Long Island Film Festival Draws Fans From All Locations

Long Island and New York have long been considered to be major hubs for the film making industries. The proximity of urban areas and suburban areas within a hundred mile radius of Manhattan have made the area a much desired shoot location. With its many theater venues and constant influx of celebrities, film festivals are a natural to New York and Long Island alike.

The first ever Hispanic Film Festival is getting underway in the Hempstead area, the brain child of a film professor at Hofstra University. This will allow local Hispanic film makers to enter shorts and feature length films into the growing Hispanic film industry. Also included will be films from Panama, Columbia and Spain.

The Long Island Film Festival at the YMCA Boulton Center for the Performing Arts in Bay Shore is the longest running Long Island Film Festival, now showing its 28th consecutive year. This festival includes a World Lens, notable films from all over the world and a Cinema Focus with writer Joel Martin. They also feature a film exchange which includes Kerry Film Festival in Ireland.

The granddaddy of all Long Island Film Festivals is, without a doubt, the Long Island Film Festival Company. With its venues in Sag Harbor, East Hampton, Shelter Island, Riverhead and Montauk, this film festival attracts the biggest names. Some of the big guns who regularly attend these festivals are Alec Baldwin, Robert DeNiro, Martin Scorcese, Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola.

Big movie names and great locales are inviting to many film makers from all over the world. Long Island film festivals also have a more laid back and relaxed feel to them which also makes them more inviting to newer film makers. This somewhat less formal air keeps the meetings open, honest, welcoming, non intimidating and friendly.