March 29, 2005

San Francisco International Film Festival Partners with Akimbo To Bring International and Independent Films to Living Rooms; Subscribers Can View New and Classic Flicks from International Filmmakers

The San Francisco International Film Festival (48th SFIFF April 21—May 5) announces a partnership with Akimbo Systems which will showcase select independent and international films from the Festival, and make them available to subscribers of the Akimbo service on the San Francisco International Film Festival channel. Launched last year, Akimbo is a video-on-demand (VOD) service that delivers programming from around the world to consumers' televisions via the Internet. Starting in June, film enthusiasts will be able to download an assortment of films to the Akimbo player and view them from the convenience of their own homes.

"We have shown over 5,000 films in the past 48 years, and now a selection of these will be available in viewers' homes," said Roxanne Messina Captor, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society. "The Akimbo service provides a tremendous distribution outlet for our filmmakers as it hits living rooms across the nation."

Now, filmgoers from outside the Bay Area can easily gain access to the Festival's films from their own homes. Films that may never have been distributed can now be instantly downloaded onto the Akimbo player and viewed on television. The Film Festival will now be able to reach and affect many more people than ever before. In addition to the Festival channel, Akimbo provides access to a wide variety of content appealing to many different interests such as music, history, culture, foreign language, health, fitness, children's programs, sports and news.

"Teaming with the San Francisco Film Society to create a channel for independent and international films gives filmmakers another channel of distribution and an opportunity for their films to be seen by a wide audience," said Steve Shannon, founder and executive vice president of sales and marketing at Akimbo. "Our subscribers love that the Akimbo service brings them programming and movies that they can't find elsewhere on television today."

The 48th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 21—May 5, 2005 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres, the Home of the Festival, the Castro Theatre, the Palace of Fine Arts, Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center and the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco; the Pacific Film Archive Theater in Berkeley; and Landmark's Aquarius Theatre in Palo Alto. Tickets for San Francisco Film Society members will be available on March 29 and for the general public on April 5. To purchase tickets and for ticket information log on to www.sffs.org, call 925.866.9559 or visit the Main Ticket Outlet, located in the atrium of the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres, 1881 Post Street or the Satellite Ticket Outlet at the Virgin Megastore, 2 Stockton Street. For up-to-date Festival information log on to www.sffs.org or call 415.561.5000.

The 48th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21—May 5, 2005) is presented by the San Francisco Film Society, a nonprofit arts and educational organization dedicated to celebrating international film and the moving image.