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Film-lovers from across the globe have landed in San Jose for Cinequest, giving downtown a multimillion-dollar economic boost.
Echoing its theme of luminate, the Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival will generate more than $9 million in revenue over the event’s two-week run. Cinequest generates 800 to 1,000 paid room nights for San Jose hotels and employs six full-time and more than 20 part-time staff members, according to Kerry Adams Hapner, San Jose director of cultural affairs.
Alex Stettinski, CEO of the San Jose Downtown Association, said Cinequest provides vibrancy to downtown, which still suffers from a loss of foot traffic on weekdays with its workforce half of what it was pre-pandemic.
“It is absolutely attracting people to downtown,” he told San José Spotlight. “That festival has a huge impact … and fills restaurants and bars during the week. It absolutely has an impact on hotels.”
Stettinski said as the leader in innovation, Silicon Valley is the perfect setting for Cinequest.
“With Silicon Valley as a tech center and Cinequest as an innovative, avant-garde film festival, there is a nexus between the two,” he said. “It emphasizes the global reputation that San Jose and Silicon Valley have. It brings pride and cachet to San Jose residents and the business community to be associated and to participate in a festival of that caliber.”
Cinequest attracts half its audience from outside San Jose, Adams Hapner said, with 600 to 800 of the world’s leading artists and technology innovators hailing from 40 to 50 countries. When it began, the film festival attracted an audience of about 3,000 to watch 60 films in a single theater. Today, its virtual and in-person audience includes about 300,000 participants and 100,000 visitors.
“There’s definitely a sense of celebration in the air during Cinequest,” she told San José Spotlight. “There’s literally a buzz. People are excited to be here. They’re networking. They’re collaborating. They are excited to be in San Jose and San Jose really shines. It invites people here and invites them to come back.”
Founded in 1990, Cinequest stopped days into its screenings in 2020 due to the pandemic and was totally virtual in 2021. This year, hundreds of films, including world and U.S. film premieres, will light up screens in Silicon Valley March 11-23 and be shown virtually March 24-31. Artificial intelligence forums, short films screenings and a human vs. AI comedy competition showcase its cutting edge programming.
The film festival’s diverse offerings range from international focuses to San Jose’s own backyard. Documentary “American Agitators” tells the story of activist Fred Ross, Sr., who trained Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta to become community organizers.
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“San Jose’s key to this story,” Raymond Telles, director and producer of “American Agitators,” told San José Spotlight. “Fred spent a lot of time there. Fred (Ross) Sr. was about helping people by improving the conditions of their communities by organizing and empowering them to vote. People need to have a voice. This film hopefully will inspire people.”
Cinequest co-founder and CEO Halfdan Hussey said the film festival reflects San Jose’s diverse population and offers a technology component “as the special sauce.”
“We have always given voice to our community,” Hussey told San José Spotlight, adding the festival includes films portraying Mexican-American, Indian-American and Chinese-American communities.
Hussey said this year he’s anticipating a turnout like 2019, with 115,000 to 120,000 people attending in person. The festival’s theme “luminate” refers to film being a light-based art form and storytelling medium, he said, which lifts people’s hearts and minds.
He said in addition to stimulating economic impact, Cinequest brings community engagement and pride. The energy of big audiences and the ability to meet the artists sets this experience apart, he said.
“At Cinequest, you get the magic of the experience,” he said. “We bring an uplifting, illuminating experience … so folks can feel great about themselves, their community and the world.”
Contact Lorraine Gabbert at lorrainegabbertsjspotlight@gmail.com.
This story originally appeared in San José Spotlight.
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