Blog: Film festivals

FANGES is an initiative born from the growing interest in genre films.

Its aim is the recognition, dissemination and promotion of cinematographic works of fantasy genre, suspense, thriller, horror, gore, action, fantasy, science fiction, and all those subgenera that make the cinematographic universe a magical place.

At the same time, it seeks to recognize the creators of these works in Chile and the world.


The festival is composed by an international competition of short and feature films, exhibition of films of the Fantastic and Terror genres, talks and a showfloor where genre works are exhibited in other formats: videogames, comic books, books, among others.

Berriozar Films Kultural “Lantzeluze” announces the “15th International Festival of Social Themed Short Films” that will take place in Berriozar.

Founded in 2003, IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival is dedicated to short films, new media and digital arts. Originating as a competitive forum for student films, it has grown to be a recognized platform for the expression of both young artists and established professionals – the only one of its kind in Bulgaria serving this particular sector of contemporary culture, and one of the oldest short film forums on the Balkans.

IN THE PALACE is a Goya Awards qualifying festival, Student Academy Awards® qualifying festival, and an Academy Awards®/OSCAR® qualifying festival for shorts in the categories of Best Animation, Best Fiction, Best Documentary, and Best National Film. IN THE PALACE is a member of the international network of festivals and institutions serving the short film sector – the Short Film Conference.

22nd IN THE PALACE will take place in the Palace of Culture Pernik (Pernik, Bulgaria) from June 28th until July 5th 2025.

IN THE PALACE is an established international festival dedicated to short films and digital arts and also presents special competitive programs for feature films and film series.

The program consistс of several main components:

• International and national, professional and student competitive programs in fiction, documentary, animation, experimental - for short and feature films and series

• ON FOCUS film programs & screenings

• Q & A sessions

• FILMER FORGE: industry market, industry meetings, film pitching session, educational program

• International Interdisciplinary Science Conference

• Video library

• Film events and initiatives for general audience

• Parties

IN THE PALACE takes place over a week and offers a range of events, activities, and programs for both - local and international film industry and audience. IN THE PALACE is a cultural meeting point of film industry, artists, students, educational institutions, and the general public, that provides access to the latest trends, developments, and learning in the arts and culture through screenings, training and interdisciplinary exchange. Since 2018 the Festival organizes the International Interdisciplinary Science Conference.

Brasília Animation Festival is the firts International Film Festival in Brasília, exclusevily for animation movies. The short films selected will be displayed between 04 and October 06, 2019. There will be a special session, named "Bloody Session", dedicated exclusively to marginal, experimental movies, fantastic, surreal and even scatological.

Montevideo Fantastic Film Festival is the first Uruguayan festival dedicated to promoting national and international film productions related to horror, fantasy and science fiction genres. Its objective is to annually present independent and ultra-independent creations that are often considered "minor", and that hardly access commercial and cultural circuits.

It has sections related to short and long feature films in competition, as well as exhibitions, tributes to different figures of the genre, lectures presented by specialists, and promotion of different cultural activities that occur in the country.

The Montevideo Fantastic Film Festival has been declared of Cultural Interest by the Ministry of Education and Culture, of Municipal Interest by the Intendance of Montevideo, and of Tourist Interest by the Ministry of Tourism in Uruguay.

It was screened in the Punta del Este International Film Festival, LatinUy Film Festival ("Cinema Fantasy" section, in La Barra), Piriápolis de Película International Film Festival ("FantaPiria" section), as well as in several foreign genre festivals like 'Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre' from Argentina; 'Brasilia International Fantastic Film Festival' from Brazil; 'FIXIÓN Fest' from Chile and 'Zinema Zombie Fest' from Colombia.

The Boca International Jewish Film Festival is presenting a broad array of exceptional films from the United States, Israel and around the world including feature films, documentaries, comedies and short films that explore the Jewish experience, culture, history, identity and topics relevant to Jewish life.

Original Version in Catalan

VOC Festival Òmnium de Curtmetratges és un projecte impulsat per Òmnium Cultural amb la finalitat d’estimular la producció de curtmetratges de qualitat en català, contribuir a la seva difusió i ampliar-ne el públic.

El VOC és un festival únic perquè arriba a més de 90 sales d’arreu dels Països Catalans simultàniament durant els mesos de febrer i març. És un punt de trobada entre creadors, públic i referents del sector, una oportunitat per compartir l’experiència del cinema en llengua catalana.

The Flor Azul international short film festival will be held at the 25 de Febrero Cultural Center (Caballito, City of Buenos Aires, Argentina) on September 25, 2021.

