Blog: Film festivals

Did you know each year a transformation happens in Los Angeles, CA? People from around the globe gather to attend the largest and most prestigious Black film festival in the United States. From 100 million dollar blockbuster premieres to newly emerging Hollywood talent, The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) showcases a broad array of Black creative works from the world over, highlighting those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes. Nowhere else can audiences find this unique opportunity to come together through film and art to explore new worlds, meet new people and acquire new information and ideas.

PAFF is designated as an official qualifying film festival for narrative live action and animated short films for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Venerated by tens of thousands every year, PAFF screens more than 175 new films across 6 screens in state of the art digital projection to the delight of an audience of sophisticated movie lovers. PAFF’s audience loves PAFF and PAFF loves them. Each year PAFF becomes a pilgrimage for attendees who hail from all over the United States and the World! Known for its industry panels, special events and great parties, we invite filmmakers to take this one-of-a-kind opportunity to connect to their core audience and experience the special magic of PAFF.

Did we mention celebrities? Celeb sightings: Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier, Danny Glover, Idris Elba, Mo’Nique, Kevin Hart, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Phylicia Rashad, Lou Gossett, Jr., Issa Rae, Taraji P. Henson, Trevor Noah, David Oweloyo, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Majid Michel, Alfre Woodard, Blair Underwood, Kerry Washington, Nate Parker, Salli Richardson, Dorian Missick, Jesse Williams, Michael Ealy, Anthony Anderson, Omotola, Boris Kodjoe, Whoopi Goldberg, Omari Hardwick, Chadwick Boseman, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Shia LaBeouf, CCH Pounder, Omar Epps, Regina King, Sanaa Lathan, John Legend, Tika Sumpter, Tim Roth, Van Vicker, Gabrielle Union, Alfre Woodard, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Wesley Snipes, Meagan Good, Loretta Devine, Bill Duke, Lisa Raye, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Hill Harper, Mario Van Peebles, Eriq LaSalle, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Sharon Leal, Stacey Dash, Billy Dee Williams, Terrence Howard, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Omar Benson Miller, Isaiah Washington, Joy Bryant, Regina Hall, Jussie Smollett, Robert Townsend, Ja'Net Dubois, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Djimon Hounsou, Glynn Turman, Vivica Fox, Kimberly Elise, Don Cheadle and the list goes on and on.

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.

19. International Izmir Short Film Festival
Izmir International Short Film Festival has been holding its place as being one of the greatest events in the field of movie in Turkey and it will meet with its audience 17th times in this year. The festival is the first film festival that gives international rewards to short films. It began to show its movies in 2000 and since then it has been one of the most esteemed festivals between movie lovers and in the field of movie.

The Festival in their editions has received the cooperation and participation of various institutions and organizations in cinematic character and national and international reach, such as;

• Mexican Film Institute IMCINE
• Film Training Center CCC
• Cooperative Action Film seasonings CCAC
• National Register of Actors RNA
• Mexican Institute of Film and Humanities Research Imich

The Film Festival in Paracho had projected internationally recognized such as RUPESTRE film work; THE DOCUMENTARY, filmmaker Alberto Zúñiga and Oscar nominated short film LA PARKA by filmmaker Gabriel Serra.

"LFF - Lamezia Film Fest " is a cinematographic festival that has come to the fifth edition, in the suggestive setting of Chiostro San Domenico in the center of Lamezia Terme, at middle of Calabria. Inside the Festival there's a competitive section, "COLPO D'OCCHIO", reserved for short films of any kind and nationality of the maximum duration of 30''. The section is divided in two part: an international competition, in wich the winner will receive a cash prize, a winning plate and will enter the official React Film Fest Official Selection; and an calabrian competition, in wich the first wins a free distribution from Calabria Film Commission.
In addition, the jury award given by the UNA association will be awarded.

Only for regional filmmakers or for those living in Navarra, Spain.

The phenomenon of Russian civilization, immeasurable by the "common yardstick", by the end of the first quarter of the 21st century regains its relevance - both in the world and in Russia.

The word "Russian" in the understanding of the organizers of the film festival does not define nationality, but civilizational and ideological belonging - to the multinational Russian world.

A Russian person differs from a "Western" person. A Russian person can commit acts illogical and "unprofitable" - from the point of view of representatives of Western civilization: to the detriment of himself, but in the name of justice. After all, for a Russian person - if in good conscience and fairness, then this is both logical and beneficial.

Now, when the whole world is faced with global challenges - technological, social, economic, spiritual and ideological - we are again trying to find a source of strength in those intangible values ​​that have given and still give the Russian world an advantage over the centuries.

