[4] Screening categories hosted by the festival include Centerpieces, Spotlights, Special Events, Masters of Cinema, World View, Non/Fiction, After Hours, From the Vaults, Made in USA, Cinema de France, Green Screen (Environmental films), Visions of Iran, "Sights and Soundtrack" and short films.
[4][5][6] Notable members of the Festival Advisory Board include Aubrey Plaza and Adam McKay.
[1] Until 2009, it was held during the first weeks of April; after which, the Film Festival shifted its dates from the spring to the fall in October.
[7][citation needed] Notable films at the festival have included Silver Linings Playbook (set in Philadelphia),[3] Border, Burning, Green Book, The Guilty, Happy as Lazzaro, Roma, Shoplifters,[8] Parasite, JoJo Rabbit, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Beanpole, Knives Out, Blue Velvet (1986), Magnolia (1999),[9] Nomadland, Ammonite, Black Bear, Minari, Sound of Metal,[10] Philly native Questlove's directorial debut Summer of Soul, The Sparks Brothers and Werewolves Within.
[11] In 2017, M. Night Shyamalan and David Plaza (father of Aubrey) joined the Philadelphia Film Society's board of directors.