The Must Visit Winter Film Festivals of 2010

When one thinks of winter, snow, Christmas and New Year's come to mind. With the cold weather approaching one likes to move from outdoor activities to indoor ones or to just warmer places. Whether you are in the north or in the south, winter film festivals are a great way to stay warm.

Amelia Island Film Festival

The Amelia Island Film Festival is located in Amelia Island, Florida. The film festival this year will be taking place from February 25^th to March 1^st and screens mostly independent films. The Amelia Island Film Festival is a young festival, opening for the first time in 2008, but it made my list because of all the fun activities at the festival for movie-goers. There is the shrimp festival parade, dinner and a movie, filmmakers meet and greet, be a movie star double, AIFF gala party, and the filmmakers wrap party. Away from the film fest you can take advantage of the Amelia Island Tour, Amelia River Tour and Horse Carriage tour.

More information can be found at the Amelia Island Film Festival website at http://www.ameliaislandfilmfestival.org/index.htm.

Disposable Film Festival

The Disposable Film Festival is a fairly new film festival started in 2007. It made the list because it has an original structure. They screen short films from around the world. The twist is that they are shot with cell phones, point and shoot cameras, webcams and cheap handycams. It was recently named one of the top twenty-five film festivals by Moviemaker Magazine. This year it will be held at the end of January or beginning of February.

You can find more information about the Disposable Film Festival at their website http://www.disposablefilmfest.com.

New York International Children's Film Festival

The New York International Children's Film Festival takes place towards the end of the winter from February 26^th to March 14^th. It made this list because this festival screens films that cannot be found on TV, DVD or in the theaters. The film festival focuses on finding works that are geared towards the 3 to 18 crowd and look to redefine what is considered children friendly films. The festival has also featured one of my favorite filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.

More information can be found at the New York International Children's Film Festival's website at http://www.gkids.com.

Slamdance Film Festival

From January 21^st to the 28^th the Slamdance Film Festival will be held in Park City, Utah. This film fest makes the cut because they work to promote new films by new filmmakers. Their all access pass gets you into the movie and parties that allow you to mingle with the filmmakers. Another fun aspect of the Slamdance film fest is the writing competition where you can submit your work on shorts, feature and teleplay.

More information can be found at the Slamdance film festival website at http://www.slamdance.com/index.html.

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival, began in 1978, and is a very well known popular film fest that takes place during the winter season. It is so popular that it has its own TV channel, the Sundance Channel. Like the Slamdance Film Festival it is also held in Park City, Utah and will coincide with it from January 21^st to the 31^st. The festival features American and Foreign independent films in the categories of dramatic, documentary, feature, and short films.

More information about the Sundance Film Festival can be found at the festivals website at http://festival.sundance.org/2010.