Experience of holding the Russian Film Festival in 2017-2020. discovered a real interest of filmmakers from the regions of Russia and from other countries in comprehending the inexhaustible theme of the "mysterious Russian soul". This is especially true for young representatives of auteur cinema in Russia, for whom the Russian Film Festival has become a meeting place both with colleagues and with grateful moviegoers.

The Russian Film Festival is becoming that public creative space where there is a lively process of forming a community of like-minded people who consciously reflect in their work the spiritual and moral values ​​of Russian civilization.

IFF ZOOM - ZBLIZENIA (Jelenia Góra) is one of the largest and most important independent cinema festivals in Poland. Its aim is to present the author's cinema, ambitious, high artistic value, moving independent and original subject matter, as well as promotion of independent film art.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, we would like to inform you that the Russian films which will be submitted to the 28. IFF ZOOM-ZBLIŻENIA 2025 will not be eligible for competitions.

Only for Latinamerican filmmakers

The Cadaqués Shortfilm Festival is born from the collaboration between the City Council of Cadaqués and Cadaqués Shortfilm Festival.
The CSF 2021 is recognized and is part of the official calendars of the ICCA (Ministry of culture of Spain) and Catalan Films
The initial spirit of the CSF is a competitive short film festival with special projections related to Cadaqués and Surrealism, in this sense, nothing better than the Festival inaugurated with the projection of the iconic film of this movement, "Un Chien andalou" by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí.

The CSF includes the Experimental and Surrealist Film Festival as Official Sections, a differentiated feature of this festival, with a clear international vocation.
Cadaqués, known worldwide for its most illustrious habitant, Salvador Dalí, is the ideal place for a film festival of these characteristics.
It's in Festivals of this format in the short film about and educates the viewer in this film typology, hoping that soon, the CSF will be a referential Festival in the rich cultural activity of Cadaqués.

---The FilmmakerDay is one of the main stages of the Torino Underground ---

Welcome back Filmmaker to the 9° edition!!

After the great success of the latest edition, submissions to the eighth edition of FilmmakerDay are now open.

The event is taking place in October 2023 in the wonderful setting of Turin, a city that has become one of the undisputed centres of the art of cinema. FilmmakerDay summons many authors from every corner of the world, as well as a wide audience of cinema lovers.

A great number of high-quality films have taken part in FilmmakerDay. Among them: News Neighbors by Bayley, directly from Sundance Film Festival; A Gentle Night by Qiu Yang, winner of Cannes Palme d'Or; In the Hills by Hamid Ahmadi, an official selection at Toronto International Film Festival.

The ninth edition of FILMMAKER DAY is now organized by the Systemout Association and ArtInMovimento Association as an event whose intention is to give value to filmmakers’ creativity.

This festival is dedicated to short and feature films of any genre and runtime. There are no rules or limitations.
The ninth edition of Filmmaker Day is taking place in Turin, at the end of october 2023, at the prestigious " Cinema Baretti".

The event derives from the need of giving space and visibility to films coming from all over the world.

Apart from the Best Film, ArtInMovimento Magazine and Italia Che Cambia, two magazines that are both Media Partner of the event, will also give special attention to the most deserving films.

MAIN FEATURES:

- Films selected by a qualified jury
- Selected films will screen at the
end of October, 2023

Cortos en Grande Short Film Festival is an event organized by Fundación Viart and Balmaceda Arte Joven that seeks to promote young creation and give a new opportunity to new generations of filmmakers, highlighting and rewarding their work and talent. Its main objective is to be a platform for dissemination and real support for the development of emerging cinema, providing its filmmakers with a space for the presentation and development of their artistic proposals.

Transylvania Cinema Awards is a film competition with two seasonal events, reuniting cinema enthousiasts in the heart of Transylvania, Romania. The goal is to design a space where innovation and creativity fusion in order to deliver the best result to a new public.

We create an opportunity for filmmakers to get their films judged and let them compete with other filmmakers. We perform a comprehensive evaluation process and the jury of film professionals will only select high quality films. The festival will welcome all genres of films from all over the world. We expect to receive films with courage, unique voices and messages and a strong personal mark.

The competition is structured on two seasons, winter and summer, with an official screening event per each season. The best films from each category will be screened on the most beautiful venue of Targu Mures, a charming old city in Transylvania, Cinema Arta, a place with longstanding tradition for film lovers.

Cinema Arta has 3 screening rooms with a total of 340 seat capacity. Films can be screened in 2D/3D/DCI with Dolby Digital Sound.

