This is a tough one for film buffs. On Tuesday, October 22, an Instagram post declared the sad news: “We regret to announce that the Alameda International Film Festival will not take place in 2025.”
The post explained that festival producers and the Alameda Theatre & Cineplex “were unable to reach an agreement on an equitable rental rate.” Festival producers “feel strongly” that the Theatre “represents the only appropriate venue in our city. As such, we will need to suspend AIFF at this time.”
The post also expressed gratitude to all of the festival’s supporters and filmmakers.
“Many of you have been attending for more than a decade, have volunteered your homes for visiting filmmakers, have provided invaluable resources, staffing, business partnerships, sponsorship, and more. We could not be more grateful for the community engagement and investment in AIFF. Above all, thank you to all the wonderful filmmakers who have participated in AIFF—without you there would be no festival.”
The film festival started in 2011 as the Long Day Short Film Festival, a small, shorts-only event. In 2016, Mark Farrell and Colin Blake co-founded the Alameda International Film Festival. Since then, “AIFF has had the great honor to connect filmmakers and movie lovers from around the world and around the corner,” the festival website states. The pandemic made it impossible to continue with the festival in 2020 and 2021, but producers regrouped and relaunched in 2022 at the Alameda Theatre & Cineplex.
The festival’s nonprofit organization, Anchor Alameda Association for Art & Film, will continue to sponsor and produce local arts events, according to the Instagram post. Upcoming events will be posted on the website as they are scheduled.
