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Landmark Theatres’ Kendall Square Cinema

Landmark Theatres’ Kendall Square Cinema will host a film festival in October that in past years has been held in Arlington.

Organizers of the Arlington International Film Festival have announced that the fifth annual event next October is moving to Kendall Square.

Since 2011, the festival has been held at Arlington’s Regent Theatre, but will be held at the Kendall Square Cinema.

“AIFF is extremely excited to partner with the Kendall Square Cinema for this year’s festival,” said April Ranck, the festival’s executive director, in a press release. “Our growth has been evidenced with the number and quality of film submissions and with our audience.

“Moving the Festival into Cambridge, a more central location, we hope to draw from the Boston/Cambridge audience as well as our loyal supporters from Arlington and neighboring towns. Kendall Square Cinema is a class of theaters that we think is a good fit for AIFF. We are looking forward to working with Howie Sandler, the general manager and his skilled and competent team.”

Sandler said in the release: “The Arlington International Film Festival screens quality independent films that are in keeping with what we program at the Kendall. I’m very excited and looking forward to this year’s festival at the Kendall Square Cinema.”

Landmark Theatres, the parent company of Kendall Square Cinema, is the largest U.S. theater chain dedicated to exhibiting and marketing independent and foreign films.

Ranck added in the release: “Last year was a tremendous success for us and we look forward to offering our quality films to an even larger audience in 2015.”

The move was foreshadowed by an announcement last month that students from Cambridge Rindge & Latin School were being invited take part in a juried contest to design the next festival poster. The deadline to submit is Jan. 18.

Ranck’s press release noted the festivals’ “cumulative growth over its four years of production. The number of participating filmmakers, local, national and international independent filmmakers has increased, and along with the number of increased submissions, we have received amazing professional films, many that are now being recognized worldwide.”

Official selections by the AIFF Jury in 2014 are three films that have since been nominated for this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary. They are “Botso: The Teacher from Tbilisi” by Tom Walters; “Elena” by Petra Costa; and “Documented” by Jose Antonio Vargas.

The festival was founded by J. Alberto Guzman and Ranck. They have been asked for further comment.

A version of this story appeared originally on YourArlington.com.

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