Cinequest Film Festival
The Cinequest Film Festival is the first major annual independent film festival held after the Academy Awards. Located in San Jose, California, Cinequest has grown to be one of the largest and most influential film festivals featuring new film makers.
History
1990-1995
1990: Founded by filmmakers Halfdan Hussey and Kathleen Powell, Cinequest began with a rocky start as guest of honor Jon Jost (All the Vermeers in New York} failed to show up to the event to get his Maverick Spirit Award. In all, over 3,000 moviegoers paid to see 60 films in the four day event held in the lone Camera 3 theatre in San Jose. Guest of honor Jon Jost .
1991: Cinequest adds an additional venue, at the nearby Towne Theater. 61 films are shown, including My Own Private Idaho and Antonia & Jane.
1992: After the popular success of Jurassic Park and Michael Jackson's Black or White music video, Cinequest tied into its Silicon Valley roots and featured the technology of using computers in a process called, "morphing" with an emphasis on the film , Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The Maverick Spirit Award is presented to Lena Stolze.
1993: Maverick Spirit Awards are presented to Paul Bartel and Carl Franklin.
1994: The festival expands to five days and attendance grows to 11,300. Maverick Spirit Awards go to Russ Meyer, Werner Herzog and John Waters.
1995: No festival as the event moves from November to February.
1996-2000
1996: Cinequest brings on Programming Director Michael Rabehl, who begins reshaping the structure of the film program as well as guests--and also helping expand Cinequest to full week. The festival also is moved from November to February. The newly built UA Pavilion Theatres in downtown San Jose host some screenings. The Maverick Spirit Award is given to Luis Valdez.
1997: Again the Silicon Valley location of the festival is displayed as it becomes the
first to use streaming media technology to webcast the
awards ceremony live over the
1998: Fully embracing technology, Cinequest adds the "DXD" (Digital by Digital) section of the competition, honoring artistic use of technology in film. Maverick Spirit Awards are given to Kevin Spacey, Elmer Bernstein, Jackie Chan, Walter Murch, John Schlesinger and Barry Sonnenfeld.
1999: After the popularity of the previous year's technology section Cinequest expands the DXD section to include panels on digital cinematography, including a sneak preview of the making of the film, Antz. Maverick Spirit Awards go to Gabriel Byrne and Rod Steiger.
2000-2005
2000: Cinequest stretched to an 11-day event witha 135 films scattered at three locations throughout San Jose. Maverick
Spirit Awards go to Robert M. Young,
2001: Cinequest is named one of the 10 best film festivals by Chris Gore. The Maverick Spirit Award is given to Mia Trachinger for her first feature Bunny, Spike Lee, Ron Shelton and Richard Leacock and Billy-Bob Thorton failed to appear. Nandita Das, Hank The Angry Drunken Dwarf and Doug E. Doug were also notable attendees.
2002: Attendance sets a record at 50,000. The San Jose Repertory Theatre is used for the first time to show Cinequest films. Maverick Spirit Awards go to Lalo Schifrin, David Strathairn, Lili Taylor, Ian McKellen, while other notable attendees included Jean-Marc Barr. The Opening Night film was The Search for John Gissing and the closing night film was 13 Moons
2003: Maverick Spirit Awards are presented to Ralph Bakshi, Stephen Frears, Lupe Ontiveros, William H. Macy, Val Kilmer, James Woods. The opening night film was The Movie Hero starring Jeremy Sisto and the closing night film was 100 Mile Rule starring Michael McKean and Maria Bello.
2004: Attendance is an estimated 54,000 with 168 films. The Maverick Spirit Award is presented to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kurt Miller. The opening night film was the Finnish Soccer film United while the closing night film was The Conscientious Objector, a documentary about Desmond T. Doss
2005: The California Theater begins showing films and hosting events including silent films and the opening (Brazil's Manual for Love Stories) and closing night films (My Jealous Barber). The festival played at four venues within walking distance of each other, showing the scheduled 180 films. Maverick Spirit Awareds were scheduled to be presented to Blanchard Ryan, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, Ben Kingsley, and Jon Polito PDF.
Notable debuts
Independent films that premiered at Cinequest that went on to further distribution by a major movie studio:
- 2001: Maze, The Adventures of Barry Ween
- 2002: Blue Car
- 2003: Hukkle, Robot Stories, Suckers, Spellbound
- 2004: I.P.O., The Agronomist,
The Praying Mantis, One Man Show,
The Story of the Weeping Camel,
Imelda - 2005 Accordion Tribe, The Civilization of Maxwell Bright, Edmond
Oscar Nominees
Several short films shown at Cinequest have received nominations for Academy Awards. In recent years, these have included
- 2004 (A) Torzija
- 2005 Ryan, ', Little Terrorist
- 2006 Cashback, 9, The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello, Our Time is Up
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
