Cinequest, San Jose’s annual film festival celebrating the maverick spirit, launched with a bang on Tuesday and is running through Sunday, March 10.

This year’s Artist and Innovator forums cover everything from social media (Friday March 1, Making Social Media Work for Artists) to ways to fund your cinematic dreams (Thursday March 7, New & Old School Financing Techniques). There are a total of five forums at several venues, each at 3:30pm. See www.cinequest.org for tickets and location details.

Cinequest has teamed up with Sony to screen three classic films in restored editions: “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Taxi Driver,” and “Dr. Strangelove.” The 4K technologies used in these restorations are the subject of two of the A&I forums, on Saturday March 2 and Friday March 8.

This year’s Writers Celebration is Saturday, March 2, starting at 10 a.m. and running through 2:30 p.m. For those interested in writing for the screen, this is a must-attend event. The morning session offers two classes to choose from : a Master Class with Bobby Moresco (“Crash”), or a more basics-focused “How to” class with screenwriting expert Scott Sublett. Then it’s “How to Pitch,” a presentation on the art and science of getting your script actually produced. The whole thing wraps up with a Maverick Spirit Event, where an as-yet-unannounced writer will be presented the festival’s top award and engage in a moderated discussion.

On Sunday, March 3, a showcase of short films created by members of Cinequest’s Picture the Possibilities (PTP) program will be shown at the California Theater. PTP brings youth around the glob together with the tools, mentors, and training they need to create films about their lives. Three of Sunday’s films come from PTP participants in East Palo Alto: “Grandma’s a Bully,” “Meet Me at the Courts,” and “Celebrity.”

On top of all these events, there are the festival’s regular programming of shorts collections and feature films, all of which are listed at www.cinequest.org. You can buy individual tickets (although some of the events require specific passes) or more comprehensive passes on the website or at the various venues in downtown San Jose.