Blog: Film festivals

CHECK OUT NANCY DENNEY-PHELPS' ARTICLE ABOUT
THE GOLDEN KUKER FESTIVAL HERE
https://www.awn.com/blog/11th-golden-kuker-international-animation-festival-1-6-september-2020-sofia-bulgaria

The International Animation Film Festival (IAFF) Golden Kuker- Sofia run for the first time in October 2010 in Sofia. Named after Proyko Proykov (legendary Bulgarian animator) it is the first animation festival from the new century. One of the most attractive events in the arts calendar of Bulgaria takes place every spring in May. It is organised by the Bulgarian Association of The Independent Artists and Cartoon Animators an NGO chaired by Mrs. Nadezhda Slavova (cartoon artist, director, filmmaker and author of numerous animation films). The Association aims to connect animators, support their networking and create long lasting relationships within the cartoon industry.

The mission of the IAFF Golden Kuker-Sofia is to contribute to the development of Bulgarian art, to help Bulgarian and foreign animators get in touch and to support young professionals and students. The animation festival attracts not only children but large audience from different generations. IAFF Golden Kuker-Sofia has achieved high-level of professional performance, large number of international appearances, and variety of great animation works. Throughout the whole year people have the opportunity to attend master classes led by world known directors and animators, visit contemporary art seminars and exhibitions, and join interactive lectures. Environmental contest, Sofia’s children day and travelling festival are other festival’s post- events. After the festival international guests have the possibility to travel around Bulgaria, to discover wonderful spots and explore historical places with the tourist packages offered by IAFF Golden Kuker-Sofia.

IAFF Golden Kuker has been supported by the Ministry of Environment and Waters (Operational Programme Environment 2007-2013), Sofia Municipal Council, Sofia Municipality, National Culture Fund, National Film Center, Bulgarian National Television, Bulgarian National Radio, American Embassy, Czech Cultural Centre, Hungarian Cultural Centre, Polish Institute – Sofia, French Cultural Institute and many others who became our partners.

Welcome to the five edition of Diminuto, International Minimal Film Festival, a celebration of short-films.

Diminuto comes from the Latin: extremely small. The minimal cinema is that tiny cinema, but immensely deep; brief, but extensive in possibilities; tiny, but capable of creating endless universes. Because we know that every second is important, this is a celebration of small short films, small projects that leave us with enormous emotions and diverse sensations. That is why we say that: The minimal cinema is the maximum.

Categories in competition.
In all categories we receive: fiction, documentary, fiction, animation, experimental and hybrids.

Zero: Under 59 seconds
One: 1 minute
Fractal: Between 1 and 3 minutes
Silent: Short without dialogues, between 1 and 3minutes
Vertical: Vertical shorts, between 1 and 3minutes
Tik Shorts: Shorts made by Tik Tok, under 3 minutes
Spot: Spot, under 5 minutes
Cassette: Videoclip, between 1 and 5minutes
Wide: Shorts between 3 and 5 minutes
XL: Shorts between 5 and 8 minutes

Non-competitive category.
For this category we receive fiction, documentary, animation, experimental and hybrids.

Alternative silms: Shortsfilms under 3 minutes, made by authors from Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela.

In this edition, it is contemplated that the works selected in the teen competing categories will be screened, scheduled and viewed in three modalities:

1. Screening of the official selection in at least four cultural spaces located in Mexico City.

2. The Official Selection will be hosted on the Retina Latina streaming platform, and Wahu Streaming.

The winning works of each category in competition will be screened in a cultural venue in Bogota, Colombia. Place and date to be confirmed.

The works selected in the Alternative Films will be programmed streaming on the festival's social networks and on Wahu, streaming platform.

The origin of Diminuto is referred to the online workshops: Short films taught in the last year by Aarón Álvarez, the director of the festival. In them, the concept of brevity and the ideology that allows highlighting the creative processes of the authors are promoted. Some works that were part of the Official selection and the Alternative films of the first edition were produced in these workshops.

Complementary to the exhibitions, programming and visualizations, the workshops will be given: Short films, short formats (level 1 and 2), there will be talks and master classes with specialists in cinematography, these activities will be carried out online, they are planned for the attendees and the interested public, seeking to promote new authors. Special online activities will be held for the authors of the winning short films in each category and the honorable mentions.

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.

Independent.

MIFF (from English acronym for Milan International Film Festival), nicknamed by the press as the "Milanese Sundance", has been recognized and distinguished as the official International Cinema exhibition festival of Milan. MIFF existed as a conventional film festival for 10 years, until 2010, when MIFF reinvented itself as MIFF Awards, a brand new genre in the sphere of film events that featured an avant-garde format pointed at the best of the best through a tough Winner category's selection.

