Victoria Film Festival Voted Among Top 25 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee

The Victoria TX Independent Film Festival was voted in the top 25 film festivals worth the initial investment, according to a story published on MovieMaker Magazine's website Wednesday.

MovieMaker.com listed VTIXIFF in the top 25 of a non-ranked list from between 4,000 to 6,000 film festivals worldwide.

The festival offers filmmakers free airfare, lodging, transportation and meals, according to the story, for the four-day event that presents dramas, documentaries and animated films in both feature length and short programs. And for those fighting for bragging rights, there is a $5,000 prize split between three winners of the Crossroads Award and a chance to travel to film festivals across the world with Film Exchange.

VTXIFF executive director Anthony Pedone said he was still in the midst of wrapping up the festival when he received the news.

"It's great," he said. "It's really cool to get validation from one of the biggest filmmaking magazines out there. It washes away anything negative we've heard about the festival."

Pedone said he hasn't yet begun to think about next year's festival, but was certain this year's festival had a 25 percent attendance increase over their first year. The addition of the art and live music to the event turned it into a well-rounded art festival, he said, and attracted more people to the event.

Though he still has a long road ahead of him to close the curtain on the film festival which ended Sunday, he said, they will start accepting submissions for films as soon as this June.

"We had great filmmakers and awesome film programs. I'm 120 percent satisfied with the way things went," he said.

Courtesy of The Victoria Advocate