Blog: Film festivals

The International Film Festival of Pasto (FICPA), which celebrates its twentieth edition in October 2024, is a prominent competitive event that brings together the best of national and international cinema. With official categories covering a wide range of topics, from human rights to the environment, including animation and children's films, FICPA offers a unique platform for diversity and cinematic expression. Located in the picturesque city of Pasto, Colombia, globally recognized for its iconic Carnival of Blacks and Whites, the festival not only celebrates the art of cinema but also highlights the rich cultural heritage of the region. As the oldest event in southwestern Colombia, FICPA awards the coveted Sol de los Pastos (Sun of the Pastos) prize, establishing itself as a must-attend event on both the local and international cultural calendar.

IPFF is on the path towards its fourth edition in 2023. Once again, we will celebrate short portrait cinema and art which explores, educates, and transforms.

PHILOSOPHY

A portrait is an image heavy with meaning. Multilayered and multifaceted, it has a visual, psychological, material, emotional and spiritual dimension.

A portrait always undergoes a transformation. It imitates and repeats life, but becomes something or someone new along the way. It changes its original subject while capturing it. Then the portrait is transformed again through the mind of every brave interpreter.

A film portrait is a soul in the form of light encountering the canvas of the white screen while pairs of eyes are staring at its vastness. It is a trace. And a sign. And a reverie. It is past, present, and future intertwined.

FOCUS

The portrait is the focus of the films that will be screened at the IPFF. We are looking for portrait films that have already been completed, as well as such that will be created with the concrete idea of 'portrait'. Of a person. A group of people. An object. Something invisible, but substantial. Of the self. Or of something else.

WELCOME

IPFF welcomes a wide range of films and filmmakers: students, professionals, from low budget to big-scale productions, alternative and independent films by individuals and by collectives or institutions.

AIM

IPFF aspires to bring together artists and viewers who sincerely long for enrichment with art, intellectual discussion, and an experience of cinema through a new prism - that of the portrait film.

CHARACTER

IPFF is a hybrid event and platform. A symbiosis of intriguing live encounters and memorable virtual experiences: screenings, discussions, lectures, and masterclasses.

SPIRIT

IPFF is for those profoundly needing art and excitement. For those hungry for experimental viewpoints. And for the ones forever in love with cinema.

The International Film Festival of Sax, in the province of Alicante (Spain), Goya Awards qualifier, stems from the initiative of the filmmaker Miguel Herrero Herrero. Since its creation in 2006,
the festival has the support of Sax City Council but is also backed by: Generalitat Valenciana, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche (UMH), Universidad de Alicante, (UA), Diputación de Alicante, ... This, the fourteenth edition of the Film Festival, is the online special edition, a competition for the best short film and project feature films. Encounters and a Master Class for Filmmakers are held hosted by recognized professionals such as the actors Aldo Sambrell, Carlos Santos, Raúl García, Gonzalo García Pelayo, the composer Luis Ivars, the writer and critic Carlos Aguilar...

The 21 International Film Festival celebrates the art of film-making, helps support a community of artists and showcases Hong Kong as an entertainment and travel destination. The festival supports and nurtures emerging independent filmmakers and their stories from around the world not currently found in mainstream Hong Kong cinema.

The festival will screen narratives, documentaries, animation and music videos. No matter the subject, if the work has merit and the filming is well done – we are interested in viewing it. The festival is looking for all genres of narratives from comedy to drama and from thrillers to love stories. Your film will be viewed by our local audiences and will be judged by a jury of film professionals and a community of cinephiles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SAMPLE

The Exhibition wants to be an annual event of short films and documentaries from developing countries and about their development, whose main characteristic is to show the public the material produced by social organizations and independent filmmakers committed to solidarity, development cooperation, eradication of poverty, denunciation and social transformation, emphasizing the United Nations Millennium Development Goals 2015 and Sustainable Development 2030.

L’Age d’Or International Arthouse Film Festival (LIAFF) is an ISO 9001:2015 Certified monthly film festival with an annual live screening mega award event in Kolkata.

