Five Film Festivals That Are Going Virtual

Enjoy these international film festivals from the comfort of your own home

With artists and curators finding new ways to share work, connect with the public, and create communities online, we can rest assured that our next culture fix is only a click away. Following a slew of postponements and cancellations, many international film festivals are moving online, offering up diverse programs, championing independent cinema and powerful documentaries, that you can access from the comfort of your own home. From the most popular stops on the US circuit to more genre-focused events in Europe, here are five festivals that are going virtual in 2020. The show must go on!

Tribeca Film Festival

Founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 after the September 11 World Trade Center attacks, the Tribeca Film Festival set out to bring together and re-inspire a community that had been affected by tragedy. With its 2020 edition having been postponed, Tribeca Film Festival is continuing to inspire us during a testing time, having launched an online series called, A Short Film a Day Keeps the Anxiety Away. Every day, you can tune in here and watch a daily short film from one of the festival’s alumni filmmakers.

“Love-40”, a slice-of-life crisis scenario, is one of the most recent uploads. Lola Kirke and Jack Henry Robbins play an LA couple that hit the tennis courts for a quick round. She’s an on-her-game actress and he’s an out-of-work man-child. Will it be game, set, match when things don’t go as planned?

The Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital

The Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF) is the world’s premier showcase of environmentally-themed films, which usually takes place in Washington, D.C. The festival sets out to “celebrate Earth and inspire understanding and stewardship of the environment through the power of film.” This year's winners include “Okavango: River Of Dreams”, directed by Dereck and Beverly Joubert; “The Cordillera of Dreams”, by Patricio Guzmán; “Uniontown”, by Fraser Jones; and “Sea of Shadows”, by Richard Ladkani. This month, a smaller virtual version will take place, with select 2020 films to be made available to view online from now.

Garden State Film Festival

The 18th Annual Garden State Film Festival (GSFF) will be live-streamed by private servers from March 26th to March 29th, at the originally scheduled times. The diverse program includes such films as an American comedy road adventure set in the 70s, “Easy Does It”; a documentary about the locals of Asbury Park made by the locals of Asbury Park (where the festival would have taken place under different circumstances), “Local Legends”; and stylized animation thriller, “Burning Bright”.

Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival

Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF), which would have opened on April 7th, has now made its program available online. The European festival celebrates horror, thriller and science fiction cinema. Among the competing films was Basque director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s horror masterpiece, "The Platform", which had been nominated for three categories, including the International and European competitions and Critics Selection.

SXSW

While details are yet to be confirmed, SXSW festival wrote in its cancellation note: “[We] are working to provide a virtual SXSW online experience as soon as possible for 2020 participants, starting with SXSW EDU.”

Among the many world premieres that had been scheduled to take place in Austin, Texas earlier this month is the Judd Apatow-directed comedy starring Saturday Night Live breakout Pete Davidson, "The King of Staten Island". Davidson plays Scott, who has been a case of arrested development ever since his firefighter father died when he was seven. As his younger sister (Maude Apatow) heads off to college, Scott, now in his mid-20s, spends his days smoking weed, hanging with the guys and hooking up with his childhood friend (Bel Powley). But when his mother (Marisa Tomei) starts dating a loudmouth firefighter (Bill Burr), it sets off a chain of events that will force Scott to grapple with his grief and take his first tentative steps toward moving forward in life.

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