General Info

What sets Flickers apart is that the Festival is one of only a handful of broadly focused, independent festivals in New England accepting works of any type (dramatic, documentary, experimental, animation), on any subject matter, and in any genre. In 2002, Flickers was notified by the that it had elected to recognize the Rhode Island International Film Festival as a qualifying festival for the Short Films category for the Annual Academy Awards. With more than 7, 000 film festivals worldwide, only 65 have this recognition. In 2009, Flickers was notified by the Academy that it would be the official Rhode Island host for on February 27, 2011. Flickers offers an artistic exchange as well as opportunities for the global creative community that are not available in the established entertainment industry. It is designed to foster contact among film directors, artists, producers, distributors, backers and audiences. Filmmakers will have an opportunity to share new film product, test-market films in development, and share the film-making process with industry peers, students, and the general public. The Festival's goal is to recognize achievement and innovation in a variety of filmmaking and storytelling disciplines while providing an opportunity to secure wider distribution. The Festival also actively supports and encourages film preservation and its restoration, thus ensuring future generations of this unique artistic medium. Thanks to the strong and visionary support of its lead sponsors such as Sony, HB Communications, WBRU Radio, Amtrak, MGM-HD, Stella Artois, WJAR NBC 10, Rule Broadcast/Boston Camera, Camera Company, The Providence Phoenix, The University of Rhode Island College of Arts & Sciences, The Film Media Program, and the URI Feinstein College of Continuing Education, Brown/RISD Hillel, The City of Providence, the Providence Tourism Council and and Roger Williams University, the Festival has been able to expand its offerings and include a broad range of film-related programming such as KidsEye ; a highly respected international Screenwriting competition called ScriptBIz ; a Master Class on Filmmaking (Take 1-2-3: Filmmaking with the Pros), the Rhode Island Film Forum; and the late morning forums, "Between Takes." FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival, takes place in the historic cities of Providence as well as satellite locations throughout the state; including Bristol, Narragansett, Barrington, Cranston and Westerly. We also provide programming to children's hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and community youth organizatiions. The dynamic nature of Rhode Island offers excellent screening facilities, strong community support, and unlimited growth potential. Perhaps, one of the most unique elements of the Festival comes from its geographic location and cultural-heritage linkages. The proximity of Rhode Island to Canada and the state's large French-Canadian population has led the Festival to establish as one of its chief aims the encouragement an artistic exchange between filmmakers from the New England region and the Canadian provinces. This was clearly realized in 2010 with the entry of 217 films from Canada, representing six Provinces. Tourisme Qu bec has been one of the Festival's major sponsors and has helped to nurture the Festival's Canadian outreach. The presence of Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, Roger Williams University, Johnson & Wales University, Bryant University, Providence College, other institutions of higher education, and Rhode Island's proximity to New York and Boston, give the Festival a film-literate audience, and provide an ideal forum for filmmakers to show their work in a high-visibility environment. The recent growth in regional film and television production have given the state international prominence. The continuing revitalization of the capital city of Providence has brought access to e