An high recognition formula specifically designed to make independent filmmakers - and their films - more successful and marketable. A new and unique film event concept based on the traditional award "Nomination" categories selection format - originated by the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) or Oscar system, merged along with a traditional film festival of "only Winner category's" screenings program, to select a final Best Film of all.

Organized by the non-profit Italian cultural association Leonardo Da Vinci Film Society (LDVFS), MIFF Awards wIth its Independent Spirit Identity, it's an event studied for filmmakers/distributors who always necessitate to raise the prestige and the Media impact of their films.

"parapacurts" is an International Comedy Short Film Festival inside "parapariures" where both the audience and the jury will choose their favourite short films.

The Festival will take place in Sabadell (Barcelona) on 12th, 19th and 26th of April 2024.

The awards will be announced at a gala 4th October 2024.

Puerto Rico Film Festival is proud to showcase a high quality programming, a strong industry segment, an educational and networking platform for filmmakers; alongside an audience full of film enthusiasts from all over the world, generating presence in the international film industry, film authors and media representatives.

Hosted in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, and surrounded by historical buildings and beautiful beaches, makes up the perfect place to experience true Puerto Rican culture.

Living up to its nickname, the Island of Enchantment, with lush rain forests, dazzling beaches and shimmering city, Puerto Rico has something for everyone.

Let's meet at the Puerto Rico Film Festival to have the best time, with the best artists in the best place to be!

The purpose of the festival refers to awareness of both the external filters on the screen, including censorship (commercial, ideological, aesthetic), and the internal filters of screen perception and projection, including self-censorship. NEFILTRAVANAE KINO is an exploration of aestheticization and commodification in art. The next aim of the festival is to expose the complexity, manysidedness, and variety of filmmaking.

NEFILTRAVANAE KINO is a film festival that is held by the Short Movie Club, the platform for cinematic projects. NEFILTRAVANAE KINO is ADAMI Media Prize qualified festival. The International Film Studies Conference is held at the same time as the film festival. In this way, film theory and practice are integrated together at the NEFILTRAVANAE KINO.

Originally the festival was held in Belarus, but because of political repression and publicly stated anti-war stance, screenings and events can be held in different countries. First of all in Lithuania (Vilnius). For example, the 10th Nefiltravanae Kino took place in Berlin, Vilnius and Helsinki last year. There were selected 63 films for 12 film programmes. https://shortmovie.club/programmes/10-2024/

The concept of the NEFILTRAVANAE KINO (Unfiltered Cinema):

ALIENATION PROBLEM

We live in a world of malls and cinema multiplexes. We see that indie cinema and non-commodity art go to the periphery of public attention. Primitive attractions replace the cinematography. The escape audience is alienated behind the big screen. So modern mainstream cinema is part of a manipulating tool that leads to the society of alienation. Thus the tendency is that indie cinema becomes more unreadable for the wide audience. We should understand the context of the filmmaker to understand the independent cinema. That is why the NEFILTRAVANAE KINO concept implies the physical presence of filmmakers.

FILM SELECTION PROBLEM
Filmmakers shoot millions of movies. And thousands of short film festivals organize screenings all over the world every year. On average, several thousand films are submitted to a film festival. So various good films can be neglected for whatever reason. Often selecting probability is like winning a lottery. As a result, filmmakers are left with no feedback. It is a paradox that no one can hear you in the age of the Internet! The mainstream culture prefers attractions and casual viewing.

Also, this idea is based on the film selection problem. Perhaps it’s no surprise one person, i.e. programme director at best, or even students of film schools make a preliminary decision to select a movie. Сoncordance of judges or previewers is more seldom thing than the difference of background, tastes. So selection or judging can be one-sided or perfunctory. It is not bad as the programme director has a good taste and aesthetic sensitivity, of course. But we’ve discovered another conception of “unfiltered cinema”. We matched it against “the best of the best” way. This way aids to perceive cinematic idiom without the dictate of art-curators.

CELEBRATION OF INDIE CINEMA
So the Unfiltered Cinema Film Festival tries to avoid “the best of the best” way but it does not ignore it completely, sure. The festival selects fiction, animation, documentary, experimental and virtual reality sections. A jury awards the best film in every section. The festival holds the screenings at cinema theatres, the National Centre for Contemporary Arts, and art-spaces.

Our aim is to gather people in art, to have a dialogue to be happy with smart communication. Cinema is art but not sport. The key point of our project is to establish communication between the filmmaker and the audience.

Please, read about the festival history through the link to the festival's website. http://shortmovie.club/history/

The Short Movie Club provides constructing of CinemaVan ( see https://www.behance.net/gallery/33392769/Cinema-van-Mobile-library-Amphibia ).

