The 2008 International Family Film Festival is opening its 13th season at the landmark Raleigh Studios in the heart of Hollywood on Thursday February 28th! When thinking about the IFFF, that great hit by the O’Jays, Love Train comes to mind. This song personifies the IFFF like no other. The first stanza reads,” The next stop that we make will be England. Tell all the folks in Russia and China too. Don’t you know its time to get on board? And let this train keep on riding, riding on through. People all over the world, join hands, start a love train, love train!”

This year’s festival is chock full of exciting events, screenings and panels for families, filmmakers, agents, mangers, producers, financiers, distributors and film lovers alike. The International Family Film Festival offers a unique experience everyone can enjoy. Big kids and little kids will find something they can do, watch or make.

Family Filmtastick: Films Made for Young People by Young People! The festival begins Thursday morning from 10am-3pm with student short films. Each year the IFFF works with the Los Angeles Unified School District busing in children from local schools to the festival for special screenings of films made by kids just like them! After each screening, the emerging filmmakers a lead lively Q&A answering questions from their peers about their work. Also featured is Rob Whitehair’s, The Little Red Truck about a traveling truck that, when it rolls into town, stages a full scale musical with sixty local children in just six days! This film features LA’s own, Hollywood School House!

Opening Night Hoop-La! Screening at 4pm is Conchita Nora Villa’s Alondra Smiles (about a young girl’s quinciera jeopardized by a jealous cousin); followed at 6pm by Dennis Fallon’s All Roads Lead Home (the story of a troubled girl who questions her value in life); and at 8pm, Sandy Tung’s Alice, Upside Down (the story of a “tween” whose mother dies leaving her to find her own identity in a new town and new school). Members of the cast (Alyson Stoner, Luke Perry, Lucas Grabeel and Penny Marshall) will be available before the film to sign autographs. After the screening, rub elbows with IFFF’s elite networking with producers, actors, directors, writers and VIP guests at the famous Lucy’s El Adobe Café, just a short walk from Raleigh Studios.

Family Filmtastik! offers films in two other categories, the second is Shorties. Enjoy over twenty spectacular short films covering a wide variety of topics from three different continents. After the screenings, find out “whaz-up” with the filmmakers, and the where, when and how their films got made (10am – Midnight daily).

In Feature Phe-nom, choose from seventeen feature films gracing the family film genre from around the globe. After the screenings, meet the filmmakers that are changing our planet, one film at a time. Participate in thought provoking discussion with these movers-and-shakers of the family film industry (10am – Midnight daily).

The IFFF Screenwriters Showcase & Awards happens on Saturday, March 1st at 4pm. In this, the last round of the IFFF Screenplay Competition, finalists choose the best scenes from their scripts to present to industry elite - directors, managers, agents, producers and distributors – performed by professional actors. The IFFF winners for Best Screenplay will then be revealed. The winning categories for Feature Film and Short Film Screenplays are; Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Animation and Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy. In past festivals, producers have optioned five films from this single event! Finally, all of the winners and finalists will be introduced to the public and have an opportunity to field questions about their scripts and network at the Screenwriter’s Reception at 6pm at the infamous, Raleigh Studios Cantina.

During the day in At the Cantina, you’ll find Panel Mania! The discussion begins Friday, February 29th from 3-5pm with Ready, Set, Act! Fulfilling Roles Found in Family Film. This panel will focus on the heart-wrenching to the light hearted roles available in the “new” family film genre; the ups and downs of an actor’s lifestyle in an unpredictable market place; and the actor’s image - being “hip” in the hot new family film market.
On Saturday, March 1st from 10-12 noon IFFF offers Old School, New School: Contemporary Directors Discuss Making Family Films in the 21st Century. Topics include: the challenges and rewards of creating films suitable for all ages; special considerations that films appealing to families must face in today’s market; and tactics used to attract box office talent to act in family films.
From 1-3pm, Screenplay-Lite, Not! Writing Meaty Family Films. Topics include: the process and challenges of writing family films; getting scripts made and sold in today’s market place; and the growing appeal of writing in the family film genre.
From 3-4pm is, Digital Technology: The Future is Now, with samples of the latest digital cameras in the market for making low budget family films; the upgrades and advances since ’07; and how digital technology has opened the door for filmmakers interested in the family film genre.
On Sunday, March 2nd from 11-1pm IFFF offers Show Me the Money: Financing the Family Film and from 1-3pm, By Any Means Necessary: Distributing the Family Film. Topics will range from how to raise money to make family films to getting family films into the market place. Vision, planning, execution and innovative marketing ideas are the keys to success in the family film genre.
Under the IFFF Welcome Tent you can find Daily Deals. Pick-up or purchase your festival tickets and souvenirs, network, check out the Freshi Road Show, meet vendors and filmmakers, take advantage of the professional and children’s hands-on film camp, sign autographs and watch live interviews (10am – Midnight daily).

That’s All Folks! The IFFF Awards Ceremony held March 2nd at 6:30pm, is the festival’s culminating event. Not only will the awards for Best Feature Film, Best Short Film and Best Student Short Film in Drama, Comedy, Documentary, Educational and Animation be bestowed, but special industry recognition awards: the “IFFF Spirit Award”, the “IFFF Directors Gold Award” and the “Top Applause Award” (audience vote), will also be handed out. And then finally, the most prestigious awards of the night will be presented. The “Friz Award” for Lifetime Achievement in Film will go to honoree, Marco Marenghi (of Sony Pictures’ Imageworks) for his excellence in Animation & Visual Effects; and the “IFFF Film Excellence Award” will be presented to Walden Media (Chronicles of Narnia) for their excellence in and commitment to Family Films. The ceremony is followed by the IFFF Awards Banquet at 8:30pm.

So, as the closing verse of Love Train reads, “All of you brothers over in Africa, tell all the folks in Egypt and Israel, too. Please don’t miss this train at the station, ‘cause if you miss it I fell sorry, sorry for you! People all over the world, join hands, start a love train, love train!” The International Family Film Festival rolls out Feb 28th – March 2nd.