LIAFF is dedicated to showcase innovative and exciting works by risk-taking filmmakers from around the world, who put their heart and soul to tell a story, should have the chance to show their works to a crowd, even if the budget is small or no recognizable name is involved. Aesthetically and thematically varied, these films mark the arrival of exciting new directing talents. We welcome filmmakers who explore and develop new filmmaking conventions in their quest to realize their visions effectively on a limited budget.


MISSION:


The sole purpose of LIAFF is to develop a film culture that inspires and brings together cross-cultural innovations that enrich people lives with entertainment and services that inform, educate and entertain.

With the help of digital media technology and crowd funding, it is now getting easier for anyone to just take up a camera and make a film. The most important ingredients in the mix is finding your own voice, the creative ideas and mastering the skills necessary to make a captivating experience.
However, with the increasing number of works being produced and the reshaping of cinema and major film festivals, it is now much harder to connect a live audience to non-mainstream art-house films. At LIAFF, we are committed to look at every entry we received to select only those that represent the LIAFF spirit well. We love the yin and yang of topics - from edgier; pull no punches stuff to those concerning humanities and the environment.

For the first time L’Age d’Or International Art-house Film Festival, will have its own sector of awards for artistic activism. Artistic activism is a creative force that educate us, influences our notions about human relationships, and brings about social change. We will celebrate artists that have used their passion for activism by paying tribute to them and publicizing their art. Furthermore, we will be giving lifetime awards to artists who have contributed to social justice and activism.

For our 2019 festival, we shall be accepting all films of all lengths and genres including Documentary, Narrative Feature, Experimental, Religious, Animation, Comedy, Horror, Science Fiction, Suspense and all genres of Music Videos and LGBT films.

We’ll select the Best of the Best (From the pool of all award winners from all Seasons) and the FINAL WINNERS will receive the prestigious PIGEON D’OR AWARDS and they’ll be screened in the theatre at Kolkata in front of live audience.

2019 will have a chance to meet with the audience and participate in the Q&A session after the screening. We also provide incentives for winning films, and present promotional strategies for those films and their directors. First, we conduct an interview with the director, which is posted on our HLC portals, and we published the review by one of our esteemed writers from CULT CRITIC magazine. But that's not all: LIAFF will take you globally with international distribution opportunities for your films.

Wallachia International Film Festival is a highly professional, industry connected film festival, an exclusive independent grassroots film festival taking place in an exquisite location in Downtown Bucharest, only hundreds of meters away from Dracula’s former court in the grand Old Town!

We won multiple cinema prizes including important awards at major film festivals, like Cannes, Locarno, Montreal, London, Milan, Miami and Atlanta. Also, our advertising work received accolades at Clio, Effie, In-Awe, Lion Awards, ANDY Awards and Ad’Or, while working for companies like Coca-Cola, UNICEF, McDonalds, Renault, Yahoo! and Nestlé-Purina.

But there’s nothing we love more than indulging ourselves with cinematic candies from all over the world, under the autumn night sky of Wallachia. We will be arguing for a long time about which ones we feel are the best, and about the most promising unproduced screenplays.

Welcome to Wallachia, the Legendary Land of Voivode Vlad III Dracula, universally known as Vlad the Impaler. Born in 1431, Vlad was an authoritarian Principe, he revolutionized the affairs of Wallachia and refused to pay tribute to the sultan Mehmed II, resulting in a bloody war with the Ottomans. Multiple works containing stories about Vlad's cruelty were published soon after his assassination in 1475. In 1897, Bram Stoker downgrades Prince Vlad to Count Dracula, a blood-sucking vampire inspired by Wallachian ancient folklore. Loosely based on the book, Dracula (1931) casts immortal Bela Lugosi as the doomed romantic Count.

Just think cinétopia! Feel hundreds of years of mythic Wallachian history under the night sky! It’s a 100% natural film affair!

We watch all movies, we read all screenplays and we select exclusively based on artistic merits.

