Blog: Film festivals

Vienna’s first International Human Rights Film Festival - this human world, is a platform of cinematic art and critical discourse, a space of encounter and dialogue, and a meeting point for young innovative filmmakers, both local and international. We consider cinema not only an artistic form wherein narrative experiences are performed or created, but also an opportunity for the audience to step out of their comfort zone and into dialogue with new challenging realities.

The 11th edition of this human world is taking place in Vienna, from November 29th to December 10th, 2018.

this human world is Austria‘s first festival devoted to the subject of Human Rights and one of Vienna’s largest film festival.

The films shown at this human world are presented in an International competition programme consisting of four different sections and a number of thematic programmes, curated by the festival team, curators, experts, NGOs and partner festivals.

this human world presents outstanding documentary and fictional feature films, short films, animations and experimental films dealing with human rights issues. Films, that aim to encourage people, to scrutinise and re-examine their views and that are wary of human rights and responsibilities. Furthermore the festival programme contains thematic lectures, workshops, talks, panel discussions, performances and a nightline.

this human world ‘s annual competition programme does contain films, that raise social awareness of human rights issues outside the framework of mainstream films and that focus on socio-critical themes. Films, that fascinate and that captivate with their innovation, aesthetically and thematically. The application for the competition programme is open for films from all categories: fictional features, documentaries, animations, experimental films as well as animated and experimental short films produced after January 1st, 2017.

APANÉROWA film festival about human rights and indigenous peoples.

Star Film Fest is dedicated to films made by young authors all around the world. Clear, simple, lovely but also serious! For 8 consecutive years, we have been giving opportunities to young, and talented filmmakers to showcase their works on the projection screen. Through the categories like documentary, feature, experimental, animated, and student film, Star Film Fest provides affirmation to students of the Academy of dramatic arts and the Academy of fine arts, but also to any young person that wants to engage in film outside academic frame.

In addition to film screenings and competition programs, Star Film Fest is held at several ambient locations in Sisak, and with accompanying content such as exhibitions, film workshops, concerts, and discussions on current topics, the festival proudly spreads film art propaganda which for centuries brings growth and cultural development to Croatia and the world while also calling for critical thinking and openness.

As a festival organizator, Kino Klub Sisak is also the only gathering place for filmmakers in Sisak-moslavina county. The development of Star Film Fest showcases the necessity of decentralization of film culture and art in Croatia. Therefore, by promoting the culture of filmmaking, creativity and critical thinking along with creating and maintaining a much needed platform for self-realization of young filmmakers, Star Film Fest gets the mark of a festival that is oriented on the prosperity of new, fresh creators, and audiences.

The InFest Film Festival is a 2-day freak short film Festival which is held in Rubí, a city of asphalt, industry and smoke located in the Valles Occidental, a region located near Barcelona (Spain).

The InFest festival emerges as a firm and clear proposal: that Rubí be known as the Rubiwood of the Vallés district. During the last 8 years, InFest has organized the best possible short film experience: outdoors screenings, concerts, bar service and all kinds of activities related to cinema. What else can we ask for?

The InFest is devoted to showcase new short films (produced after year 2019) showing Sci-Fi, Fantastic, Freak and Horror elements. Short films cannot exceed 15 minutes length (credits excluded). Foreign films MUST be dubbed or subtitled in Spanish or Catalan, or the film will not be accepted.

In 2024, InFest will celebrate its 9th annual edition. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the InFest was moved to the amphitheater of The castle of Rubí ("El Castell"), a defensive construction from the 13th century, which can host public events with more than 2000 people. The amphitheater features seats, stage and bar! Jury Prize and Audience Award will receive 1000 and 250 euros, respectively.

LATIUM emerges as a festival that has the task of bringing together the best independent cinema in Latin America with the intention of promoting change towards a responsible lifestyle, promote the arts, education and social activism, by sensitizing the public for reasons social world. It also works as a forum for expression, dissemination and promotion of a genuine representative of our culture and Latin American cinema, catapulting new talent and consolidating it as a viable option for the creation of independent audiovisual productions. And the creation of a network of organizations and institutions that share and promote activities for solving social and environmental issues.



