The Waterfront Film Festival takes place annually in the town of Saugatuck, Michigan

Saugatuck, Michigan

Saugatuck is a city in Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 925 at the 2010 census. The city is within Saugatuck Township, but is administratively autonomous....

 in the United States. It is in its 13th year as of 2011.

Ranked as one of the top 5 film festivals in the world by SAGIndie in the Screen Actors Guild

Screen Actors Guild

The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...

 Magazine, the Waterfront Film Festival draws thousands of movie lovers and filmmakers to the small resort town of Saugatuck.

The festival has garnered large support from the community and it has become part of the area's tradition. The festival includes over seventy independent movies at seven unique and picturesque venues around the town. It takes place the second weekend in June and runs for four days. The festival accepts entries of shorts, animations

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

, full length features

Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

 and documentaries

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 nationwide and also holds a competitive screenwriting

Screenwriting

Screenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is a freelance profession....

 competition and a Michigan Lodge focused on showcasing Michigan filmmakers. Additionally, the festival hosts a number of educational seminars ranging from documentary filmmaking to promoting movie making in Michigan.

Sponsors for the festival include Kodak, MGM, National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...

 and the Screen Actors Guild

Screen Actors Guild

The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...

. Some of the high-profile Midwestern premieres that Waterfront has hosted in the recent past include: 2006 Academy Award Winner March of the Penguins

March of the Penguins

March of the Penguins is a 2005 French nature documentary film. It was directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet, and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. The film depicts the yearly journey of the emperor penguins of Antarctica...

, Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite is a 2004 comedy film co-written and directed by Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess and stars Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite. The film was Jared Hess' first full-length feature and is partially adapted from his earlier short film, Peluca....

, Grizzly Man

Grizzly Man

Grizzly Man is a 2005 American documentary film by German director Werner Herzog. It chronicles the life and death of bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell. The film consists of Treadwell's own footage of his interactions with grizzly bears before he and his girlfriend were killed and eaten by a bear...

, Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh (2006 film)

Pittsburgh is a 2006 mockumentary comedy film that follows American actor Jeff Goldblum as he attempts to secure a green card for his Canadian actor/singer/dancer girlfriend by appearing with her as the leads in a summer regional theatre production of The Music Man in Goldblum's hometown of...

, Open Water, The Descent

The Descent

The Descent is a 2005 British horror film written and directed by Neil Marshall. The film follows six women who, having entered an unmapped cave system, become trapped, and are hunted by subterranean flesh-eating humanoids....

, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Sundance

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

 Grand Jury Winner Primer

Primer (film)

Primer is a 2004 American science fiction drama film about the accidental discovery of a means of time travel. The film was written, directed, and produced by Shane Carruth and was completed on a budget of $7,000...

, Academy Award Nominees Murderball and The Story of the Weeping Camel

The Story of the Weeping Camel

The Story of the Weeping Camel is a 2003 German docudrama distributed by ThinkFilm. It was released internationally in 2004. The movie was directed and written by Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni. The plot is about a family of nomadic shepherds in the Gobi desert trying to save the life of a...

and a Michigan Premiere of the Academy Award Winner Born into Brothels

Born into Brothels

Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids is a 2004 American documentary film about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Kolkata's red light district...

. Past guests include Academy Award Nominated Director Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman is a Canadian/American film director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for directing the films Thank You for Smoking , Juno , and Up in the Air . As of February 2, 2010, he has received three Academy Award nominations, two of which are for Best Director...

, as well as actors Justin Long

Justin Long

Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...

, Jonathan Silverman

Jonathan Silverman

-Personal life:Silverman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Devora and Hillel Emanuel Silverman, a rabbi. He is the grandson of famous Conservative Rabbi Morris Silverman. David Schwimmer was his best friend in high school. He is married to actress Jennifer Finnigan who he briefly co...

, Wendie Malick

Wendie Malick

Wendie Malick is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles as Judith Tupper Stone on the HBO series Dream On , Nina Van Horn on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! , Ronee Lawrence on the NBC sitcom Frasier and Victoria Chase on the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland .-Early...

, and Mary Lynn Rajskub

Mary Lynn Rajskub

Mary Lynn Rajskub is an American actress and comedian, best known for her leading role as Chloe O'Brian on the Fox action-thriller 24.-Early life:...

.

Waterfront is a volunteer-run nonprofit

Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 event. All donations and proceeds from ticket and merchandise sales go directly to the operational budget of the festival. All donations are fully tax deductible and allow for the continuation of the festival in the following years.

History

The Waterfront Film Festival was founded in 1999 by siblings Hopwood DePree, Dori DePree, and Dana DePree, along with Kori Eldean and Judy Smith. The founders, with help from L.A. and New York entertainment professionals, created the
Waterfront Film Festival to provide a “middle coast” venue for independent filmmakers

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

eager to
show their work to sophisticated audiences. The festival is not judged or adjudicated but rather an
opportunity for filmmakers to informally connect with their audiences.

Prior to the festival, the pleasant coastal town of Saugatuck did not even have a theatre, but it welcomed the festival with open arms. A variety of cozy inns surround the venues that show the films and everything is within walking distance, allowing traffic to remain light and keeping the laid-back feel that is synonymous with the festival intact.