SUNNY SIDE UP FILM FESTIVAL is an international film festival. Join us March 24th, 25th & 26th 2023 for a family fun weekend, and experience a film festival competition held in the beautiful iconic Coleman Theatre in Miami, Oklahoma! Located on Route 66 and nestled in the four state area of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri & Oklahoma! The Coleman Theatre is a beacon for tourists from around the world!

Sunny Side Up Film Festival is a competitive event for filmmakers, screenwriters, songwriters, musicians, photographers, artists, painters, costume/wardrobe designers, authors, writers, poets. Our hope is to inspire and encourage them all to continue courageous and bold artistic visions.

Friday March 24th 2023: 1:00pm to 10:00pm - Independent films will screen at "The Coleman Theatre", 103 N Main St, Miami, OK. Various Filmmaker Q&A's.

Saturday March 25th 2023: 10:00am to 10:00pm - Independent films will screen at "The Coleman Theatre", 103 N Main St, Miami, OK. Various Filmmaker Q&A's.

Sunday March 26th 2023: 10:00am to 8:00pm - Independent films will screen at "The Coleman Theatre"...and ending with the festival's award show, 103 N Main St, Miami, OK. Various Filmmaker Q&A's.

The Bogota International Documentary Film Festival (MIDBO), organized by Colombia’s Documentary Filmmakers Guild ALADOS, is a non-fiction cinema specialized event that throughout the last 24 years has been consolidated in Colombia and Latin America as a fundamental space of the exhibition, dialogue, and thinking around non-fiction audiovisual.

Regarding the 26 MIDBO, we would like to invite local and Ibero-American filmmakers and producers to submit their audiovisual works to our 2024 call for films and to participate in the varied formative and debate spaces that will take place virtually and on-site throughout the festival.


26 MIDBO

This year the 26th edition of MIDBO will take place from October 29 to November 4 in Bogotá, Colombia. During the year, MIDBO will screen several films in different regions around the country and maintain the MIDBO-ALADOS Tuesday slot in different allied theaters.

After 25 editions, MIDBO continues to work towards hosting an event that fosters belief and trust in reflection on documentary filmmaking and the diverse approaches to portraying reality. Our main interest lies in exploring the myriad ways of capturing the world. Committed to unraveling the complexities of a reality that surpasses us, we strive each year to create an ideal space for collective engagement with documentary filmmaking.

In 2024, we remain dedicated to fostering creativity and acknowledging the efforts of filmmakers. Hence, we will feature two competitive sections: one national and the other Ibero-American. In these sections, we will present awards for the Best National Documentary, encompassing both short and feature-length films, and the Best Ibero-American Documentary Feature Film, focusing on films over 60 minutes in length produced in Ibero-America. The jury for each competition will be announced one month prior to the event and will consist of three (3) artists, filmmakers, writers, critics, or cultural managers from Colombia and around the world.

La Comunidad Educativa de la Escuela Dr. José Vicente Zapata invita a profesores y estudiantes de escuelas secundarias de todo el país a participar del Concurso de cortos y fotos “Luz, Cámara e Inclusión: Un Mundo sin Adicciones”, novena edición 2020.

Objetivos generales

Diseñar e implementar proyectos educativos con las nuevas tecnologías: filmadoras, netbook, cámaras de fotos, celulares etc.

Promover la interacción entre estudiantes y docentes de diferentes instituciones educativas de todo el país.
Producir cortometrajes y fotografías a partir de las temáticas propuestas: “Un Mundo sin Adiciones”.
Promover la interacción y el trabajo colaborativo.

Objetivos específicos

Incentivar y fortalecer la capacidad y creatividad de docentes y alumnos.

Aprender a comunicarse y gestionar recursos, espacios y tiempos de modo flexible y atendiendo a la complejidad del contexto y de los contenidos a enseñar.

Arica Nativa is Heritage Communication and Sustainable Development. Its purpose is to make children, youth and adults fall in love with the natural and cultural treasures that remain heroically in the rural and indigenous area of the planet.

