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The Sydney Film Festival began in 1954, making it one of the longest running events of its kind in...

The Sydney Film Festival began in 1954, making it one of the longest running events of its kind in the world. The festival runs for two weeks each year in June and showcases Australian, international and alternative films. The original committee to organise the film festival in Sydney comprised Alan Stout, Professor of Philosophy at Sydney University, as chair, John Heyer, John Kingsford Smith and Sydney University Film Group President David Donaldson. The first festival opened on June 11, 1954 and screened in four halls at Sydney University over four days. Attendance was at full capacity with 1,200 tickets sold at one guinea each. The festival remained at Sydney University until 1968, at which time it moved to the Wintergarden in Rose Bay. In 1974 it moved to its current main venue, the historic State Theatre in the centre of Sydney. Films are now shown at venues across the Sydney CBD, with films shown at the Dendy Opera Quays, two screens at the Greater Union George Street Cinema Complex, the NSW Art Gallery as well as the State. In 2007 the festival introduced a series of live gigs, shows and cabaret-style screening at the nearby Metro Theatre, to expand the festival beyond the