For filmmakers who want to attend the January event, the cinema is located in P-ta Trandafirilor nr. 35-37, Targu Mures, jud. Mures, 540049, Romania. For event tickets and bookings please contact us in advance.

The deadline for entries in the next autumn season is 1 September 2018 and the Official Screening will be held on 5-7 October 2018. Winners will be notified and published on the official site and social media pages of the festival after the screenings.

Jiffy Louvre II: Leave Worry Behind (Again)

After a two-year hiatus, the Short Shorts Festival at Whitespace Gallery in Atlanta GA returns for its seventh iteration and the second juried by Atlanta artist and Welch School of Art & Design director Joe Peragine. The title, originally used in Short Shorts 2019, is a mash-up of high (the Louvre, the museum of museums) and low (Jiffy Lube, purveyors of the drive- through lube job whose slogan is “leave worry behind”). The title encapsulates the wide-ranging aesthetic goal of this festival. Any budget, any genre, any story is welcome, provided it gives us a brief respite from these screwed up times we live in. We are open to off-beat, non-narrative, and experimental work.

Short Shorts film festival will have an outdoor live screening at Whitespace Gallery in Atlanta on Saturday, September 17, 2022. Whitespace is one of the leading contemporary art galleries in Atlanta and across the southeast, fostering an immersive environment of free-expression, intimacy, and dialogue. There will also be a second outdoor live screening on the campus of Georgia State University on Thursday, September 22nd, 2022.

Joe Peragines’s paintings, sculpture and animation have been presented in galleries, contemporary art spaces and museums throughout the USA and internationally. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Peragine lives with his family in Atlanta and is currently the Director of the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design at Georgia State University.

Dock of the Bay is a festival focussed on the dissemination of non-fiction films addressing the extensive world of music in its different thematic and formal aspects.

The Dock of the Bay Festival will run in Donostia-San Sebastian from May 3rd to 8th of 2023.

THEME: Youth Mental Health (Stress, stigma, depression, game addiction, substance abuse). Movies should portray Mental health issues in a positive light.

Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) is a non-governmental organization working from Chennai, in the field of mental health for over 3 decades. SCARF invites the participants to create clean, accurate, realistic and optimistic short films of less than 5 minutes on the topic of “Youth Mental Health".

Frame of Mind is an awareness initiative of SCARF which aims at promoting awareness about mental health through movies. It has a competition section which is open to all who are interested in mental health and film making. The purpose of the competition section is to encourage young film makers to show mental health related issues in proper perspective.

RURÉFILOS, International Film and Rural World Festival is a multidisciplinary meeting point in which, through audiovisual language, a space is provided for debate and creative reflection on the past, present and future of the rural world.

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.

Welcome to Borobudur International Film Festival. Borobudur Temple is the biggest Buddhism temple and UNESCO World Heritage Site. This unique historical building is a pyramidal shape that built in the 9th century during the reign of the Sailendra Dynasty, and the structure is a mix of the Javanese Buddhist architecture, and the Buddhist concept, and located in the southern part of Central Java, at the center of the island of Java, Indonesia.

VISION AND

The Festival is established in honoring the glorious time of the past, to preserve the culture, and to popularize the history of human civilization, especially the Borobudur Temple to the international world through filmmaking.

Filmmakers, travelers, and history lover, artist, and students are welcome to submit their work.

We are searching for a high-quality films/documentaries with outstanding cinematography and touching stories that go inline with the vision of the festival, and carrying themes about historical places, tradition, ancient story, history, heroism, mystical, religious stories from the past, prehistoric, archaeology, folklore, verbal tradition, kingdoms, art, literature, and culture.

We are also looking for artist, sculpture, art maker, musician, dancer, painter, and people who care about ancient tradition to submit their work.

EDITA is a festival of short films for social transformation that aims, through audiovisual creation, to increase critical capacity, involve citizens in the promotion of rights and make viewers feel called and challenged to action for social change.

With this event, ASAD wants to get to know and disseminate new social imaginaries, look from other perspectives and approach non-hegemonic proposals that are committed to gender equality, cultural diversity and climate action.

This event is committed to cultural promotion and the diversity of artistic expressions while raising awareness and mobilisation on social issues and the 2030 Agenda in the communities. It is constituted as an itinerant edition seeking social participation in rural areas.

The contest “EDITA 2024” is included in the proyect #RuralizArte por los ODS: Fortaleciendo el compromiso del mundo rural con la Agenda 2023 a través de procesos culturales participativos of Asociación Solidaria Andaluza de Desarrollo (ASAD) funded by la Diputación de Granada