Sarajevo Fashion Film Festival offers fresh and colourful views of the innovative world of fashion and film. The fusion of the work of creative professionals in the fashion, film and advertising industry is recognised around the world.

The focus is on the symbiosis between fashion and film on which will show a diverse selection of fashion films, advertising films, music videos and short documentaries.

Attracting domestic and world-class talent, fashion festival is a haven for many professionals in the film industry, fashion photographers, designers, stylists, models,
artists and many others. This is a unique opportunity for fashion enthusiasts to make friends, he will die and connect and expand your horizons and opportunities both in BiH and worldwide.

All participants will have the opportunity to participate in a series of exciting events at which top professionals to share their experiences and knowledge. On the panel will be held interesting lectures and discussions that enrich and develop the art form.

Open to all interested SFFF is one of the hottest fashion events in the region.

"The festival was a revelation. The scope and quality of films, workshops and networking opportunities were truly splendid. It's busy, it's exciting, it's thrilling. Organised to a fine detail, the SEIFF is a filmmaker's dream. One of the best in the UK." Dave Gilbank, Polterheist

MISSION

SEIFF is a true celebration of independent film which brings together filmmakers, film shakers and the movie-going public in a warm, convivial environment.

With a focus on increasing opportunity for independent filmmakers, SEIFF looks to promote and exhibit exceptional work by creatives from around the globe and help them make valuable connections - while increasing the audience for their work. SEIFF is more than just a film festival, it's an unforgettable experience for all involved, making SEIFF an essential industry event.

A multi-award-winning jury panel including BAFTA/Oscar/Emmy winners, agents and producers, all official selections meet at our invite only networking event and will receive a full festival pass.

SEIFF is an IMDB listed event and all award-winners will be listed on IMDB with an accompanying review.

Winners in unproduced screenplay categories will receive a prize InkTip script listing to their network of producers and reps.

NEW FOR THIS YEAR

SEIFF in 2019 now accepts web series and also this year will present an award for best Canadian film. All official selections get an invite to our private festival networking event with industry alumni and judging panel.

THE INDUSTRY

SEIFF presents a diverse programme of only the highest quality independent feature films, animation, documentaries, short films and web series from all around the world.

SEIFF looks to make important discoveries of upcoming directors, actors, writers and all those involved in the filmmaking process, ensuring it’s a renowned and valued platform for both undiscovered talent and respected industry peers alike.

Our key objective is for SEIFF to be seen as a mark of quality and a SEIFF award to be a stamp of recognition and true validation.

With a large number of exceptional films being made that struggle to gain attention but deserve to be seen by critics, agents, peers and film lovers, SEIFF aims to bring to the festival the most superlative and creative films. SEIFF prioritises making the festival an attractive destination for agents, critics, investors and other career-makers.

The festival includes networking, Q&As, screenings, social events and special guests.

Our closing annual awards ceremony at the world famous Queen's Stand, Epsom Racecourse, gives recognition to the best talent in front of and behind the camera with a gala ceremony open to filmmakers and the public.

WOMEN DIRECTORS

SEIFF is particularly keen to promote the work of women filmmakers and includes a special award for women directors. Women directors in all film categories are eligible.

EPSOM

Epsom is an area steeped in history which is just a 30 minute train ride from London. Home to Epsom Racecourse and the world’s most famous horse race, The Derby (where Emily Davison famously took a fatal stand for the suffragette movement in 1913), it is a former spa town which gives its name to Epsom Salts. With proximity to London a key factor (in terms of accessibility to the industry), as well as the importance of available venues, hospitality and great food, Epsom is a vital gateway.

WIN £1,000 IN PRODUCTION SUPPORT FOR YOUR NEXT SHORT FILM!

Tired of film festivals taking your cash and giving you nothing in return, making you wonder if they even watched your film? So are we! That’s why we decided to start “The People’s Film Festival”, RUN BY FILMMAKERS FOR FILMMAKERS! We’re committed to giving each and every filmmaker that submits to our festival 100% feedback! And to keep the competition fair, our categories are based on Production Budget rather than genre.

