#1 Film & Media Event (up from #2)
Now approaching its 60th year, the San Francisco International Film Festival screens nearly 200 films for 60,000 attendees at 10 venues each year. The festival bestows 14 juried awards with nearly $40,000 in cash prizes and upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests. Next: Spring 2017
#2 Film & Media Event
Last year, the festival featured more than 185 films from 50 countries, with 41 official premieres and more than 68,000 audience members. Moviemaker magazine named the festival one of the “20 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.” Next: October 6-16, 2016
#3 Film & Media Event
An 11-day celebration of film, music, food, and digital media from the world’s most innovative Asian and Asian-American artists, the festival showcases new artists’ work and recognizes the pioneers who have paved the way for Asian Americans in media and entertainment. Next: March 9-19, 2017
#5 Film & Media Event
The first and largest Jewish film festival in the world, it features 70 films from 17 countries, 50 filmmaker guests, and showings in five Bay Area locations to an audience of 35,000. This year marks the festival’s 36th year. Next: July 21-August 7, 2016
#6 Film & Media Event (up from #11)
Founded in 2001 as a way to showcase the talents of Bay Area sketch comedy groups, the event rapidly grew into a nationally recognized comedy festival. Today, it’s known for mixing national headliners, local favorites, and up-and-coming groups from throughout North America for a month of sketch, improv, stand-up, and alternative comedy. Next: January 2017
#7 Film & Media Event (new to the list)
Vanity Fair’s third annual summit returns to San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts this fall, assembling leaders in technology, politics, business, media, and the arts for inspiring conversations on the issues and innovations shaping the future. Its lineup of high-powered speakers have included Mark Zuckerberg, Annie Leibovitz, Elon Musk, Lena Dunham, and Kevin Systrom. Next: October 18-20, 2016
#8 Film & Media Event
Now in its 20th year, the festival is the largest independent annual showcase of Arab films and filmmakers in the U.S. It has an international standing and is considered one of the most important Arab film festivals outside of the Middle East. Next: October 7-16, 2016
#9 Film & Media Event
The largest independent literary festival on the West Coast, Litquake is a nine-day literary spectacle for book-lovers. Complete with panel discussions, cross-media events, and hundreds of readings in off-the-wall venues—poets reciting in a cathedral, authors discussing science versus religion in a library, or novelists reading in a beekeeping supply store—Litquake seeks to foster interest in literature for people of all ages. Next: October 7-15, 2016
#10 Film & Media Event
Hosted at the historic Castro Theatre, the festival features a diverse and lively schedule of silent-era films. In the 20 years since its founding, the festival has presented more than 230 rare and classic silent film programs, all with live music. Next: Spring 2017
#11 Film & Media Event
Organizers bill it as “the film festival that provides a manageable amount of the truth.” Whether or not attendees can handle that truth, the 15-day festival has delighted San Francisco’s documentary-crazed audiences since 2001 by bringing the most weird and wonderful aspects of real life to the screen. Next: Spring 2017
#12 Film & Media Event
Sponsored by the National Steinbeck Center in the author’s hometown of Salinas, California, the festival draws top literary scholars to discuss Steinbeck’s works. In addition to lectures at the center, the festival includes excursions to Salinas’ Main Street, the Red Pony ranch, and agriculture fields, connecting attendees with the real-world places from Steinbeck’s books. Next: Summer 2017
