Blog: Film festivals

15th Medium-Length International Film Festival LA CABINA, taking place in València (Spain) between 8th and 18th November 2022.

“African in films” is the International African Film Festival and of television during which various filmmakers meet for the presentation of the best current productions, with competitions in all categories dedicated.

“We are dedicated to identifying new talent and the making-of of African movies. The Paris International African Film Festival is an emblematic cultural event, well received by professionals, awaited by a curious and enthusiastic public, supported by many partners and personalities” according to Blaise Pascal Tanguy, its General Delegate.

The specific objectives are among others:

- Promote professionalism in the cinema profession among Africans and;
- Promote the involvement of advertisers and sponsors within the framework of the AFSC;
- Encourage the networking of African and Afro-descendant professionals of all persuasions having a link with the profession of filmmaker.

Today, the existence of numerous festivals organized on and outside the continent to promote films from Africans and Afro-descendants are a step decisive towards the development of a true cinematographic industry local. Festivals held outside the continent are, in this respect, encouraging experiences of an Africa that meets other cultures, enriched by the contributions of Afro-descendants, for the great “rendez vous of giving and receiving”. It is in line with this noble ambition that “African in films” which will be at its 5th edition in October 2023 at Paris, was born.

The screenings will take place in "Ways to Live" - Calle de Raimundo Lulio 10 de Madrid.

Saraqusta Film Festival is a film and tv series festival about the historical genre in its broadest sense. It was created with the aim of exhibiting and promoting feature films, documentaries and series using the past and the historical context as a common thread.

Submissions are open to Spanish and International works, real-image or animated that deal with the historical genre or whose theme, context or set design are historical or refer to a period of the past.

SMR13 INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL

The SMR13 International Independent Film Festival is an annual, IMDb-certified, four (4)-day event held in the second half of November, in Saint-Mitre-Les-Remparts, in the south of France, near Marseille.

First and foremost, it's a physical festival, taking place in "La Manare", a dedicated performance hall with a total surface area of 1000m² and a capacity of 250 spectators.

The 9th edition of the SMR13 international independent film festival will take place from November XX to XX, 2024.

The festival stands out for its highly developed network, passionate members and trusted partnerships. It is a unique showcase for independent cinema, attracting professionals from all over the world.

Since its inception, the festival has been supported by a patron, an emblematic figure in independent cinema. John Carpenter (2018), director, screenwriter and composer (Halloween, The Thing, New York 1997...). Andréa Ferréol (2019), actress (La Grande Bouffe, Le Dernier Métro, La Scoumoune...). Francis Ford Coppola (2019), director and screenwriter (Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Dracula...). Virginie Lemoine (2020), actress (Famille d'Accueil, Nos années parallèles, Oscar...). Sean S. Cunningham (2021), director and producer (Friday The 13th, Spring Break, DeepStar Six...). Patrice Leconte (2022 and 2023), director and producer (Les Bronzés, Les Spécialistes, Maigret...).

A Night of Misfit Films Film Festival, presented by Full Figure Productions announces the sixth edition of A Night of Misfit Films Film Festival held at High Octane Picture Studios 9096 E Bahia Dr. Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Founded by Dineta Williams-Trigg a filmmaker and actress, A Night of Misfit Films came out of a desire to see more diverse content in the Valley of the Sun community. The festival celebrates the artistic talent of all filmmakers and artists by focusing on original content that has not been screened at other festivals.

A Night of Misfit films is in association with the Lebanese Independent Film Festival - LIFF and co-directed by Gauthier Raad and FFF Film Festival.

THE INTERNATIONAL FILM AND TELEVISION FESTIVAL ”SIMFEST” - 2024

SIMFEST is a TV and film festival – competition, the only one of this kind in Romania and one of the few in Europe. It is organized every year by "SIMFEST Cultural Association", which supports and promotes the creators in visual arts.

SIMFEST stands for professionalism and for the freedom of expression of the journalists and the media producers. The festival promotes, at the same time, local journalism and community mass-media.

