Rhode Island Film Festival

Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the Newport Film/Video Society & Arts Collaborative, a 501(c)(3) non-profit created in 1981. The Festival was created by George T. Marshall, the founder of the Flickers Arts Collaborative. He has been the Executive Director/CEO of the Festival since its creation. Shawn Quirk is the Programming Director. Jocelyn Donaghue is the Short Film Programming Director. J.Scott Oberacker, Ph.D. is the Educational Outreach Director. William J. Torgerson is the Creative Writing Director. Timothy Haggerty is the Technical Director. Keith Brown and Jessica Wong are the Educational Program Directors. Lawrence J. Andrade serves as the Executive Advisor and Human Resource Director. Michael Drywa, Esq. is the Board President.

RIIFF has been a qualifying festival for the Academy Awards since 2002. In 1998, it hosted the world premiere of the Farrelly brothers film, There's Something About Mary. The Festival draws over 32,000 people annually along with a strong filmmaker presence attending its main event each August and its Horror Film sidebar in October. In 2013, the Festival screened 216 films; with 55 being world and US premieres. New in 2010, the Festival has been designated as the host for Oscar Night America in Rhode Island, which it continues to host each year. In 2014, that event will be called the "Red Carpet Experience: Providence."

The festival often attracts major industry talent and celebrities who attend to participate in conversations about varied aspects of filmmaking. Attending filmmakers in the past have included actor Andrew McCarthy, who premiered his directorial debut, News for the Church; Michael Showalter discussing his feature film The Baxter, and actors Seymour Cassel, Kim Chan, and Ernest Borgnine(2009) who received Festival Lifetime Achievement Awards. Director Blake Edwards received a Festival Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001, which was accepted by his wife, actress/singer, Julie Andrews. Actress Blythe Danner received the Festival's Creative Vision Award in 2008 for "significant contributions to the arts." That same year, actor Richard Jenkins received the George M. Cohan Ambassador Award which honors "unique Americans who have made a timeless contribution to the arts and have inspired future generations of Rhode Islanders." In 2009, film composer Klaus Badelt was awarded the Festival's Crystal Image Award for his contribution to the art of filmmaking. In 2010, the award went to children's author/filmmaker, Sandra Boynton. In 2011, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to actors Paul Sorvino and Ken Howard.

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