OBJECTIVE
The Festival proposes to convene and disseminating films that contribute, from its significance and its artistic values, the enrichment and reaffirmation of Latin American cultural identity; and catapult new talent as a viable option for the creation and enlargement of the Latin American audiovisual market.

The 14th edition 2023 of the Palena Film Festival invites you to submit your short film, animation or music video.

The Palena Film Festival is a four-day competition that will take place in Palena (CH) - Italy from 10th to 12th August 2023.
The prize-giving night will take place at the Aventino Theatre “Ettore Maria Margadonna” in Palena, on 12th August 2023 (21:00 local time).

Founded in 2008 by the cultural association of Palena (Associazione Culturale Palenese) and recognized as one of the most important short film festivals in the world, the Palena Film Festival (previously kwown as “Premio Cinematografico Palena” since its inception nine years ago) has received over 10500 short films, animations and music videos from more than 125 countries of all 5 continents through the years in the past nine editions.

The Palena Film Festival is open to any director and/or screenwriter together with their own, recently made productions of all kind of styles and subjects.

Each director can submit short films, animations or music videos (entry fee for each project).

The running time of the films must not exceed 40 minutes (opening and closing credits included).

The deadline for submitting entries is 30th June 2023 (23:59 local time).

The admission fee is fixed to €20.00 (EUR) for each project.

The Palena Film Festival celebrates two eminent representatives of the community of Palena: the Italian screenwriter Ettore Maria Margadonna (received Academy nomination and Nastro d’Argento Italian Film Award; worked in “Bread, Love and Dreams” of Luigi Comencini with Vittorio De Sica and Gina Lollobrigida; “Bread, Love and Jealousy” of Luigi Comencini with Vittorio De Sica and Gina Lollobrigida; “Scandal in Sorrento” of Dino Risi with Vittorio De Sica, Sophia Loren and Tina Pica; “Bread, Love and Andalusia” of Javier Setó with Vittorio De Sica, Carmen Sevilla and Vicente Parra; actor in “The White Sheik” of Federico Fellini with Alberto Sordi and Giulietta Masina) and the American singer and television personality Perry Como (Grammy Award, known for popular songs such as “Magic Moments”, “Papa loves mambo”, “Caterina”, “Here we come a-Caroling”, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas“; worked with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, also known for popular television shows such as “The Perry Como Show” and “The Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall).

Notable features of the festival include:
• over 10500 short films, animations and music videos received

• over 125 countries involved

• all 5 continents involved

• President of the jury is Prof. Marta Fontana

• the jury, nominated by the cultural association of Palena, consists of engineers, artists and representatives of the world of culture, film, performing arts and music.

• past personalities/celebrities attending have included, among the directors: Giuseppe Marco Albano (Nastro d'Argento and David di Donatello Italian Film Awards), Sydney Sibilia (Ciak D'oro and Italian Golden Globe Film Awards; worked in "Smetto quando voglio"), Alessia Scarso (worked in “Italo”), Pierluigi Ferrandini (worked with Sergio Rubini), Piero Messina (worked with Paolo Sorrentino and Juliette Binoche), Floria Sigismondi (MTV Video Music Awards, MTV European Awards and Juno awards; worked with Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, Interpol, The White Stripes, David Bowie, Sigur Rós, Sheryl Crow, The Cure, Björk, Muse, Justin Timberlake and Marilyn Manson)

• among the actors: Raoul Bova (Nastro d'Argento and Italian Golden Globe Film Awards), Alessandro Haber (David di Donatello, Nastro d'Argento and Italian Golden Globe Film Awards), Claudia Pandolfi, Ricky Memphis, Jane Alexander, Alessandro Preziosi, Donatella Rettore, Nino Frassica, Giancarlo Magalli, Corrado Oddi, Enzo Salvi, Toni Bertorelli, Sergio Fiorentini, Gabriele Pignotta, Anna Orso, Lindsay Kemp, Michela Andreozzi, Elisabetta Ferracini, Alessandro Borghi, Giancarlo Ratti

