The Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival was founded in 2001 to provide a venue for Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 filmmakers to show their work and for the general public to view the best of the state’s filmmaking

Filmmaking

Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...

 industry. It is held the first full non-Easter weekend in April, at the Collins Road Theatres in Marion, Iowa

Marion, Iowa

Marion is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States. The population was 26,294 at the 2000 census and was estimated at 32,172 in 2007. The city is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

, a town adjacent to Cedar Rapids.

The Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival

Film festival

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

 is open to independent filmmakers who wish to showcase their productions and network with others. Festival screenings are open to the public. In addition to screenings and awards, the festival also includes seminars, guest speakers and other activities for filmmakers and attendees.

This festival is open to all genres and there is no date-of-completion stipulation. Films are accepted from around the country, Unique to this event, all films must meet the criteria of having an Iowa Connection - requiring that an entry has an association with Iowa such as a key crew member or actor born, lived, educated or worked in Iowa; a story set in Iowa or about and Iowa topic; or part or all of the film produced in Iowa.

The Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival has frequently screened works from mystery writer and director Max Allan Collins

Max Allan Collins

Max Allan Collins is an American mystery writer. He has written novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movie novelizations and historical fiction. He wrote the graphic novel Road to Perdition , created the comic book private eye Ms...

.

Producers from the movie The Final Season

The Final Season

The Final Season is a 2007 baseball film starring Sean Astin, Rachael Leigh Cook, Tom Arnold, Powers Boothe, Brett Claywell, Michael Angarano, and Marshall Bell and directed by David Mickey Evans. Sports Action by ReelSports...

have appeared at the Festival twice. The movie's trailer premiered at the 2006 event.