Best of 2003: Best Film Festival

San Diego International Film Festival
UCSD Price Theater, La Jolla
www.sdiff.com
858-534-4559

This is San Diego's version of Sundance or Telluride -- without the celebrity hoopla. Entering its 19th year, the San Diego International Film Festival offers a smorgasbord of films from across the world, in every genre imaginable. Last year's two-week program included films ranging from Japanese pop culture monster movie Gamera 3 and moody Czech fairytale Wild Flowers to American cop "mockumentary" To Protect & Serve. Festival director Ruth Baily and her team of staff members, students, and volunteers pride themselves on selecting artistically crafted and intriguing films likely to never be shown elsewhere in San Diego. The 2003 festival is tentatively scheduled to run April 4-20. As many as two dozen feature films, and two evenings worth of animation and short films will be shown. Check the website in March for updated information.