The International Short Film Festival of Cali, with the opening of its call, is to be a space for the exhibition of professional and university short films from the city of Cali and the world to serve as a meeting point between the new filmmakers and the professionals of the short film.

The XVI International Short Film Festival of Cali will take place from october 1 to 5 of 2024, in the city of Santiago de Cali, Colombia.

The call for the competitive categories of the festival will be open from June 11 th of 2024 and we will close the registration period at midnight of agost 11 th of 2024 Colombian local time (UTC-5).

Films sent to the following categories: National Official Selection, National Official University Selection, International Official Selection and International Official University Selection must have been completed after January 15, 2023.

The results of the call for the competitive categories will be announced on the festival’s official website www.cortoscali.com by August 31 th, 2024.

The Esseoesse Cultural Association announces the competition "CortoDino Film Festival Dino De Laurentiis 2024 - XIV Edition", a competition that stems from desire to remember and celebrate, in his native land and in commemorative and propositive terms, the figure and work of Dino De Laurentis. The Metropolitan city of Naples, Vesuvian areas, “Giorgio De Chirico’s Secondary School of Art and Communication”, the others secondary schools of the area and the main cultural associations of the Vesuvian and Campanian areas will collaborate in the event.

So, the main aim of the initiative is to create an opportunity for meeting, confrontation and knowledge of young filmmakers who enter the cinematographic sector, in which the influence left by the illustrious “Torrese” has certainly been significant, promoting cinematographic culture through the inclusion of disadvantaged people and the research and promotion of works by talents from Campania, and also national and international.

The presence of the world of solidarity, cultural associations and of school is the clearest sign of the purpose of connecting in particular with the world of young people.
Cortodino Film Festival XIV edition will take place in November 2024. Cities, places and days of the event will be subsequently communicated.

Roddur is going to organise an International Short Film Festival on 27th, 28th and 29th of May, 2022 to inspire and promote the individual and independent film makers and directors in their genesis. The film festivals play a substantial role in the process between the production and circulation of the movies by the makers and it's reception by the audience and spectators. A film has a uniquely powerful ubiquity within human culture and is a potential vehicle for social reform and movement and for the purpose of education as well in the form of entertainment. For the better cause Roddur has always been supportive for the real talents and promotes them to achieve their endeavours. Like previous years this year also we are organising the International Short Film Festival heading towards the goal and opportunity to appreciate the film makers who make the film with their small scale individualistic efforts The eminent and legendary film personalities will be the jury members of those forth coming international short film festival. This noble effort would become a great success if we can join hands with each other in this venture. Hence we solicit your august presence, contribution and collaboration with Roddur and be a part of the journey to make this event a grand success.

Only Argentine citizens or foreigners residing in the Argentine Republic may participate in the competition who comply with the terms and conditions of these regulations.

In an ever-evolving film industry, MICA 3 is at the forefront of a new wave of exposure-focused film exhibits. We believe that films should be seen, celebrated, and shared—not locked away in traditional festival circuits.

By joining MICA 3, your work has the chance to shine on a screening event and to reach a global audience through our extensive online exhibit, amplified by three months of paid advertising.

At MICA, we believe that the future of cinema is yet to be found, and we are proud to support the seventh art through this transition. Thank you for joining our film exhibit as a platform for your work.

Biophilia is a concept based on respect and love for life and living beings.
Our essence is hidden in the earth, inside everything converges, an infinite cycle that reveals being: sprouting, intertwining, flourishing, and later, being a seed that fell to germinate again. We celebrate the connection of man with the earth, and how from this link, we are able to perceive and build our surroundings, recognize ourselves in the gaze of the other, or ignore a little about our being.

The festival activities will take place in the month of November, we will carry out face-to-face and online activities creating links in three states of Mexico: Mexico City, the State of Mexico and Oaxaca.

Complementario a las exhibiciones y programaciones se impartirán talleres y habrá charlas y master class con especialistas en la cinematografía, estas actividades se realizarán de manera online y presencial (si las condiciones de pandemia lo permite), y están planeadas para los asistentes y el público interesado, buscando impulsar a nuevos autores. Así como actividades especiales para los autores de los cortometrajes ganadores de cada categoría y las menciones honoríficas.

Germans
Shorts under 59 seconds
Fiction, documentary, animation, experimental and hybrid genres

Sap
Videoclip
Between 1 and 8 minutes

Cortex
Fiction, animation and experimental short films
Under 29 minutes

Xilema
Experimental short films
Under 29 minutes

Root
Non-fiction short films and hybrid genres
Under 29 minutes

Rhizome
Medium and feature films
Fiction, documentary, animation, experimental and hybrid genres
Between 30 minutes and 150 minutes

National category

English

Biophilia is a concept based on respect and love for life and living beings.
Our essence is hidden in the earth, inside everything converges, an infinite cycle that reveals being: sprouting, intertwining, flourishing, and later, being a seed that fell to germinate again. We celebrate the connection of man with the earth, and how from this link, we are able to perceive and build our surroundings, recognize ourselves in the gaze of the other, or ignore a little about our being.

