The San Francisco Independent Film Festival was founded in 1998 by Jeff Ross, operations manager of the
San Francisco International Film Festival and office manager of the
San Francisco Film Society, at the end of a decade when independent films had increased in importance. The impetus was that San Francisco independent filmmaker Rand Alexander was unable to find a venue in the city to show
Caged, which had premiered at the
Slamdance Film Festival. The first festival took place in January 1999 at the
Roxie and
Victoria theaters in the
Mission District and included 17 feature films and one short, with a focus on experimental and otherwise unconventional works. The second IndieFest was held in January 2000, and the festival has continued to take place in January or February and further expanded to two weeks. The 2000 IndieFest added animated shorts; Ross directed the festival alone until a program director, Bruce Fletcher, was added. the
Alamo Drafthouse, The 2021 festival, held during the
COVID-19 pandemic, was
streamed. The 2022 festival had a mix of screenings at the Roxie and virtual events. The festival celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023, continuing to show films online as well as at the Roxie that year In 2025, live screenings were at the Vogue Theatre as well as the Roxie. ==Associated events==