Iranian Film Festival

What Iranian Film Festival does

Iranian Film Festival - San Francisco (IFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural organization founded in 2008 and operated under the Tiburon International Film Festival. It produces a single annual film festival in San Francisco, held at venues such as the San Francisco Art Institute, showcasing independent feature and short films made by or about Iranians from around the world. The festival is open to all genres and accepts submissions via physical DVD and press kit mailed to its Tiburon, California office, with no digital submission platform or streaming component evident in the product.

The organization's go-to-market is event-driven rather than technology-driven. Outreach relies on a blog (Blogspot), a secondary WordPress blog, a Facebook event page, and earned media coverage from Iranian diaspora outlets including Payvand News, Pezhvak, Kodoom, Gooya News, Payam Ashena, and Short Film News. Submission fees are not publicly disclosed, and revenue sources appear limited to filmmaker entry fees, limited sponsorship, and ticket sales for the annual two-day event. Customer segments are Iranian filmmakers globally (primary, as submission-side participants) and Iranian cinema enthusiasts in the Bay Area (secondary, as audience-side participants).

Headcount is reported at 7, with no disclosed management team, no funding rounds, no patents, no awards, and no M&A or partnership activity beyond the foundational relationship with Tiburon International Film Festival. Operational evidence is concentrated in the 2008-2013 window, with the 6th Annual festival announced for September 2013 as the most recent documented activity. The organization has no disclosed AI/ML capabilities, no proprietary software product, and no API or digital platform.

Name

Iranian Film Festival

Legal name

Iranian Film Festival - San Francisco

Website

https://iranianfilmfestival.blogspot.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Iranian Film Festival - San Francisco is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit annual film festival, founded in 2008 under Tiburon International Film Festival, showcasing Iranian-made and Iranian-subject independent films for the global Iranian diaspora and Bay Area cinema audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Film Festival / Cultural Event Services

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Exhibition (51213), Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries (711), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture Theaters (7830), Services-Allied To Motion Picture Distribution (7829)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPADAKAD

Film Festivals & Festival Organizers

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Film & Video Production/Distribution/Exhibition (Cinemas, Film Festivals, Screenings)

SECONDARYMPADAKAI

Campus & Educational Screenings (Universities, Schools)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Film & Video Production/Distribution/Exhibition (Cinemas, Film Festivals, Screenings)

SECONDARYBPAGAHAG

Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Arts, Culture & Heritage Nonprofits

SECONDARYMPADAKAH

Community & Cultural Screenings (Museums, Cultural Centers)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Film & Video Production/Distribution/Exhibition (Cinemas, Film Festivals, Screenings)

Keywords

• Film festival
• Iranian cinema
• Independent film
• Cultural events
• Arts nonprofit

Headquarters

HQ city

Tiburon

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Film Festival Operations: Annual film festival showcasing independent feature and short films made by or about Iranians. Revenue appears to come from film submissions/entry fees, sponsorships, and potentially ticket sales. The festival is organized by Tiburon International Film Festival, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural, education and arts organization.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Iranian Film Festival is an annual nonprofit cultural event that screens independent Iranian feature and short films for audiences in the San Francisco Bay Area. Operated as a 501(c)(3) under the Tiburon International Film Festival, it combines film screenings, filmmaker appearances, and cultural programming with revenue generated from filmmaker submission fees, ticket sales, and sponsorships.

Product overview

Iranian Film Festival - San Francisco is a single, annual film festival event. It is not a platform-plus-modules architecture but rather a standalone annual cultural event organized by the Tiburon International Film Festival (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization). The festival accepts film submissions via DVD, showcases films at the San Francisco Art Institute, and is open to all genres. The product consists of the annual festival event itself, including film screenings, director attendance, and submission opportunities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Iranian Film Festival - San Francisco (Annual Festival) Annual curated film festival event held in San Francisco showcasing Iranian independent feature films and short films, including screenings, filmmaker appearances, and related cultural programming for general audiences and the Iranian-American community.
• Film Submission Program Paid submission program for Iranian independent filmmakers and producers to enter feature and short films into the festival's annual programming, with submissions reviewed by festival programmers.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Tiburon International Film FestivalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Iranian Film Festival was established by the organizers of the Tiburon International Film Festival (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural, education and arts organization). Tiburon IFF serves as the parent organization providing operational support and nonprofit status to IFF.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• CAAMFest (Center for Asian American Media Fest): San Francisco-based festival celebrating Asian American cinema. Highly comparable as a diaspora-focused cultural film festival in the same Bay Area market, with a similar nonprofit mission and community-building orientation.
• Tiburon International Film Festival: Parent organization of the Iranian Film Festival and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit running its own annual festival in the Bay Area. Directly comparable in operating model, structure, and audience overlap.
• San Francisco International Film Festival: The flagship film festival in San Francisco, operated by SFFILM. Most directly comparable to IFF because it operates in the same city, runs on an annual festival model, and screens international independent films to local audiences.
• Outfest Fusion LGBTQ+ Film Festival: Annual community-focused film festival in Los Angeles operated by a nonprofit. Comparable as a cultural nonprofit running a niche, community-anchored festival with a similar mission of showcasing underrepresented voices.
• Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival: Independent film festival also held in the San Francisco Bay Area (San Jose) showcasing independent features and shorts. Similarly scoped annual event with submission-based programming and similar audience demographics.
• Palm Springs International Film Festival: Annual festival in California screening international independent films. Comparable in scale, mission, and annual submission/screening model, although with a broader international scope rather than diaspora-specific focus.
• Arab Film Festival: US-based festival programming films by, about, and from the Arab world, also serving a diaspora audience with similar cultural-representation objectives and a San Francisco/Bay Area presence.

Broad incumbents

• Sundance Film Festival: The largest US independent film festival with a submission-based annual model. Comparable in core festival programming mechanics but vastly larger in scale and focused on genre-spanning independent film rather than diaspora-specific work.
• Tribeca Festival: Major annual film festival in New York City founded in 2002. Comparable in submission-based annual programming model, but operates at significantly larger scale and serves a broader independent film audience.
• South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival: A major annual film festival running alongside a broader cultural conference. Operates on the same annual submission-and-screening model but is a much larger, broader festival programming international independent film.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/event.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iranian-film-festival

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Iranian Film Festival