From Toronto to Tribeca to Telluride: A Cheat Sheet for the 9 Film Festivals You Need to Know

Founded in 1974 and held from the end of August through the beginning of September, the Telluride festival gets its name from the Colorado town where it can be found. Attendees can watch films, some outside, against the backdrop of Colorado mountains. What movies will be shown are kept a secret before the festival, and many of the films use it as their American premiere, but Telluride's history ensures that there will be plenty of quality films to watch. They also give a silver medallion award to three artists each year. Previously it's gone to Meryl Streep, Francis Ford Coppola, Colin Firth and other notable actors and directors. This year, the award will go to Robert Redford, Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof and the Coen brothers.

Notable Films: Blue Velvet, Brokeback Mountain, Amour

The official name is La Biennale di Venezia, but we Americans can stick to the translation of this festival, which is considered one of the "big three." Celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, the Venice Film Festival is the world's oldest film festival and has always been held at the end of August or beginning of September. Films from across the world are submitted and considered for its big prizes, the Golden Lion (Best Film), Silver Lion (Best Director) and Volpi Cup (Best Actor and Actress), and there is a special selection of Italian films given their own awards each year. The current festival will include the world premieres of Child of God which was written and directed by James Franco, as well as Terry Gilliam's The Zero Theorem and Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin.

Notable Films: Somewhere, The Wrestler and Brokeback Mountain have all been awarded the Golden Lion.

This is a unique festival because it's not just films. SXSW is held during spring in Austin, Texas every year and features film, music and interactive sections, with the last focusing on new technology. It started in 1987 and has grown from an alternative music festival to an enormous event that draws celebrities from all different fields. On the film side, in addition to movie premieres, there are panels and workshops for aspiring filmmakers. Both jury and audience awards are given out to feature and short films, as well as technical and design prizes.

Notable Films: The Hurt Locker, Tiny Furniture, Drinking Buddies, Spring Breakers

Toronto's festival started today, and tends to start the Thursday after Labor Day each year. It's one of the biggest film festivals in the world and has grown in popularity thanks to many of its premiere films gaining Oscar attention. TIFF's biggest prize is the People's Choice Award, which goes to the film that has recieved the most votes from the festival's attendees. This year's big American contenders include 12 Years A Slave, August: Osage County and Gravity, while Salinger, a documentary about The Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger is also highly anticipated.

Notable Films: Silver Linings Playbook, The King's Speech, Precious, Slumdog Millionaire

Ah, the big one. Another one of the "big three" festivals, the French invitation-only festival held each May is probably the most recognizable, as its red carpet is always star-studded. Everything about the international festival is exclusive, with only 20 films competing to be the Official Selection, a new jury and president chosen each year, and the coveted Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) director's award. There is also a Grand Prize and Jury Prize each year. At the 2013 Cannes festival, Steven Spielberg served as president while the French drama Blue is the Warmest Color was the official selection.

Notable Films: The Tree of Life, Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver

The other big name in film festivals is Sundance, the annual festival held in Utah each January that only includes independent films. Founded by Robert Redford, the festival's original purpose was to give these small indie movies a chance to get picked up and distributed by the larger studios, who will give them more marketing and a wider theater release. Sundance also places an emphasis on documentaries. In recent years, Sundance has become a major celebrity event, though the festival itself tries to remain focused on the films and its goal. This year's big winner was Fruitvale Station, which won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, though The Way, Way Back won financially, with a $9 million buy from Fox Searchlight.

Notable Films: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Winter's Bone, Garden State, Blair Witch Project

[Image via rasdourian/Flickr]

One of the newer festivals, Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Robert DeNiro, producer Jane Rosenthal, and investor Craig Hatkoff. Its goal was to help bring life back to downtown Manhattan in the wake of 9/11, and to show that New York City is a major player in the film industry. Tribeca stands out from many other international festivals because it is spread out throughout lower Manhattan, with films screening in multiple theaters in a few different neighborhoods, including the Tribeca Film Center. Held in April, many of its larger films have already premiered at Sundance but show at Tribeca as well. Oher indie films use the festival as their world premiere and compete for awards like Best Narrative Feature and Best New Narrative Filmmaker.

Notable Films: Past award winners include Let the Right One In, Transamerica, War Witch and The Rocket

Along with Venice and Cannes, Berlin rounds out the "big three" international film festivals. Also called Berlinale, it was founded in 1951 and has been held in February since 1979. Though it may not draw as many celebrities as other festivals, the Berlin festival stands out for its other events. Each year it hosts the European Film Market where thousands of film industry professionals from different companies meet to discuss business, and the Talent Campus, where aspiring filmmakers attend workshops with the experienced professionals. Berlin's highest prize is the Golden Bear, awarded each year as both Best Motion Picture and Lifetime Achievement. There are also several Silver Bear awards, with categories for acting, directing and the Jury Grand Prix. Similar to Cannes, each year a different president is selected for the jury, with 2013's being Chungking Express director Wong Kar-wai.

Notable Films: A Separation, The Thin Red Line, Rain Man and 12 Angry Men have all won the Golden Bear.

The Zero Film Festival is easily the most unique film festival on the list. It's not held once per year, but actually travels across the world to hold events in New York, Los Angeles, London, Peru and Toronto, screening submitted films in different spaces that usually aren't movie theaters. But that's not all that sets it apart. Zero Film Festival is only open to movies that were self-financed by the filmmaker, meaning they had no outside investors or help from a production company. Their next event will be held in London this July.