Blog: Film festivals

Being a dissident in a square society represents a challenge, and not only that, it allows seeking alternatives to get out of that box. For us, being dissidents has meant fighting against stigma and discrimination, however, that has given us the opportunity to open paths that have been difficult to walk, but in each fall we have found people who help us move forward.

In audiovisual production, as in our lives, being a dissident has meant looking for other ways of telling stories, other ways of bringing them to the screen. Creative ways to talk about sensitive issues, or to sensitize ourselves to reality. In any case, dissident production has been a constant since the constant innovation of technology and, in the context of the pandemic, other ways of telling stories have emerged.

We invite you to join us on this journey and enjoy the dissident production.

#CineDisidente #FestivalCineDisidente

The Kursaal Film Festival San Sebastián (KFFSS) is an international short film festival that stands out for promoting the talent of filmmakers.

The "Filmmaker's Dragonheart Award" is recognized as the award for the talent and courage of filmmakers who, through their efforts, have managed to realize their dream.

Founded in 1961, Amnesty International is an independent NGO that works for the defense of human rights all over the world. Through our field researches, conscious raising campaigns, petitions and letters, and public human rights advocacy, we work for a world in which every human being is entitled to the rights stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in other international texts.
Accordingly, our campaigns focus on themes such as the liberty of expression, women’s rights, children’s rights, refugees and migrant’s rights, discriminations, impunity, the death penalty amongst others.

Cinema has always been and will always be a way in which human rights violations can be exposed and denounced. For that, Amnesty International France is pleased to announce the opening of submissions f edition of its annual cinema festival “Au Cinéma pour les droits humains” (To Cinema for Human Rights), which will take place in March 2019. The festival takes place each year in different cities of the south of France and with last year’s edition having had more than 3800 members at the audience. Therefore, we are searching for different entries for our festival. We are searching for films that touch on one or several human rights issues that are connected to any of our campaigns, such as the liberty of expression, women’s rights, impunity, and discriminations amongst other things.

If you feel that your film speaks of one or several major human rights issues, and you wish to submit it for selection, then please do send us a link this address in order to review it: acdhamnesty@gmail.com Also, please make sure that the film contains FRENCH SUBTITLES OR IS IN FRENCH LANGAGE. Once our selection committee has a decision, then we will notify you as soon as possible

The Ponferrada International Film Festival is an event specialized in the dissemination and promotion of short films from all over the world, regardless of their production format, distribution, exhibition, category, genre, or theme.

Short films, in addition to being a learning resource for new professionals in the film industry and a promotional tool for making the leap to feature films, can also be a highly creative and free form of expression, storytelling, and experimentation, independent of the market.

We are also committed to highlighting films that, regardless of their length, reflect the cultural, social, and linguistic diversity of any region of the world as part of the memory of peoples and the most unknown universal audiovisual heritag

MON·DOC, International Documentary Film Festival from Montaverner.

Out! Mostra de Cinema LGTBIQ+ of Balearic Islands accepts short films of all nationalities with LGBTIQ themes, which may be selected for the various sections of the festival: Short Films, and Short Films Documentaries. The works must not have previously premiered on the Internet or any other media in Spanish territory prior to the festival, and must have been copyrighted no earlier than 1st of January of 2022. All films must be yet unreleased in the Balearic Islands; in the case of the shorts films, this will not be considered a prerequisite, but will be considered positively. The organization reserves the right to include films that do not meet these conditions in the program, although not a part of the Festival’s official contest. The organization has right to include selected short film in future events of year 2025/2026 within territory of Balearic Islands.

The Festival Villa del Cine is a four day experience where the streets and theaters of Villa de Leyva, Colombia become a stage dedicated to celebrate, encourage and reward the seventh art.

Most Festival is an annual event that aims to showcase the best international audiovisual work linked to viniculture, wine and cava. At the same time, the festival aims to make a toast for good cinema by projecting unreleased films by great authors.

Held in the Penedès, a zone very close to Barcelona (Spain) with a long winemaking tradition and several wine-related tourist attractions, the festival wants to promote viniculture and arts linked to wine and cava through audiovisual works and also explore all aspects of winemaking, especially values such as quality, diversity, wine tourism and ties to the region.

MSFFF was born from a mission:

We’ll take you on a journey through the genre’s cinematographic productions from all over the world.

The next March we will be able to enjoy the best and most current animated productions in Madrid.

