Expanded Services for Industry Professionals at the 49th San Francisco International Film Festival 2006
This year the San Francisco International Film Festival (April 20–May 4, 2006) will offer expanded services and support to Industry professionals throughout the Festival, including the introduction of new passes and benefits. The 2005 Festival hosted more than 250 filmmaker and industry guests, including exhibitors, distributors, acquisitions executives and marketing professionals.

Industry Pass
Registering as an SFIFF industry delegate gives access to specialized services for industry professionals visiting the Festival. Benefits for Industry passholders include:

• Access to press screenings of the SFIFF program of films
• On-demand viewing of the SFIFF program of films, featuring the award-winning Kaleidescape™ System
• Tickets for public screenings and events
• Excellent networking opportunities in the Festival’s Hospitality Suite, including regular Happy Business Hours
• Exclusive invitations to receptions and events
• Use of the Hospitality Suite’s business facilities and dedicated support staff
• Delegate welcome pack, including Festival guide, rights information and attendee contact lists

New Network Pass
Launching for the 2006 Festival is the new Network Pass with straightforward benefits for those who want to access the Festival’s Hospitality Suite, which includes the business facilities and networking events. Network passes do not give access to press screenings or video viewing, but Network passholders can buy Festival tickets at the community partners rate below the  general admission price.

In its 49th season, the SFFS is renowned throughout the world for its adventurous programming and sophisticated audiences. The Festival brings extraordinary international filmmakers and films to U.S. audiences, as well as screening U.S. and world premieres of films. The Festival is recognized as a place to find new independently produced narrative films, documentaries, shorts, animation , television productions, experimental films and youth-produced works. More than 200 new independent works will be showcased at the 2006 Festival.

Festival Background
The San Francisco Bay Area is recognized around the world as a crucible for new creative visions. The San Francisco International Film Festival arose out of this rich ground in 1957 and for the last 49 years has been acclaimed for its programmatic excellence, sophisticated and engaged audiences and welcoming attitude toward new and established figures in world cinema. The Festival draws from and reflects the uniquely diverse and internationalist cultural climate of San Francisco, making it an exemplary showcase for the premieres of international, national and local works. In 2007, the Festival will be the “First to 50,” celebrating its 50th year as the longest-running film festival in the Americas.

Since 1957 the San Francisco International Film Festival has brought the finest in world cinema to Bay Area audiences and played a leading role in enriching and expanding Northern California’s film culture. In 2005, at the 48th Festival, some 250 filmmakers, producers and industry representatives presented their work to 77,000 film fans, distributors and industry professionals; some 185 films, including roughly 50 world, international, North American and U.S. premieres, debuted to SFIFF audiences.

Recent SFIFF guests include Abbas Kiarostami, Agnès Varda, Alan Rudolph, Annette Bening, Arnaud Desplechin, Benjamin Bratt, Charlotte Rampling, Chris Cooper, Claire Denis, Clint Eastwood, Costa-Gavras, Courteney Cox, Cyd Charisse, Daniel Craig, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Dustin Hoffman, Esther Williams, Ethan Hawke, Faith Hubley, Fernando Birri, Francis Ford Coppola, Gary Ross, George Lucas, Hanif Kureishi, Helen Mirren, Jacques Rozier, Jeff Bridges, Jim Jarmusch, Joan Allen, Jon Else, Kenneth Anger, Kevin Spacey, Kim Ki-Duk, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Lily Tomlin, Lucrecia Martel, Manny Farber, Mario Van Peebles, Melvin Van Peebles, Metallica, Milos Forman, Miranda July, Morgan Spurlock, Nelson Rodriquez, Paolo Cherchi Usai, Pat O’Neill, Patrice Chéreau, Patricia Clarkson, Paul Haggis, Peter Coyote, Peter Sarsgaard, Rita Moreno, Robert Altman, Robin Williams, Robin Wright Penn, Sally Potter, Saul Zaentz, Sean Penn, Stockard Channing, Susan Sontag, the Talking Heads, Taylor Hackford, The RZA, Todd Solondz, Tom Waits, Warren Beatty, Wayne Wang, Winona Ryder, Zhang Yimou and others.

A small sample of films featured at recent Festivals includes Crash, The Dying Gaul, Kings and Queen, Yes, November, Three … Extremes, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room, Mad Hot Ballroom, Murderball, The Holy Girl, Layer Cake, Palindromes, Coffee and Cigarettes, Love Me If You Dare, Control Room, The Corporation, DIG!, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, Super Size Me, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, Baadasssss!, Beautiful Boxer, The Secret Lives of Dentists, Dopamine, The Spanish Apartment, The Man on the Train, Infernal Affairs, Whale Rider, Winged Migration, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, Dogtown and Z-Boys, Fulltime Killer, The Last Kiss, The Safety of Objects, Spirited Away, A Social Genocide, Private, Saraband, The White Diamond, Checkpoint, The Century of the Self, 10th District Court: Moments of Trials and Rivers and Tides.

Industry Office contact: email Rachel Caplan or call 415-561-5033