• among the artists, musicians and bands in the music videos: Duran Duran, Royksopp, Gnars Barkley, Moby, Rob Thomas, Korn, Modest mouse, Nicky Romero with Nile Rodgers, Offspring, Samuel Beam (Iron and Wine), Subsonica, Nek, Fabio Concato, Dolcenera, Mango with Franco Battiato, Peppino Di Capri, Teatro degli orrori

• among the special guests: Randall Paul (Actor)(worked in "Eyes wide shut" of Stanley Kubrick with Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Sydney Pollack; "Four Weddings and a funeral" of Mike Newell with Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell; “Mission Impossible" of Brian De Palma with Tom Cruise, Jon Voight and Jean Reno; "La Verità sta in cielo" of Roberto Faenza with Riccardo Scamarcio, Maya Sansa and Greta Scarano)Giulia Di Quilio (worked in "The great beauty" of Paolo Sorrentino) In 2018 he is one of the protagonists of the comedy It is not true but I believe it and also enters as guest in the soap opera" soap opera, playing the role of Clara Fiorito. Mauro John Capece (director), Corinna Coroneo (actress), Corrado Oddi (actor), Prof. Gian Piero Consoli (professor of History and Criticism of Cinema at the G. D'Annunzio University of Chieti - Italy), Maurizio Becker (editor in chef of musical magazines "Classic Rock" and “Vinile”) Sharon Salerni (photographer) Celeste Di Febo (Producer FASA), Mila Cantagallo (Journalist Rete 8) Dott.ss Paola Bellarosa (Abruzzo Region)

The Palena Film Festival enhances and promotes Palena, its territory and its cultural vocation which, during the years, has identified itself through this distinctive event.
Local history, heritage and artistic compositions all complement to make the right background to visual and musical means of expression.
The festival also presents a range of special events included film workshops, retrospectives and non-competitive feature films screening that are attended by the whole town, its city authorities, tourists and keen filmgoers.

The Palena Film Festival is promoted by the cultural association of Palena (Associazione Culturale Palenese), the Region of Abruzzo, the Municipality of Palena, Province of Chieti, Chamber of commerce of Chieti and Abruzzo Tourism Promotion.

Horror Minutes 2023

Minutes of Terror 2023

Bases of participation 2023

The call is open from April 2 to June 30, 2023.
All those interested in the genre of Suspense, Horror and Sci-Fi may participate without restriction of age or professional career.

In this fourteenth edition we are
Short films produced or co-produced in Mexico will compete for the "Juan Mora Catlett" award in honor of the director.

Each team or participant may present an unlimited number of works.

Fiaticorti was born in 2000 from the idea of some members of Istrana’s “Youth Project”.

The event name was selected for two reasons: firstly, 'shortness of breath' (fiato corto) is the effect of physical effort of short duration (the same duration of short movies). Moreover, a film that can last up to 20 minutes is able to convey strong emotions to the viewer, leaving her or him 'out of breath'.

Initially, fiaticorti was condensed into a single evening, namely an awards night. However, from the 4th edition on, the format has been enhanced, and the festival develops over four stages, during which the best works are presented.

In 2006 the section FiatiVeneti was introduced, to reward short film-makers from the Veneto region.

2011 represented fiaticorti’s turning point. Not only did longtime artistic director Gianni Billio pass the baton to Bartolo Ayroldi Sagarriga (the new artistic director), Andrea Grespan and Simone Perotto, but the quality of the films in competition increased dramatically, together with the number of foreign participants, mainly from France, Great Britain, Romania and Spain. fiaticorti increasingly became an international event.

But the identity of the festival, connected to the Italian film club culture of the Seventies, has always remained the same. Its goal is that of transmitting culture and passion for short films. That’s why the artistic direction has chosen not to accompany the festival with events of other kinds.

