Image by Charleston Film Festival

Update March 27: A bit of a late follow on the winning films from the festival:

Best Feature Film: Richard J. Lewis' "Barney's Version."

Best Short Film: Jason Scott's "The Cannon Street Boys" about the famous 1955 Cannon Street all-black YMCA Little League all-star baseball team.

Honorable mention: Jade Sullivan's "Drip."

Best SC feature film: Grant Skellengers "More Than Diamonds." 

The dates for the 2012 festival have already been announced, March 8-11. And in regards to next year's event, producers say: "This year will include Best of the Festival - the best films from the best festivals and award winning dramas and documentaries. This year, the winner of the best state produced film will win a Guaranteed Week of Exhibition at the Terrace Theater."

Update by Ken Hawkins.

First reporting: The 2011 Charleston Film Festival kicks off today at the Terrace Theater.

This year's focus will be on Northern Exposure: The Best of the Toronto Film Festival, with guest presenters. Also included this year will be Jewish Cinema from around the world as well as regional films and shorts. Emphasis will be on showing top quality films that have never been seen in the Charleston area.

The festival runs March 16 - 20, and as theater owner and festival organizer Paul Brown puts it, "We wanted to get the highest-quality movies we could possibly find that otherwise might not make it to Charleston."

I'll go ahead and point you toward the Charleston City Paper's article on the CFF that includes information on the films, what it takes to organize a festival, and what Brown hopes both audiences members and filmmakers can take away from the experience.

For the festival schedule and ticket sales, make your way to the official Charleston Film Festival website.