It is a complex manifestation for electronic mass-media. It is the annual meeting point of the TV's and film’s world specialists from Romania and from other countries, of students, independent producers, and of media enthusiasts; it is a competition that it's designed to find and form values and talents, to give them the needed validation and for connecting them with the medium in which they can develop. It is a competition and, at the same time, a media school and a cultural event.

The SIMFEST components are:

- The Competition
- The Summer School for journalists and media creators
- The official program of the festival

The Competition is opened to all the media creators, reporters, cameramen and media producers from Romania but also from other countries, but is also opened to freelancers, to students and territorial correspondents of central televisions, production houses, as well as to all multimedia creators. It has eight sections.

- PUBLISHING (REPORTAGE/ DOCUMENTARY/ INQUIRY/ ESSAY / TALK-SHOW etc.)
- ENTERTAINMENT
- VIDEO
- MULTIMEDIA
- STUDENT PROJECTS FICTION
- STUDENT PROJECT NONFICTION
- TOURISTIC MOVIE
- FICTION SHORT MOVIE
- FICTION FEATURE FILM (LONG MOVIE)
- ANIMATION

The jury of the competition consists out of well-known personalities in the field of journalism, TV and cinema from Romania and from other countries.

The Summer School for journalists and media creators was founded and included within the festival in 2007, and through it, SIMFEST became in the past few years the only institution in the country of non-formal education of media creators, especially from the audiovisual section.

The journalists Romeo Couți and Brândușa Armanca (TVR), the writer Bogdan Hrib, Assoc. Prof. PhD. Ion Stavre (SNSPA), Assoc. Prof. PhD. Lucian Ionică (West University of Timișoara), the director Ștefan Fischer (Germany), Charles Fletcher, MBE (Scotland), TV producer Codruț Pânzaru, TV producer Tamas Barok (Hungary), the director Copel Moscu (UNATC Bucharest), Iulia Badea Gueritee and Raymond Clarinard (Courrier International Paris), Beata Biel (Google expert, Poland), Ovidiu Gyarmath (Director of photography), Prof. PhD. Laura Baron (UNATC Bucharest), great Romanian actors like Marcel Iures and Dan Puric and many others held lectures and led workshops or held masterclasses within the Summer School.

The official program of the festival is available for the public with the purpose to, on one hand, construct a way of communication between the creators of media and those whom they serve: the consumers of information in order for the audience to correctly understand the messages transmitted through mass-media. On the other hand, it offers a space of free expression and a non-formal platform for professional development for the journalists and filmmakers. Therefore, SIMFEST is a festival not only a TV and film competition but also a cultural complex. The 2024 program consists of – beside others:

• Public projections of the productions sent in for the competition in the presence of the creators, followed by debates

• Online screening of the submitted productions (with the allowance of the owners)

• Public projections of Romanian movies inside of The Days of the Romanian Cinematography

• Public projections of movies and documentaries made by special guests of the festival

• Anniversary events dedicated to the supporters (sponsors, partners, volunteers etc)

• Gala of the laureates including musical recitals and poems (streamed online)

International recognition: SIMFEST is known and recognized in the Romanian mass-media as a role model in the promotion of artists' free expression and for the promotion and being an advocate of real media professionalism. Most of the creators attending SIMFEST for the past years, have also won international recognition at competitions organized in Sibiu, Prague, Belgrade, Bucharest, London, Kishinaw and Tel Aviv. SIMFEST is also in collaboration or in partnership with other similar manifestations: CRONOGRAF Chishinaw, DETECTIVEFEST Moskow, CINEPOLITICA Bucharest etc.

The CINALFAMA FILM OBSERVATORY, held in a historic neighborhood, emerges as a transformative cultural initiative that strengthens the community network. By showing independent films, the project not only widens access to alternative and innovative narratives but also stimulates cultural engagement among residents, fostering a sense of identity and belonging.

