The Palm Springs Film Festival, one of the largest festivals in the country, if not the world, will be screening films this month from January 3 to 14. This is the 24th year of the festival, which will focus on international films, though there will be a number of American movies featured as well.
According to the Los Angeles Times, there will be a total of 180 films – 61 which will be premiers – from 68 countries screened. Of the 71 films submitted for the foreign language prize award for the 2013 Oscars, 42 will be screened at the festival.
This year, for the first time, black and white silent films will be screened, and the festival is opening with a black-and-white Spanish version of Snow White, “Blancanieves,” by Pablo Berger.
“We made a conscious choice to really present a diverse menu of international films… not that much in terms of direction has changed since,” festival director Darryl Macdonald told the news source. “A film festival should celebrate film first and foremost, and the best way to do that is to provide something for everyone.”
Over 135,000 people are expected to attend, including Bradley Cooper, Sally Field, Helen Mirren and Richard Gere. Of the attendees, 70 percent will be coming from outside of Southern California.
For other festivals like the Palm Springs Film Festival, having outdoor movie screens can allow comfortable viewing for large numbers of attendees, especially since VIPs will be in the audience. In addition, screening films in warm locations can give viewers the ability to enjoy the weather while watching movies.