13th Annual Fargo Film Festival
History
In November of 1999, a group of film lovers, moviemakers and educators, along with tourism specialists, theatre volunteers and staff members, gathered at the newly restored Fargo Theatre to discuss the possibility of a Fargo Film Festival, as well as the selection of the Fargo Theatre as a site for the 2000 Library of Congress Film Preservation Tour.
In March of 2000, with a great deal of guidance and insight from the passionate, movie-obsessed professor Ted Larson, the theatre celebrated the rich history of film with selections from the prestigious Library of Congress collection. Actor Janet Leigh attended our week-long celebration and proved a most elegant guest. The success of the Library of Congress tour fueled the fire for an annual Fargo Film Festival.
Ted Larson died unexpectedly in November of 2000, but his spirit prevailed and the Fargo Film Festival became a reality in March of 2001. Since then, the festival has grown significantly from 30 submissions in 2001 to its current average of more than 150 submissions from 28 states and 12 countries.
The Fargo Theatre's storied history, 21st century technology, and beautifully restored art deco decor anchor the festival.
Mission
The Fargo Film Festival strives to:
• Provide an extraordinary opportunity for filmmakers' work to be shown on the big silver screen in a beautifully restored, state of the art, 870 seat Art Deco Theatre.
• Provide informational and provocative presentations and panel discussions on issues affecting local, regional, national and international filmmaking and filmmakers.
• Jury films in categories including Animation, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short, Experimental, Narrative Feature, Narrative Short, and Student.
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