The CineVegas Film Festival is a platform for artists and art lovers who are drawn to the edge. Held in Las Vegas from June 10-15, 2009, the festival pushes the boundaries of cinema, annually presenting work by innovative, uninhibited, and renegade artists to an audience of local and national film lovers, journalists, and film industry representatives. This year’s festival opens with Saint John of Las Vegas, about an ex-gambler turned fraud investigator (Steve Buscemi) who must return to Vegas to investigate an insurance claim. The festival continues with VIP parties, live musical performances, and an outdoor “dive-in” screening of the animated classic Yellow Submarine at Mandalay Bay Beach. The festival concludes with Bob Goldthwait’s dark comedy World’s Greatest Dad, about a father (Robin Williams) desperately trying to reconnect with his son. CineVegas 2009 promises to be an entertaining event set in one of the world’s wildest cities. Check out the schedule online.

Festivals starting this week include:

deadCENTER Film Festival (June 10-14)

Biografilm Festival – International Celebration of Lives (June 10-15)

San Francisco United Film Festival (June 12-18)

NYC PictureStart Film Festival (June 14-15)

Festivals starting next week include:

AFI-Discovery Channel SILVERDOCS (June 15-22)

NXNE (June 17-21): Toronto’s multimedia extravaganza features a mix of live musical performances, a music conference, and film screenings. NXNE’s film portion features the director’s cut of 1970’s groundbreaking documentary Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music. The festival also sees the Canadian premiere of Depeche Mode: The Posters Came From the Walls, and a screening of Ashes of American Flags: Wilco Live, which follows the band on its 2008 US concert tour. Check out the film portion of the NXNE schedule.

Provincetown International Film Festival (June 17-21)

Solstice Film Festival (June 18-20)