Miradas Medellín - Film and Audiovisual Arts Festival is organized by Secretaría de Cultura Ciudadana of Medellín (Colombia). Its main objective is to bring Colombian and Latin American film production and other audiovisual expressions to the city's audiences, offering diverse exhibition, training and meeting experiences. It is also committed to promote and generate dynamics around the appreciation, dissemination and distribution that strengthen the audiovisual and film industry in the country. Through its programming, the festival seeks to be a point of convergence of multiple views on reality and contemporary and innovative formats that work with the moving image, focusing on the perspective of filmmakers from Colombia and Latin American countries.

A unique short film festival situated in the backdrop of a beautiful village in the north of Castellón: Herbers.

Promoting film talents that highlights the importance of repopulation, rural environment, biodiversity and diversity in the rural environment giving them the platform to showcase and promote their work.

15TH EDITION RULES OF ATLÀNTIDA MALLORCA FILM FEST
DEEJAYSGRUP MEDITERRANEAN CREATIVE HUB, a Temporary Business Union, in collaboration with Comunidad Filmin SL, organizes the fifteenth edition of the Atlàntida Mallorca Film Fest, an international annual meeting point for creators, professionals, and the audience to whom their works are directed.

The festival aims to promote high-quality cinema with a commitment to contemporary issues to attract new audiences to theaters. The National and International Official Section will feature a selection of fiction feature films that empathize with the dilemmas, conflicts, and situations faced by new generations while also speaking their language.

Additionally, the festival develops three non-fiction categories: arts, politics, and queer, each with its own central theme. Special attention will also be given to Balearic Talent: productions filmed, financed, or featuring talent from the Balearic Islands may also be programmed in the Talent Balear Section, which includes both fiction and non-fiction works.

The 15th edition of Atlàntida Mallorca Film Fest will take place from July 27 to August 3, 2025, in Mallorca, and from July 27 to August 27, 2025, on FILMIN.

VII NATIONAL RURAL FILM FESTIVAL OF AYACUCHO

The Rural Film Festival was created in 2016 as an initiative presented by Lic. Emilio Quiroga to the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Ayacucho, with the goal of promoting audiovisual production in our city.

Every year, we launch an open call at the national and international level for short films of fiction and non-fiction that address the concept of "RURAL" through their form and/or content. Our intention is to explore the perspective of this concept and enrich ourselves with productions from other places in our country and the world.

The Festival offers training programs and support with theoretical and practical audiovisual production tools to those who join this initiative locally. This includes teachers and students from schools and educational institutions, community centers, organizations, or simply groups wishing to participate and residing in the city of Ayacucho.

These are some of the central concepts we have implemented over the years and will continue to develop in this space:

Short film production as a powerful educational tool that strengthens cognitive skills, creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork, while motivating students in an innovative way.

Basic audiovisual production training, workshops for teachers on how to guide students in creating short films. This includes teaching them the basics of planning, shooting, and editing videos. Many teachers have no previous experience in these areas, so the training helps them lead these projects.

Integrated evaluation of student-made short films across different subjects, so that teachers recognize the relevance of these projects beyond their specific area of expertise.

Collaborative projects where teachers from different disciplines (such as arts, history, literature, science, and technology) work together to create an interdisciplinary short film. This could include combining thematic areas to address a common issue from different perspectives.

Online educational resources or YouTube tutorials for teachers on how to apply film to various subjects. This may include how to shoot a scene, how to light it correctly, or how to work with sound, all at a level accessible to educators with no cinematic experience.

Access to simple editing software or online platforms (such as InShot or CapCut) that students can use at home or in the classroom to edit their projects. They can also use sound recording tools or simple effects to help with content creation.

Scriptwriting talks and courses or storyboard models that teachers can adapt to their subjects. This helps students follow a proper structure when writing their scripts, ensuring that their stories are more consistent, regardless of the area in which they are working.

We promote and encourage the cinema room in our city and other alternative screening spaces.

We foster cooperation between rural and urban schools.

We generate socio-educational projects in schools, institutes, and training centers.

We offer talks, courses, and training open to the community.

We produce audiovisual content and resources for the departments of the Municipality of Ayacucho.

We produce local short films that address fiction stories and rural documentaries, as well as other themes of interest to filmmakers.

This experience has become a phenomenon that grows each year, surpassing its initial expectations. We are motivated to make our identity known, promoting the value of Ayacuchense culture and that of our country. We emphasize human relationships and the bonds that arise from this encounter for mutual benefit.

We strengthen alliances between our community and people and groups who come to the city of Ayacucho from nearby towns, other provinces, and cities across our country, drawn by the social event and the values that the Rural Film Festival represents.

