Filmfest D.C.

Since 1987, the Washington, D.C. International Film Festival (a.k.a. Filmfest D.C.) has brought more than 1000 feature and short films from more than 55 countries to the nation’s capital. Each year, for 11 days in April, Filmfest D.C. offers at least 70 films, sometimes more, all of them Washington, D.C. premieres and some of them world premieres. In 2009, the festival hosted films focused on Japan (including the Washington premiere of the foreign-language Oscar-winner Departures), Eastern Europe, and political documentaries.

Filmfest D.C. also brings directors and actors to attend its screenings and answer questions from the audience. Guests have included Cicely Tyson, Morgan Freeman, Sigourney Weaver, Kelly McGillis, Edward James Olmos, Genevieve Bujold, Shirley Horne, Alan Rudolph, Lina Wertmuller, Donald Bogle, Robert Young, Alan Taylor, Maria Grazia Cuccinota, Eliseo Subiela, Peter Bogdanovich, John Malkovich, Sydney Pollack, Gabriel Byrne, and Charlize Theron.

Travel Tips

It’s a good idea to purchase advance tickets online for any movie you want to see at www.filmfestdc.org. Even if the film you’re interested in sells out, you still might want to try to go. Filmfest D.C. holds back some tickets to sell at the theater starting one hour before the first screening of the day—cash or check only. The Annual Washington, DC International Film Festival will start on April 12 and run through April 22, 2012.