private parties, and we get to meet some brilliant young filmmakers. It is held each year at the AMC Studio 30 theaters on Dunvale, which makes it easy to see many films every day, during the ten-day event. You just walk over to another theater, not try to drive to a new venue! Their ticket prices are reasonable and we buy the VIP Passes every year, which is the best way!
My family and I are both long-time sponsors and board members of the WorldFest Houston Intl Film Festival. It is an exceptional and unique event. They sponsor more than 200 scholarships to their Master Classes in film production each year, and present a truly World-Class international film festival each April. They premiere more than 150 new films from all over the world, and most of the films are presented by their directors in-person.
This is a very special and unique intl film event. We have attended film festivals all over, from Sundance to Toronto and WorldFest is a truly wonderful experience. They have honored great legends in film, such as James Stewart, Ginger Rogers, Ray Bradbury, Rod Steiger and Kirk Douglas. They gave first awards to Spielberg, Ang Lee, Ridley Scott and John Lee Hancock. They are truly a Texas Treasure.
The 43rd Annual WorldFest-Houston Intl Film Festival is a remarkable and wonderful annual event! Every April it premieres more than 150 new films from around the world, and it attended by more than 500 international filmmakers. They offer more than 200 scholarships to their six Master Classes in Film/Video Production. They literally discovered Spielberg, Lucas, Ang Lee, Ridley Scott, The Coen Brothers, Brian De Palma and David Lynch, among hundreds of others. The filmmakers are there to introduce their films and have a Q&A afterwards. It is one of the most viewer-friendly film festivals that I have ever attended.
