User:MattMX/Red Rock Film Festival

Red Rock Film Festival is an international film festival held beneath the majestic red mountains of Southern Utah in the United States. Held annually in November, in St. George, Ivins, and Springdale by Zion National Park the festival introduces the area to new international and US independent film. The festival has competitions for both documentaries and narrative fiction features and shorts.

History
The Red Rock Film Festival began in Southern Utah in 2004 as a film series Zion Flix founded by commercial director Matt Marxteyn which evolved from a film festival for college students in 1991 with founding member Derek Horne. Zion Flix was held in the OC Tanner Amphitheater in Springdale, Utah with sell-out crowds on both opening and closing nights. The festival became official known as an annual event called the Red Rock Film Festival in 2007.

The first festival in 2007 was a collaborative effort from several film festivals and events in Southern Utah and included films such as "Macbeth", "Cave of the Yellow Dog", "Triad Election", "The Memory Thief", "Greetings from the Shore", "Once", "Eastern Promises" and a special tribute screening of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" which was originally filmed in the surrounding area. The festival made use of outdoor screenings and became a festival known to show a variety of documentaries such as the political "Damned to Heaven" to the adventure doc "King Lines".

In 2008 the festival held its own showing more than 60 films on up to 6 venues at once and more judges on the grand jury. Opening Night included the Mountain West Premiere of "Sultans of the South (Sultanes del Sur)" several short films and two parties. The festival also included a First Look Premiere of "Forever Plaid – The Movie", the US Premiere of "Mark of Cain", plus screenings of "Amal", "Heart of Fire", "Breaking the Maya Code", "Class C", "War Eagle, Arkansas", "1 Giant Leap: What About Me?" and others.

By 2009 the Red Rock Film Festival was cited by MovieMaker magazine on their 2009 list of "25 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee." That year, the festival held a tribute to director Graeme Clifford and three panel discussions on Acting, Directing and Cinematography. Judges included Graeme Clifford, Shaun Dooley, Gordan Lonsdale, Silvia Kratzer, Steven Okazaki, Mary Perica, Gregg Champion, Shaun Dingwall, and Matthew McNulty. Film highlights included "Bicycle Dreams", "Pride of Lions", "Sweet Crude", "Adopt a Sailor", "The Attic Door" and "How I Got Lost".

Categories
Besides the Special Screenings held out of competition, the festival hosts both Documentary and Narrative Fiction competitions for Features and Shorts with new categories for Animation Shorts and Featurette competitions introduced in 2009. The festival also includes a Young Filmmaker Shorts competition for students in grade school. Both Grand Jury and Audience Awards are granted. Special Achievement awards are also rewarded to films that show excellence in a particular element of filmmaking. The festival also created the "Aglet rewards" which are granted to the best films in competition that use creative means to produce a film with thrifty budgets.

Mission of the festival
The mission of the festival is "to encourage the production of media in both the independent and professional market that portray the human race in a positive light, and to applaud original works that redefine media through innovation, creativity and sensitivity that both enlightens and educates audiences from around the world."