This regular event, which takes place at Museu do Fado Auditorium, becomes a meeting point where generations cross paths, sharing experiences and reflections that transcend mere film viewing. In addition, by being located in a neighborhood with a rich historical heritage, the observatory revitalizes the urban space, attracting visitors and enhancing the appreciation of the local heritage, generating a very positive cultural dynamic

The Cinalfama Film Observatory is a regular cinema competition in January, April, and October.

The winning films of each of the three editions (Jan, Apr, Oct), will be showcased in our annual outdoor cinema event, Cinalfama Lisbon International Film Festival, in July 2025.

SAN BENEDETTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ( Terms, Rules, prizes and motivations can be translated in 22 languages visiting our site https://www.sanbenedettofilmfest.it)

"MAGICSCREENPLAY" ( Terms, Rules, prizes and motivations can be translated in 22 languages visiting our site https://www.sanbenedettofilmfest.it/magic-screenplay/)


We built a festival in total freedom, without any external conditioning. An International Short Film Competition. A window on cinema from a privileged viewpoint: the city of San Benedetto del Tronto. Born in 2017, the SBFF has become one of the leading international events for the Adriatic Riviera and the Piceno region. The events will take place at the Palazzina Azzurra in San Benedetto del Tronto (AP) on Viale Buozzi 14.

"MAGICSCREENPLAY" - (Collateral Event to the SAN BENEDETTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL) was born from the need to combine the scenic, architectural and natural beauties of the Marche Region in syncrasia with the cultural, social heritage and identity need of the places and the human and professional resources that come from them, evolve and hope for an ever-increasing expansion of training, skills and abilities.

The Contest was born within a strategy of discovery and promotion of national and international emerging talents and represents the exclusive context to select, through a Quality Jury, the best pitch, with a predefined theme, to be declined into a consequent script.

After the selection, the one deemed to perform best will be subjected to development through the creation of a short film with a total length of no more than 15 minutes, produced by the Associated Professionals Association of Art & Management "IL SERPENTE AUREO," in collaboration with and with the support of the FILM COMMISSION MARCHE, the MARCHE REGION and under the patronage of the City of San Benedetto del Tronto.

ARTIST'S VISIONS - VISIONS FROM THE WORLD

- " There is no art form like cinema to strike the conscience, shake the emotions and reach the secret rooms of the soul" Ingmar Bergman

- " Life in the depths is completely different from life on the surface and has mysterious and terrifying aspects" Dario Argento

- " I am not an artist but a craftsman" "The heart must mediate between the brain and the hands" Fritz Lang

- " I steal from every single film ever made. If I like things I mix them together. And if people don't like it, then don't go see it.... I steal from everything.... Great artists steal not make homages" Quentin Tarantino

- " No matter where the world goes, even if I can't speak a foreign language, I don't feel out of place. I think of the earth as my home. "Akira Kurosawa

- " An essential element of all art is risk..." Francis Ford Coppola

- " Cinema is a mode of expression that allows one to express all the nuances of a thing and its opposites..." Catherine Breillat

- " Unlike all other art forms, cinema is able to capture and render the passage of time, to stop it almost to possess it in infinity. I would say that film is the sculpture of time. "Andrei Tarkovsky

- " I am just a storyteller and film seems to be my medium. I like it because it recreates life in motion, enhances it ... it is my way of telling a story. "Federico Fellini

- " The art of film can only really exist through a highly organized betrayal of reality" François Truffaut

- " I work with my dreams or nightmares" David Cronenberg

- " If I can't get the characters to talk, then I give up " Quantin Tarantino

- " The poet stretches out his hand to lead us beyond the last horizon, beyond the top of the pyramid, to that land that extends beyond the true and the false, beyond life and death, beyond space and time, beyond reason and fantasy, beyond spirit and matter." Alejandro Jodorowsky

- " Cinema is the 'only art form in which the works move and the viewer remains motionless " Ennio Flaiano

- " Cinema is a cultural industry. Making films also means assuming a social and moral responsibility. Therefore, we should not produce what we can sell, but sell what we want to produce " Franco Cristaldi

- " I think that scandalizing is a right.... " Pier Paolo Pasolini

- " To act is to listen... " Pupi Avati

- " I think the past affects the ability to tell stories" Joel Coen

- " Cinema is beautiful if it can read reality " Ettore Scola

- " Cinema consists of two things: a screen and chairs. The secret lies in filling them both " Roberto Benigni

Presentation of Festival

The International Imago Film Festival was born with the idea of ​​promoting cinema, especially independent cinema, by encouraging research and experimentation with cinematographic language.
The idea of ​​the festival was born from the meeting of IMAGO with the city of Civitella del Tronto, where the award-winning film "The right to happiness" by Claudio Rossi Massimi was made by IMAGO.

