8th Annual St Augustine Film Festival passes available

It’s less than a month until showtime: the start of the 8th Annual St Augustine Film Festival that brings dozens of foreign and independent films to the First Coast for four days.

This is typically the first festival of the new year on the First Coast. Film buffs can see more than 36 films in advance of wider distribution, or foreign films that may never be seen outside their country except in a Film Festival environment.

“I think we have one of the best line-ups since we started with films coming from places where we don’t often get exposure. This year we have entries from war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, or Georgia, as well as Eastern European countries like Poland and Estonia,” said Gregory von Hausch, the CEO of both the Saint Augustine Film Festival and the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. “We also have a great group of independent films from the USA, with several based on true stories, and foreign ones from major film-producing countries like Ireland, France, the UK and Italy.”

The Festival runs January 18-21, 2018 at three venues: The Corazon Cinema and Café with three screening rooms; the large Lewis Auditorium at Flagler College that seats nearly 800, and the intimate Gamache-Koger Theater in the Ringhaver Student Center at Flagler College that seats just over 100.

Based on audience feedback, new this year are three simplified Festival passes: An All Access Pass that covers all three parties and all films for $180; an All Films Pass for films shown at any venue for $100; and an All Lewis Auditorium Pass for $60 where most of the major films will be shown. Individual tickets for Lewis Auditorium will be available online in early January for $10, and film-goers can also join any standby line with any available seats sold 10 minutes before a film.

Film passes can be purchased online now  and are a great present idea for those “hard to buy for” people in your life, or for any January birthdays.

Leading sponsors for the 2018 Festival include The Lightner Museum, St. Johns Tourist Development Council, Culture Builds Florida, The Corazon Cinema and Café, Flagler College, Kenneth and Shirley Walker, Allen and Cathie Altman, Mark and Kathy Edwards, St. Augustine Distillery, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits and Stella Artois Beer.