The Los Angeles Film Festival began as the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival (LAIFF) in 1995. The first LAIFF took place over the course of five days in a single location: historic Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. In 1996, the LAIFF expanded to include the Directors Guild of America. The LAIFF ran for six years, until it was absorbed by Film Independent (formerly IFP/West) in 2001. At its height, the LAIFF attracted 19,000 attendees. Today, the Los Angeles Film Festival attracts more than 85,000.
The two top juried awards of the Los Angeles Film Festival are the Narrative Award and Documentary Award, each carrying an unrestricted $50,000 cash prize, funded by Film Independent, for the winning film’s director. The awards were established by the Festival encourage independent filmmakers to pursue their artistic ambitions.