Festival Inclús is a festival of audiovisual productions, both documentary and fiction centered on the theme of physical and mental disabilities. It is an initiative Associació Inclús and conducted by Fish Muvi.

The aim of Festival Inclús is to give visibility to audiovisual works produced around the theme of disability with a different point of view. The goal is to provide a deepest perspective of the reality of disabilities, whether the production is carried by entities directly involved in the world of disability, or other persons or groups.

We also are an inclusive festival that is why we have two new sections: Inclus values, cinema for kids and teens about social issues and Sing Language cinema, movies in sign language.

The Festival will be held in November, 2024, close to the International Day of Disability December 3rd. The Audiovisual material of the finalists will be played during this day according to the different categories. There will be awards for the best submittals. Inclús focuses on audiovisual productions, but it also has other artistic and commercial activities and disciplines in order to give visibility to this sector.

From March 6 to Sunday 26 you can sign up for the Short Film Mode of the Mairena Creativa series

You can consult the bases and download the registration form and authorization at http://www.mairenajoven.com/mairenacreativa-cortometrajes

This year we incorporate novelties in the short film competition. We create the categories of Fiction, Documentary and Animation, each with an own prize of equal amount, and we maintain the prize for the best short film of municipal authorship. The form of presentation can be seen in the bases.

We hope you participate and count on your art! a greeting

Final Girls Berlin Film Festival showcases horror cinema that’s directed, written, or produced by women*. We are holding the sixth edition of FGBFF from February 3-6 2022 in Berlin. We are looking for horror films (as well as films with horror elements or films that pay homage to horror), of all lengths. We are also extra excited if female filmmakers wish to visit the festival in order to participate in panels, or give talks or workshops on a particular aspect of horror cinema. We are committed to creating space for female voices and visions, whether monstrous, heroic, or some messy combination of the two, in the horror genre.

Dublin Doc Fest is an exciting short documentary film festival showcasing work from both Irish & International documentary filmmakers in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 2013 by award winning documentary filmmaker, Tess Motherway, Dublin Doc Fest's objective is to provide a unique platform for short documentary film in Ireland & to place Dublin firmly on the map as an international destination for documentary film.

Our objective is to exhibit short documentary film in innovatively repurposed and non-traditional screening spaces across Dublin city. Dublin Doc Fest's previous editions took place in The Sugar Club, Dublin (July 2013), The National Library of Ireland's Reading Room (March 2014), The Irish Georgian Society (Feb 2015), Teeling Whiskey Distillery (Nov 2016) & The Royal Hibernian Academy (Nov 2017).

KFF was launched in 2013, as International Short Film Festival. From the very beginning, the essential part of our mission was to bring the audience closer to different kind of films and to provoke interest in film art, and furthermore in understanding its impacts in everyday life.

Festival is held annually during September in the city of Kraljevo (meaning "the King's Town"), where seven Serbian kings are said to have been crowned. Because of our historical heritage, we decided to name our festival “Kraljevski filmski festival”.

KFF is offering a filmmaker-friendly environment with a casual vibe, which is the reason why during the last 6 years we have had filmmakers flying in from the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Brazil, Hong Kong, Finland, France, Switzerland, Russia, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria…

In 2019, Kraljevski filmski festival had significant changes both on programming and management level by evolving to Post-production Film Festival. Our main goal besides showing great Short films will be to promote the art and craft of Post-production as well as the creative people from behind the camera. To achieve this, the KFF will invite postproduction artists from across the globe for masterclasses or workshops, and organize filmmakers meetings at KFF.

Dreamers International Film Festival is an annual celebrating event.

DIFF is to discover and spotlight an unique perspective and fresh films all around the world.

DIFF is an annual celebrating event for all genre short, documentary, music video and film with footage being shot using drones.

Your film will be viewed by our local audiences and will be judged by a jury of film professionals and a community of cinephiles.

