With screenings in a number of cinemas across the Bay Area, the San Francisco International Film Festival is an unabashed celebration of moviemaking. Its scope is as wide as the Golden Gate, after which its unique awards are named. The San Francisco International Film Festival first took place in 1957 - and is the oldest film festival in the country. Over half a century it has screened 5000 films, documentaries and shorts and welcomed an impressive international roster of actors, directors and film-makers.

Organised by the San Francisco Film Society and taking place across San Francisco and Berkley including that "historic movie palace", the Castro Theatre, the festival balances international films and domestic premi?res. It also screens age-old favourites.

The 55th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 19 - May 3 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, the Castro Theatre, SF Film Society Cinema and SFMOMA in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley.