Film festival  A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon the festival's focus, can include international and domestic releases. Some festivals focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g. film noir) or subject matter (e.g. horror film festivals). A number of film festivals specialise in short films of a defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events. Some film historians, including Jerry Beck, do not consider film festivals official releases of film. The most prestigious film festivals in the world, known as the "Big Three", are Cannes, Venice, and Berlin. The "Big Five" also include Toronto and Sundance, which tend to present unreleased films or films that have only been shown domestically prior to its selection. The Toronto International Film Festival is North America's most popular festival in terms of attendance. The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. The Venice Film Festival in Italy began in 1932 and is the oldest film festival still running. Raindance Film Festival is the UK's largest celebration of independent filmmaking and takes place in London in October. Mainland Europe's biggest independent film festival is ÉCU The European Independent Film Festival, which started in 2006 and takes place every spring in Paris, France. Edinburgh International Film Festival is the longest-running festival in Great Britain as well as the longest continually running film festival in the world. Australia's first and longest-running film festival is the Melbourne International Film Festival (1952), followed by the Sydney Film Festival (1954). North America's first and longest running short film festival is the Yorkton Film Festival, established in 1947. The first film festival in the United States was the Columbus International Film & Video Festival, also known as The Chris Awards, held in 1953. According to the Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco, ""The Chris Awards" (is) one of the most prestigious documentary, educational, business and informational competitions in the U.S; (it is) the oldest of its kind in North America and celebrating its 54th year". It was followed four years later by the San Francisco International Film Festival, held in March 1957, which emphasized feature-length dramatic films. The festival played a major role in introducing foreign films to American audiences. Films in the first year included Akira Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood" and Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali".