Film festival played a major role in introducing foreign films to American audiences. Films in the first year included Akira Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood" and Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali". Today, thousands of film festivals take place around the world—from high-profile festivals such as Sundance Film Festival and Slamdance Film Festival (Park City, Utah), to horror festivals such as Terror Film Festival (Philadelphia), and the Park City Film Music Festival, the first U.S. film festival dedicated to honoring music in film. Film Funding competitions such as Writers and Filmmakers were introduced when the cost of production could be lowered significantly and internet technology
Puven Pather Puven Pather Puven Pather is an Australian film director, screenwriter, actor and stunt performer born in South Africa. Puven has been married to actress Jessica Gower since 2004, and the couple have a daughter named Sequoia. Pather came to Australia at the age of nine from Durban, South Africa. He began his film career at the age of 16, as a stunt performer in Melbourne. He has been a professional stunt performer and stunt coordinator since 1990. As a stunt performer, he has performed such stunts as high falls, water work (scuba), air rams, rock climbing, rigging, ski/snowboarding, full body