By M&C Movie News Mar 29, 2007, 9:10 GMT
Palm Springs, CA (M&C) – The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) has announced the dates of January 3-14, 2008 for its 19th annual festival. The Festival, which continues to grow each year, features a stellar line-up of more than 230 films from 65 countries, seminars, special events and Gala receptions. In addition to the 2008 dates, the Festival also announced that Helen du Toit will return as co-director of programming for the 2008 Festival.
Commenting on the dates Festival Director Darryl Macdonald said, “PSIFF is positioned on the annual film calendar to be a key promotional platform and an integral indicator of the front runners in the year-end awards sweepstakes. Fully 38 Oscar nominations went to films and filmmaking guests who were featured at this year’s event, and we expect that trend to continue in future years. It’s an integral part of our reputation both for programming excellence and prescient choices in the talent showcased at the Festival and in our Awards Gala.”
The Festival’s annual Awards Gala will be held on Saturday, January 5, 2008 at the Palm Springs Convention Center, continuing its tradition of being the first awards show of the year. This year’s event honored the cast of Babel, Adam Beach, Jessica Biel, Cate Blanchett, Alejandro González Iñárritu; Todd Field, Philip Glass, Little Miss Sunshine, Sydney Pollack and Kate Winslet.
Other key dates for the 2008 Festival include Opening Night on Thursday, January 3, 2008; Closing Night on Sunday, January 13, 2008; and Best of the Festival on Monday, January 14, 2008.
Du Toit will serve as co-director of programming along with current director of programming Carl Spence for the 2008 event. With over 15 years experience in independent film and TV production, international festival programming and consulting, du Toit most recently served as Program Director of the Vancouver Film and Television Forum. She has also programmed for various film festivals including for the Toronto, Seattle and Palm Springs International Film Festivals, held the position of Director of Programming for the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, has created and hosted panels of international experts and taught Independent Producing for the Canadian Screen Training Centre.
As a producer, she has developed original ideas with writers and directors, worked closely with distributors and sales agents and pitched projects at international film financing conferences. Du Toit has produced 8 short films, the Genie award-winning feature film Treed Murray and the celebrated dance film The Rings of Saturn, featuring the choreography of Robert Des Rosiers.
Macdonald stated, “Helen Du Toit’s past association with this Festival, and her vast experience in the film festival and film production worlds mark her as the ideal person to assume this new post at the Palm Springs event. We look forward to reaching even greater heights with her as an important part of the Festival team.”
Founded in 1990 by then Mayor Sonny Bono, PSIFF is one of the largest film festivals in North America. The Festival has an attractive film sales and distribution record and is seen by American distributors as one of the best Academy Award campaign marketing tools. The Festival also features cultural events, filmmaker tributes, industry seminars and an annual black-tie gala award presentation. This year’s Festival screened 255 films from 73 countries and featured seminars, special events and Gala receptions.
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