“The People’s Film Festival” provides independent short filmmakers with an unprecedented positive film festival experience while giving audiences access to artistic labours of love. It’s our aim to facilitate the marriage of underground, counter-culture and independent artistic voices with audiences hungry for new ideas. We’re here to support and reward passionate filmmakers who put it all on the line to share with us their stories. We’re here for the love of film.

Kino London runs monthly short film competitions. The winners of the monthly competitions form the Official Selections for The People's Film Festival. All Official Selections are screened during our gala November 2019. Annual winners will be eligible to apply for up to £1,000 in production support for their next short film project.

___________

Kino London is a unique platform that supports all levels of filmmaking, from absolute beginners through to career professionals. There are over a thousand filmmakers in our London Meetup group, and our mission is to help all filmmakers ‘write it, shoot it, and screen it!’ The Kino International Filmmaking Movement is an initiative explained succinctly by the motto “Do well with nothing, do better with little, and do it now!” Various cells across the globe are embracing this motto to run independently organized filmmaking events with a heavy focus on truly independent cinema, and Kino London is one such cell that has been running filmmaking events since 2009.

GOSH! A DAMN GOOD FILM FESTIVAL
Independent & International Film Festival in Paris, GOSH! is dedicated to international short films screenings. The festival aims to bring to Paris films loved all around the world or brand new talents!

GOSH! loves all genres of independent cinema: short films, documentaries, animations, any language and any genre accepted. All equal for good cinema.

IMDB certified and screening to our usual audience, each edition GOSH! tries to provide a unique experience to the audience.

- IMDB certified awards
- Media partner "Cinéma des Potes" reporting the event
- International jury, lead by wellknown artists such as Pierre-Emmanuel Barré, Vikash Dhorasoo or Laura Satana
- Text interview for winners, on our website
- original certificate for award winners
- Individual feedback for all the movies in competition
- French subtitles by GOSH! (if English SRT file available)
- A damn cool festival!

PROCESS
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Each film is seen and rated by a committee of three persons, including Gosh Film Festival organizers: Magali Souart and Fabio Soares.
All the movies are seen by the committee, there is no “pass by” accepted.
Members of the committee can’t be involved in any way, in movies taking part of the official selection.

JURY
The jury is composed by professionals from TV & Cinema, the list and CV of GOSH! Jury are available on our website.

The jury takes in Paris and decide about the awards, except the audience award, given by the audience.
GOSH! Film Festival organizers do not take part to the jury and respect their final decisions.

MEDIA
GOSH! Film Festival screening is covered by our media partner "Cinéma des Potes", and several media with special accreditations.

The Malaga Festival, in collaboration with the Equal Opportunities Area of ​​the Malaga City Council, pursues the objective of supporting the presence of women in film production, creating spaces that make visible the work of women in the audiovisual field, professional field where they are underrepresented, both in the direction, in the production or in the writing of scripts; favoring the film industry with the diverse views of women.

In order to fulfill this objective, the Equal Opportunities Area will hold its “XXII FILM SHOW WOMEN ON STAGE”, between the months of October and November 2024.

THE WOMEN ON STAGE FILM EXHIBITION was created in 2002 with the aim of debating, through the holding of cineforums, the existing gender inequalities in our society as well as in other nearby ones, reflecting on their causes and possible social strategies to eradicate them.

Since 2010, this objective of raising awareness and visibility has been added to supporting the presence of women in film production, an area in which there is a large gender gap, taking advantage of the fact that every day there are more women interested in developing their professional careers. In this field, therefore, one of the purposes of the OFFICIAL WOMEN ON STAGE SECTION is the visibility of audiovisual productions made by women, and it is achieved by dedicating the evening sessions to the exclusive projection of works directed, produced or scripted by women .