The festival is organized by the 25 de Febrero Cultural Center and the 25 de Febrero group.

Cinema is an art form that needs to be simultaneously nourished and challenged and ÉCU - The European Independent Film Festival provides the perfect arena for indie filmmakers to express authentic cinematic storytelling in the most compelling ways possible.

As one the World’s truly stand out independent film festivals, ÉCU embraces innovation and creativity and allows directors in competition to showcase their films to audiences who appreciate and love independent cinema. Filmmakers who are selected into ÉCU’s Official Selection join an active community of creatives who continually push the boundaries of indie cinema.

"It is always an absolute joy to present one's work at ECU. The team are fantastically helpful, the jury extremely competent, and the selection of the highest quality. I would recommend participating to anyone who's in love with indie filmmaking!" - Celina Liesegang, producer of Viscera: Autopsy of a (non)human body, ÉCU 2022 Official Selection

"It's always a pleasure having our films at ÉCU, especially this year with our awarded short film "Useless"! The communication has been great during the whole process and our filmmakers are so excited to be part of this competition. See you again next year with new projects!" - Marta Salvador Tato, distributor of USELESS, the winner of the Best European Independent Dramatic Short award 2022

Since its inception in 2006 ÉCU has forged a path for independent film and the scope of its presence has grown to a global scale with the festival often being referenced as the European equivalent of Sundance, an honour that we don’t take lightly.

Spring is not only a fabulous time for Paris but an exciting time for ÉCU because that is when we showcase roughly around 100 of the World’s very best independent films. Although ÉCU emphasises European talent, it also recognises the genius of international filmmakers with several categories allocated to non-European films.

The next ÉCU, the 19th edition, will take place on the 19th, 20th and 21st of April, 2024 in Paris, France.

ÉCU isn’t just all about screening an amazing slate of films over its three-day event in Paris in April. There are also professional workshops led by experts in the industry, Q&A’s held with the attending filmmakers after every screening session and a chance to network with fellow filmmakers, producers, agents, industry representatives, prospective film buyers and, of course, the cinema-loving public. At ÉCU, there is a continual dialogue celebrating and critiquing the world’s best indie cinema of today.


Though ÉCU’s main event IS the three-day festival in Paris each spring, there is even more! Thanks to our over 50 partner festivals, partner organizations, film centres and film commissions, ÉCU’s goes on an annual world tour called ÉCU-On-The-Road, which gives award-winning films (as well as many of the Official Selection films) the opportunity to have their films screened to a broader, global audience. ÉCU-On-The-Road showcased films in over 80 countries around the globe in 2016 - 2023 at special ÉCU mini-festivals, partner festivals, cultural institutions and film schools, including an amazing seven day special festival in São Paulo, Brazil. The event was made possible through the support of Caixa Cultural, São Paulo and was a huge success. ÉCU also held special events in Berlin (Germany), Cannes (France) and was part of festivals in Lebanon, Italy, Russia, USA, Romania, Austria, Denmark and ot­her countries. This gives ÉCU filmmakers great exposure to audiences that they may never have reached.

Since 2006, ÉCU has helped the careers of literally hundreds of independent filmmakers, actors, DPs, editors, screenwriters and is honoured to be firmly established as one of the World’s eminent indie film festivals.

Above all, we are proud to be a filmmakers’ festival!

Only for Spanish Films.

FAN Chile International Audiovisual Contest

FAN CHILE Audiovisual Festival for Children calls to participate in its international competition of audiovisual
quality productions for kids, from any country.

FAN CHILE 5th edition from September 10th to 14th, 2019.

FAN CHILE Audiovisual Festival for Children awards and promotes the debate on audiovisual content for children. Productions and co-productions in any language can entry, but only if they are dubbed or subtitled in
Spanish.

TV channels and independent producers can participate. The call is open to all kinds oftechniques, genders and formats.

Productions that have been completed or aired any time between january, 2017 and May 2019, will be accepted.

It is a Festival with two sections to contest. Official Section and Section of Asturian Short Films. Three prizes will be awarded (best short official section, best performance and best short Asturian). All the information is in the bases. Any author of any nationality can participate.

The International Film Festival “La Picasa” will be held in the town of Cinco Saltos (Río Negro, Argentina), on March 20, 21, 22 and 23, 2025. The Festival is organized by Picasa Team, social organizations in the region and with the collaboration of the Province of Río Negro. The programming is in charge of the Artistic Director Ivan Iannamico with the general production of Noelia Fuentes.

