SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Lights, camera, action! The 2025 San Diego International Film Festival is officially underway after Wednesday's launch party at THE LOT in La Jolla.
“This feels amazing," said actor Brian Austin Green, who you might recognize from Beverly Hills, 90210.
“I love coming down here," said event host Scott Mantz, who's also on the festival board. "This is my 14th year."
The festival's CEO and Artistic Director, Tonya Mantooth, added, "This is a great sexy kickoff to the festival.”
Actors, directors, and filmmakers all posed and partied around the red carpet, marking the first scene of this weekend's movie marathon.
Organizers received a record-breaking 3,500 submissions this year, with more than 100 making it past the cutting room floor to be screened in San Diego — 24 of which are world premieres from 29 countries.
“Hundreds of filmmakers are coming into town," Mantooth said. "We have filmmakers coming in from Mongolia to represent their film. I mean, it’s really unbelievable. From Iceland. Bulgaria.”
“The key to our title is San Diego International Film Festival," Mantz pointed out. "For a long time, we were just San Diego Film Festival. When we brought in that very, very important word, it was all about the balance.”
A balance of culture and clout — with names you already know, like Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield, starring in the festival's opening film After the Hunt, and names you won't soon forget, like Santee native Natalie Camou, who directed "#1 Bad Dad," a short film showing on Saturday and Sunday.
“I have been working on Latino issues, immigration issues, for the last 10 years, and it is such a delight to finally make a movie that not only brings laughter and catharsis, but just a general good time," Camou.
With a full slate still ahead this weekend, the good times are only just beginning.
“It’s really amazing to be at a festival with a bunch of other filmmakers that truly love this art form," Green said.
You can click this link to purchase tickets and passes for the festival.
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