MovieMaker has designated the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival as one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World.”
What makes a festival cool? “A cool festival is one where you just feel comfortable from the moment you’re welcomed in—but also encouraged to think bigger about your life and what you want to do with it,” according to MovieMaker editor Tim Molloy.
Calling out the San Luis Obispo festival’s enviable location, carefully curated films, and “delightful festival team,” Ian and Katie Bignell of Festival Formula notes its recurring themes, such as the annual Surf Night that features “VW campers and surfboards outside, Hawaiian shirts inside, and musicians playing the sounds of the California shores.”
The festival adds “a touch of Tinseltown glamor to laid-back life in SLO,” according to the Bignells, who are part of the magazine’s “panel of cool” who selected the members of this year’s list. They were featured on a panel discussing the current climate of film and filmmaking at the 2024 SLO Film Festival.
Other festivals making the list include New York City’s Tribeca Film Festival; Hamburg, Germany’s DokFest München; and Indianapolis, Indiana’s Heartland International Film Festival.
“Having this recognition on a national stage just further confirms that we have something incredibly special and unique in San Luis Obispo,” said SLOIFF Executive Director Skye McLennan in a press release. “We can’t wait to continue to showcase amazing cinema and cool once-in-a-lifetime experiences at the 2025 festival.”
The next edition of the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival is scheduled April 24-29, 2025.