Now in its 13th year, the Rhode Island International Film Festival is August 3-9, 2009. Ranked as one of the Top 12 Film Festivals in the United States, this world-class event takes place in venues around Providence. It features screenings, filmmaking workshops, meet-and-greet industry events, and seminars. Aiming to promote Rhode Island as a filmmaking location and to celebrate the independent filmmaking spirit, RIIFF also hosts a number of high-profile premieres and provides a showcase for international features, documentaries, and shorts.

The festival is dedicated to the creation of opportunities for artistic interaction and exchange among independent filmmakers, directors, producers, distributors, backers and the film-going community. This year, RIIFF will screen amazing new work selected from over 3,300 film submissions. The entire RIIFF schedule is created from these film submissions and not culled from other festivals. This makes for a truly dynamic event where regional audiences discover new work and emerging filmmakers whose films are often overlooked. Check out RIIFF’s online schedule.

Other festivals starting this week include:

West Hollywood International Film Festival (August 5-8)

Ballston Spa Film Festival (August 6-8)

HollyShorts Film Festival (August 6-13)

Hardacre Film and Cinema Festival (August 7-8)

Festivals starting next week include:

Bayou City Inspirational Film Festival (August 15): Showcasing exceptional educational, inspirational, and positive films from around the world, Bayou City is a Houston-area festival eager to provide an excellent film-going experience. Admission for all screenings is free to the public. The festival features independent filmmakers and artists from throughout the United States, as well as countries such as England, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and India.

Downtown Film Festival – Los Angeles (August 12-22)