St Augustine Film Festival 2024: what is it, what is the opening night film & when does it take place?

While perhaps not as high profile as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, London or the Toronto International Film Festival, the interest in cinema once again means a renewed interest in some of those film festivals a little off the beaten track - with the upcoming St Augustine Film Festival in Florida one of those perhaps overlooked at times.

The Saint Augustine Film Festival (SAFF) is a highly anticipated event that takes place every January and was established in Florida to provide a platform for independent filmmakers from around the world to showcase their creative work to a live audience. It is one of the most popular attractions in Saint Augustine. The festival has gained a reputation within the film industry and among film enthusiasts as being the premier location for showcasing unique indie films. 

A relatively new festival, having launched in 2011, the season of films on show at SAFF are usually rooted in the more independent features than the big box office films that sometimes pass through the projectors at Cannes or TIFF, but with more people eschewing the traditional box office blockbuster for some more curious releases, St Augustine Film Festival looks to be one of the newer events to further champion independent cinema across the world. 

What are the opening and closing night films of the St Augustine Film Festival 2024?

Though there are some screenings the day before, the SAFF have considered January 12 2024 as their official opening night of the festival, with Golden Vanity, starring The Office actress Melora Hardin in the lead role. That screening takes place at 5pm - the ideal time for an opening night gala.

To close the St Augustine Film Festival this year, it looks like Alex David Willemin’s Albert and Claude will be the film to close out the short affair, with the film set in late 1500s France and dealing with the isolation of being one of the first people to explore “a new world.” 

Have any big films premiered at the St Augustine Film Festival previously? 

Nothing on the level of Oppenheimer or The Whale, but there have been some famous faces at SAFF in previous years showing their work, including Karen Allen of Indiana Jones fame who made her directorial debut in 2017 with A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud., based on the novel by famed American writer Carson McCullers, while The Return of the Hero, featuring Jean Dujardin, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2012 for the film, The Artist, also premiered the same year.

How can I get tickets to any of the screenings at the St Augustine Film Festival 2024?

Tickets to screenings can be bought from the St Augustine Film Festival website, with prices ranging between $10 for each screening to a $275 festival pass to all the films, venues and parties as part of the festival this year.

When does the St Augustine Film Festival 2024 run until?

The St Augustine Film Festival has a rather short season, taking place from January 11 2024 to January 14 2024.