Semillero Green Film Fest 2020 es la 10º edición del Concurso Nacional de Cortometrajes de Temática Ambiental. Su objetivo principal es fomentar la creatividad y apoyar la realización nacional independiente de obras audiovisuales cuyo contenido esté referido a la temática ambiental.
El concurso posee dos categorías de participación:

SEMILLERO
Incluye a todas aquellas personas residentes en la Argentina, con domicilio acreditable en el país, o de nacionalidad argentina y que residan en el exterior, mayores de 18 años, a través de la presentación de una o más obras.

SEMILLERITO
Incluye a todos los niños y niñas de nacionalidad argentina de entre 5 y 13 años, que estudien en las escuelas de educación primaria de todo el país, a través de la presentación de una o más obras. Se podrán presentar también las escuelas primarias de todo el país, tanto de gestión pública como privada.

LAKE VIEW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is an independent film festival. Lake View Film Festival is open to all Organization /Agency /Independent /Producer/Directors. Aiming to inspire, motivate and award the truly innovative and artistic geniuses of our time. Every independent artist hopes to one day emerge from the underground scene and share their talents with the masses. Hopefully, the showcase platform we provide will help facilitate that dream. We’re excited to display a wide range of works from all genres that will have industry pros, filmmakers and filmgoers buzzing.

Our Judges will award the best films of each category. Every selected film will be given the distinction of an Official selection of the event in which Judges will award the best films of each category. All official Selected films will be screened in the event. The event will be placed in Ludhiana.
All Official Selections, Nominees, and Winners will be announced on our website and via social media.

The Mix Brasil Festival is an annual cultural event with a focus on films related to sexuality in its various forms of expression.

In 2020, an estimated audience of 176k people attended the screenings, theatre and music performances, conferences, and debates promoted in the festival's 28th annual edition.

Mix Brasil is held in November at prestigious movie theaters across São Paulo and takes full advantage of the diversity of the city to host a variety of innovative events. After São Paulo, Mix Brasil tours abridged programs to other Brazilian cities.

The event is carried out by the Associação Cultural Mix Brasil, a non-profit organization that seeks to promote the freedom of expression of sexual diversity by looking at new and different ways that this is achieved.

** IMPORTANT – COVID-19 ALERT **

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Festival Mix Brasil 2021’s edition will take place online, on a secure platform, with a limited number of attendees in each screening. If the guidelines of the local public agencies allow this the Festival may also take place in movie theaters.
It is thus concluded that your submission at Festival Mix Brasil / Festhome means that you agree that, if selected, the film will also be shown online.

Diorama seeks to redefine Film Festivals by introducing meaningful film sections, real entertainment, the science of cinema, the business of cinema and education. The festival connects Festival delegates, talent and crews across art, commerce and science of cinema with each other.

While Diorama Film Bazaar connects Content Sellers, Buyers, Producers, Directors, Financiers and Governments. To participate, or to know more please log in to the festival website.

At Phenomena Festival, we celebrate the most imaginative and captivating genre films from around the world. From fantasy and sci-fi to horror and thrillers, we're on the hunt for the most unique and surreal films to showcase for a global audience of film enthusiasts.

Our goal is to discover films that not only entertain, but also have a deeper meaning or message hidden within. These are the films that stay with us long after the credits have rolled, the ones that transport us on a journey beyond the ordinary. We believe that genre films offer a rare opportunity to combine art and entertainment in a meaningful way, and we're passionate about promoting and celebrating this type of storytelling.

The festival takes place in the bustling metropolis of São Paulo, Brazil, and in the picturesque coastal town of Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, with a full week of screenings, panel discussions and workshops. As one of the biggest markets for independent films, São Paulo is the perfect location to showcase the best in genre filmmaking.

So if you're a filmmaker or artist with a genre-bending film, we invite you to submit your work to Phenomena Festival. We welcome diversity and originality, and impose no ratings restrictions. Join us for a week of great films and an unforgettable experience. Submit your film now!

FRICINE aims to display, publicize and reward audiovisual works, ideas and actions that by their artistic form and the relevance of its content contribute to promote the overcoming of problems that disturb the Peace of Humanity and threaten Life on Earth.

Opting to go against primarily commercial interests, FRICINE's biggest prize is to give the public access to the debate on the main problems that the human being and it ecosystem face today.

FRICINE 2019 will highlight HUMOR,in its most diverse forms, for its extraordinary ability to stimulate us to disarm our fears and prejudices in search of a world more loving, healthy and just for all.

THE XII edition of the CALI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (FICCALI) is organized by the Secretaría de Cultura de la Municipalidad de Cali, Colombia.

FICCALI opens its competitive section for national short films.

DEADLINE: AUGUST 31, 2020