The festival activities will take place in the month of November, we will carry out face-to-face and online activities creating links in trhee states of Mexico: the State of Mexico, Mexico City and Oaxaca.

We receive cinematographic and audiovisual works that address the following concepts:
Biophilia, ecology, nature, native peoples, traditions, collective memory, cosmogony and rituals. The extension is free as well as the genres: fiction, non-fiction, animation, experimental and hybrids.

International categories

Germans
Shorts under 59 seconds
Fiction, documentary, animation, experimental and hybrid genres

Sap
Videoclip
Between 1 and 8 minutes

Cortex
Fiction, animation and experimental short films
Under 29 minutes

Xilema
Experimental short films
Under 29 minutes

Root
Non-fiction short films and hybrid genres
Under 29 minutes

Rhizome
Medium and feature films
Fiction, documentary, animation, experimental and hybrid genres
Between 30 minutes and 150 minutes

National category

Seed
Emerging Mexican filmmakers
Fiction, documentary, animation, experimental and hybrid genres
Under than 20 minutes

Complementary to the exhibitions and programming, workshops will be given and there will be talks and master classes with specialists in cinematography, these activities will be carried out online and in person (if pandemic conditions allow it), and are planned for attendees and the interested public. , seeking to promote new authors. As well as special activities for the authors of the winning short films in each category and the honorable mentions.

Mountain & Culture is a cultural non-profit organization whose objectives is to approach the sports community and the people in town to offer films, exhibitions, and all kinds of activities focusing on the mountain sports, adventure, environment and culture of peoples.

The Festival also creates a platform for the exchange of ideas between filmmakers, athletes and the public, while supporting the most artistic and effective ways to communicate everything related to the world of the mountain. The aim of this festival is to highlight the importance of ecology, environment, preservation of the mountains and nature in the world today. The Festival also presents a spectacular region to practice adventure sports, extreme and mountaineering, through Films geography.

Welcome to the world of mountains ..........
Welcome to Arequipa City ...... Place of the Volcanoes.

MSF was created with the purpose of embracing, recognizing, and showcasing short film. We LOVE short films and discovered a need in the festival community for a new way to approach the short film. Films that slam an edgy topic in less than forty minutes are true masterpieces.

Of course, traditional and mainstream shorts are also valuable. Everyone loves a great comedy or an informative documentary. There are a myriad of genres that our team of industry professionals are eager to see and evaluate. Our reviewers have knowledge and experience in the genre of films they evaluate. They also understand the complexities and challenges associated with creating independent films.

In addition, films are screened by the public. These individuals are your target demographic. They give valuable insight to both the quality of your film and its potential marketability. When you win here, you are winning with the public.

"38Retinas" is an annual itinerant film festival, which aims to bring the best of short films and audiovisuals from any corner of the world to the 38 municipalities of the El Bierzo region that request it.

Carnival Information -
We’re Women Directors Film Carnival, Initiative taken by well experienced and well connected Media Professionals with aim to provide a platform for Women Directors, Producers, Editors, Writers and Cinema Lovers to share their works. We give a space for women in all areas of filmmaking to share their stories, experiences, and expertise. As we strongly believes that Media in our society can be reshaped to have a stronger positive impact on our society, If we educate and empower more Women to work in the medium, take part and active involvement in ownership of the industry, and educate the people on these issues. We at Women Director Film Carnival wants to shine a light on Women being overlooked for jobs with the lack of equal opportunity that is given in the Film and Television industry and create conversations and opportunities for Women to develop an industry that has equal opportunity.

Schedule -
This three-day extravaganza, consisting of Indoor and Outdoor red carpet film screenings, fashion shows, workshops, and of course Food Court. It's a celebration of women and all who love women. Films and Screenings are selected and hosted by filmmakers, professors, and other notable figures in the world of film. In addition to exhibiting the next new wave of women filmmakers, We will also makes time to pay tribute to films by Women with Historical significance.

Preview -
Premiering in Campus of The Creative Work in the capital city, New Delhi, India for its first annual festival.

This festival is aimed at all professionals or amateurs who have already made their films between 2018 and 2022!

A programm open to all!

A preference for genre movie!

The exhibition movies selected will be prejected to the cinéma Ti Hanok in october 2023.

We would like to receive director's cut and team as possible as can to the end of the festival.

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 .