After the first two editions in the wonderful setting of Civitella del Tronto, the third edition will take place in the Municipality of Teramo with a wide-ranging cultural program full of innovations that goes beyond national borders and which strengthens and highlights this fascinating bond .

The International Imago Film Festival will be all this and much more.

The municipality of Gravina di Catania and the cultural associations “Gravina Arte” and “No_Name”, organize the event “Via dei Corti” – 10th edition of the Independent Short Film Festival.

Insomnia International Animation Film Festival is the first Russian noncommercial open-air animation festival. Annually, on summer we find a meadow, build screens, meet guests and show best animation within a couple of nights.

FIDEMA only accepts short films under 18' long, and only with Spanish Subtitles.

The theme of the festival are the six basic emotions: sadness, anger, happiness, disgust, surprise and fear.

This edition will be adapted to the sanitary conditions of the country's covid.

The main goal of Burgas International Film Festival is to develop a sustainable platform for presentation of feature and short movies by acquainting the audience with the contemporary cinema art.

The mission of The Festival is to turn Burgas into cultural venue of filmmakers and movie fans.

The main scope of the Festival is to present the current trends in the Bulgarian and international cinema practice and to provoke intercultural dialogue.

NOX FILM FEST

The First Outdoor Fantastic Film Festival of Uruguay is celebrating it's 10th Anniversary
And we are preparing a big party to celebrate it

Enjoy with us!


The NOX FILM FEST is a fun cinematic experience that takes place in the South American summer.

The festival accepts genre films like: Horror-Fantasy-Sci-Fi and subgenres.

It's an open-air festival with free admission that every year receives thousands of young people and families whom enjoy their events.

The 10th Edition will take place from 16th to 18th January 2025 but we will have celebration's activities from November 2024.

The NOX FILM FEST will offer fun and attractive activities like:

Marathon of films
Live performances
Master classes
Workshops
NOX for kids
Book's presentations
Special guests
'Not we are alone' sessions.
Developing lab and more atractions


The NOX FILM FEST has an International Competition of feature films, medium-length films and short films.

It accepts submisions films from all over the world and awards prizes and special mentions in the following categories:

Best International Feature Film
Best Ibero-American Feature Film
Best Medium-length Film
Best Short Film (different sections)
Films made by women (FILM MADE BY WOMEN)
Special awards for direction, acting and screenplay.

This is our fourth edition of the Festival.

It is going to be hold annualy, in December.

Al Este is a festival coming out from the french festival A l'Est du Nouveau. Present in Peru since 2008, the mission of the festival is to promote film culture of the other Europe, that relegated to independent circuits, owning however, an invaluable wealth and tradition. Thus, Al Este seeks to spread the filmography of Europe, Latin America and Asia.

FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS OF THE FIRST EDITION, GABES CINEMA FEN FESTIVAL IS HOLDING A 4th EDITION FROM 6 TO 12 MAY IN GABES.

The festival, which considers Arab cinema as a priority by highlighting the new dynamics that it knows with openness on other cinemas and visual arts, returns with a new edition that it hopes will be up to the expectations of its public and actors of the cinema sector.

We extend an open invitation for Arab directors to register their long, short, documentary, feature or experimental films on the website www.gabescinemafen.com.

The XI edition of the Guayaquil International Film Festival will be celebrated in from july 30th – august 6th, 2025 from the city of Santiago de Guayaquil, Ecuador. With screenings in theatres and workshops, forums, and master classes. The biggest filmmaking experience in town.