Chambal International Film Festival Season 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 were grand success.
In Season 1, 316 films from 28 Countries were submitted and 160 films were selected for screening. India’s official entry to Academy awards ‘Harishchandrachi Factory’ (2009) was also screened under special focus in Season 1.

In Season 2, 492 films from 35 Countries were submitted and 243 films were selected for screening. India’s official entry to Academy awards ‘Court’ (2015) was also screened under special focus in Season 2.

In Season 3, 604 films from 40 Countries were submitted and 398 films were selected for screening. India’s official entry to Academy awards ‘Shwaas’ (2004) was also screened under special focus in Season 3.

In Season 4, 701 films from 54 Countries were submitted and 464 films were selected for screening.

In Season 5, 809 films from 63 Countries were submitted and 494 films were selected for screening.

In Season 6, 903 films from 71 Countries were submitted and more than 300 films were selected for screening.

In Season 7, 1007 films from 82 Countries were submitted and more than 250 films were selected for screening. Loksabha Speaker Hon'ble Mr. Om Birla Sir inaugurated the opening ceremony.

The highlights are:
1. Free Hospitality to all the film makers including stay at hotel, meals and conveyance (hotel to venue).
2. Awards in 75 categories.
3. Jury members are from INDIAN FILM INDUSTRY.
4. Excellent media coverage.
5. Great Exposure (5000 plus audience)
6. Support for releasing films on leading OTT platforms.
7. World’s one of the most loved and best reviewed film festivals.
8. Workshops, Networking and Seminars.
9. Certificate Of Official Selection to all the Nominated Films.
10. Certificate Of Participation to all the participants.
11. The films were screened on multiple screens

Chambal International Film Festival, India is a platform where film makers will get an opportunity to showcase their talent to film loving great audience. Also the audience will get a chance to watch some wonderful short films, documentary films, animation films and music videos of various film makers of the World. The Honorable Jury members Mr. Sayeed Quadri (Renowned Lyricist), Mr. Kshitij Tarey (Famous Singer and Music Composer) and Mr. Ranjan Das (Eminent Editor and Writer) from Indian Film Industry are reputed names. Late Mr. Suresh Naik (Highly Experienced DOP and Special Effect Co- Ordinator) was also a part of the jury.

Virgin Spring Cinefest is an ISO 9001:2015 Certified Film Festival and an IMDb Award Listing Qualifier. VS CINEFEST is a monthly live screening international film festival. The monthly live screenings take place at the end of each month at the auditorium of HLC Studios in Kolkata.

All monthly winners of the period from September 2018 to October 2019 will be automatically nominated for the prestigious GOLDEN GALAXY AWARDS (the best of the best)
Films entered in multiple categories may win multiple awards!

The festival has been named in honor of Ingmar Bergman’s classic film "Virgin Spring" and it has been launched to showcase independent art-house films from around the world.


MISSION:


The Mission of Virgin Spring Cinefest is to create a platform that every filmmaker needs, in order to showcase and get recognitions for their films. The objective of the Film Festival is to support independent filmmakers through reviewing, judging, marketing, and distribution networking, and trying to overcome any other obstacles which potentially hinder the artist’s ability to create. We have created monthly editions to give continuity to the selection process and a steady feedback to the filmmakers. Instead of waiting for months before getting an answer from the festival, filmmakers are immediately contacted if selected. Their works are privately screened every month and evaluated by a team of experts in the industry. All entries do not compete against each other. Instead, entries are judged against a high standard of merit and are scored accordingly. The event aims to create a strong relationship between filmmakers, producers, and distributors from all over the world.

In these extreme times we have been witness to a boom in creativity. We see the most amazing photos, memes and films on social media. We would like to show and honour people all over the world who are coping with their problems in special ways.

This 3-day film festival with live audience (if the Corona virus allows us) is open to film makers from all over the world who filmed something special with the Corona crisis as main topic. Our jury of internationally award winning film makers will hand out awards in ten different categories.

*** For the Photography Contest, check www.mycoronaphoto.com ***