Palm Springs International Film Festival is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel Networks Corporation, it started in 1989 and is held annually in January. It is run by the Palm Springs International Film Society, which also runs the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films a festival of short films and film market in June.Though the festival does feature American independent films, the focus from its inception was to shine a spotlight on international cinema.Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, described the festival as a good place to show foreign-language movies and heralded this festival’s ability to spread good word-of-mouth for movies. The event is noted for screening most foreign Oscar nominees.