It is necessary, through our intervention, to guarantee access to a symbolic language, which is essential to navigate the world around us and construct the images and sounds of our time. This is a fundamental task for the development of society, the strengthening of democracy, equity, and access to work. We approach audiovisual media as an object to be thought about and constantly transformed.

Welcome to Joutseno Art Summer International Film Festival. This international festival which has the main theme of the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) is the Nordic celebration of independent filmmaking!

To highlight the importance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), Joutseno College (Joutsenon Opisto in Finnish) is holding this international film festival offering the pleasant atmosphere and the great natural scenery of Lake Saimaa just 2.5 hours train trip from Helsinki, the capital city of Finland.

Joutseno College, which organises the festival, has been an established educational provider of arts and languages for over 70 years, and it is well equipped to allow the preparation of such a programme that includes both outdoor and indoor activities.

As an addition to the college's Art Summer programme running for decades, this festival provides not only a novel cinematic experience for audiences as well as filmmakers, but it also renders an opportunity to reflect on the future of our planet emphasising on the role and responsibilities of us as human beings.

Our main goal with Joutseno Art Summer International Film Festival is to help maximise the engagement of select independent filmmakers who choose to challenge and reflect on global scale problems. The festival would offer filmmakers a unique opportunity to screen their works in one of the most scenic venues and locations in Finland!

In addition to live screenings, we offer:

❄ networking events
❄ open dialogue sessions
❄ pre/post festival training/discussion sessions
❄ an extensive network of different stakeholders
❄ a guided tour of Lappeenranta and Joutseno
❄ several recreational events such as live music

Visit our website https://www.joutsenonopisto.fi/ff2023 for more information and updates.

The Social Film Festival ArTelesia is organized by the non-profit Cultural Association “Libero Teatro”.

The event is supported by the MIC Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual, the Film
Commission Campania Region, Cesvolab and the patronage of the Presidency of the Council of
Ministers, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Education, University and Research, UNAR - National

Office against Racial Discrimination, the Province of Benevento, the Municipality of Benevento, the Chamber of Commerce of Benevento, Arcigay Napoli, the University Center Synapses of the Federico II University of Naples, the University of Sannio, the Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples, the University of Salerno, the UCAM San Antonio de Murcia University (Spain), the CADMUS. Students from the aforementioned universities will participate in the organization of the fifteenth edition as Interns.

PURPOSE OF THE COMPETITION

The Social Film Festival ArTelesia intends to promote cinema both in Italy and abroad. The Festival represents a showcase for the promotion of films of cultural interest, belonging to the independent and non-independent cinema circuit.
An ideal place for lively confrontations between producers, authors and distributors, but also between the production universe and the target audience, the Festival promotes the dissemination of films of high artistic value, capable of contributing to cultural growth and the formation of a mature awareness criticism in young people.

THEMES

- I BELONG TO ME: respect for one's own individuality, knowing how to be beyond all appearances, cultivating one’s freedom against all dependencies

- INTEGRATION: respect for ethnic and cultural identity against all forms of discrimination

- DEEP SURFACES: discovery and enhancement of the historical-artistic heritage of the territories

- ORTHOMETRY: Stories of sustainable agriculture

- FREE THEME

SECTIONS

- Filmmaker: emerging and professional directors, production and distribution companies

- DiVabili: works created by directors with disabilities or involving disabled actors that do not necessarily have to focus on the topic of disability

The fourth edition of the La Mercantil in Off Film Festival will take place in Balaguer on the december 20th 2025.

EN OFF FILM FESTIVAL is an international fiction, animation and documentary short-film festival. The program’s selection process follows a set of artistic and technical criteria.


SECTIONS

The festival is divided into the following sections:

OVC Section (Original Version in Catalan)
Short films in original version in Catalan with English or Spanish subtitles.

International Section
Short films whose original version is in any language except Catalan, with English or Spanish subtitles.

Music Video Section
In any language and/or format. Subtitles are not compulsory.

Mini Short-Film Section
Short films with a maximum duration of 5 minutes.

The Zaragoza Film Festival, founded in 1995 to create a cinematic activity in the city. At first his main title was the Young Filmmakers. Since 2007 its official name became the Zaragoza Film Festival.

Festival with various events, generalist and national character (although some of its events are international).

Starting in 2021, after celebrating the 25th edition of the Festival, we propose an evolution of the project.

MoDive-Se is a short film festival and feature films in the city of Campinas, to show films with LGBT themes.
On the first edition was held in 2014, sponsored by the State Government of São Paulo.
In 2015 it was performed independently. The same will occur in 2016, but this year, in addition to film the show will expand its activities with exhibitions of theater and performance.

Oviedo Music Video Festival.