The first San Francisco International Film Festival was held in 1957. The brainchild of Irving M. Levin, a local film exhibitor, the festival was the first of its kind in the U.S.But the early years were not easy. In 1962, Hollywood has extended its boycott of the festival into its sixth year, and the event has still not yet received a feature length entry from Hollywood. Levin noted: “We invited Hollywood, but nothing has come yet. We still have slender hopes that we may get one or maybe two entries from Hollywood.”

July 8, 2008–Tunisian-born director Abdelatif Kechiche will head the Venice Film Festival jury awarding the Golden Lion of the Future prize for best work by a first-time director.

June 27, 2008–Wim Wenders will head the main jury of the 65th Venice Film Festival. Heralded by Venice artistic topper Marco Mueller as “one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation,” Wenders, 63, has longstanding ties with Venice, where his first feature “The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick” showed in 1972.

June 23, 2008—SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival announced its distinguished award winners, culminating the weeklong Festival activities that included screening 108 films representing 63 countries, free outdoor screenings and live performances, and a five-day concurrent International Documentary Conference attended by over 650 filmmakers, film and television executives and media professionals exploring the documentary in action, and has a particular emphasis on youth, education and next generation media artists. Winning filmmakers received over $70,000 in combined cash and in-kind prizes. The Audience Award winners will be announced on Monday, June 23, 2008.

June 18, 2008–The 33rd Toronto International Film Festival opens September 4 with the world premiere of “Passchendaele,” written, directed and produced by celebrated Canadian filmmaker Paul Gross.