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 Creative Arts Film Festival is an annual international film festival that is designed to showcase and promote short films and filmmakers. CAFF runs throughout the entire month of December and we offer worldwide exposure, free promotional listings, international audiences, and the prestigious "Perfect Spirit Film Awards". And, yes, we do accept Music Videos in any of the genres.

CAFF knows the value of a good film, and we do our best to let every creative artist know that it is all about them and their project.

“CAFF believes that it is through an army of fans that the creative artist can build a solid career in entertainment.”
~ Connie Spielberg, Filmmaker/Creative Arts Film Festival

CAFF considers short length films that are a MAXIMUM of 60 minutes (including credits), and we offer filmmakers premiere exposure to entertainment industry professionals and fans worldwide via our website. We are completely driven by love of the craft and our festival is committed to the filmmakers who bring great short films to the world.

Founded by filmmakers and creative artists, CAFF is like no other film festival, because it is designed to promote YOU, the filmmaker. Our innovations are all designed to further YOUR career. Such as: The Perfect Spirit Film Awards – to bring recognition and credibility to your work; Submitted Films Listings – Our massive additional promotional vehicle for our creative artists JUST FOR SUBMITTING A PROJECT. These are all unique marketing ideas that no other film festival in the world had ever offered before CAFF. We are proud to offer them to our filmmakers.

CAFF offers these initiatives because it brings more attention to YOU, the creative artist. They were pioneered to better serve the filmmaker. And, mixed with our marketing efforts, CAFF does all it can do to get you and your project in front of every single person around the world.

Thank You and Good Luck from Creative Arts Film Festival.

The Festival is open to the participation of:

Short Films
Documentaries
Panorama Campania

“Film-making is a chance to live many lifetimes.” - Robert Altman
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Get Reel is a film festival that aims to uncover the greatest new film-making talent, in Australia and New Zealand, by asking entrants to produce a film, less than 10 minutes in length, responding to a specific theme. The festival promotes creativity and has attracted over 1,650 to date. This year's theme will be Time to Talk.
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In 2016, the theme for the festival was Being Seen. After whittling down all of the entries over 180 attendees enjoyed the Top Ten films, as voted for by our film industry judging panel including Andrew Morley, Danielle Cormack, Jessica Grace Smith and Socratis Otto, at a Grand Final screening.

The Top Ten finalist screening provided a thought provoking night of entertainment with all funds raised going to Suicide Prevention Australia.

LA Shorts International Film Festival ranks among the most prestigious and largest international short film festivals in the world.

The festival is accredited by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences OSCAR®, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts BAFTA and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (ACCT) presenters of the Canadian Screen Awards and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Spain (Goya Awards).

We are proud to have 66 filmmakers from LA Shorts earned an Academy Award® nomination.

Now in its 28th year, LA Shorts is the longest-running short film festival in Los Angeles. The festival screens over 350 films and attracts over 10,000 attendees each year including Hollywood industry professionals and emerging independent filmmakers.

LA Shorts is an official qualifying event for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts BAFTA short film awards. Award-winners at the festival are eligible to win BAFTA Awards.

LA Shorts is recognized by The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (ACCT) presenters of the Canadian Screen Awards.

Those who have been honored at the festival include directors, Jon Favreau, Paul Haggis, Bryan Singer, Jan de Bont, Shane Black, and actors Gary Oldman, James Woods, Martin Landau and Richard Dreyfuss. Many recognizable directors and actors have screened films and attended the festival such as Scarlett Johansson, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Courteney Cox, Tim Burton, Sofia Coppola, Jason Reitman, Terry Gilliam, Spike Jonze, Eva Mendes, Jessica Biel, Rachel Weisz, Hilary Swank, Josh Brolin, Kirsten Dunst, Rita Wilson, Ralph Macchio, Ricky Gervais, Vin Diesel, John Stamos, Matthew Modine, Dean Cain, Robin Wright, George R. R. Martin and many many more.

The film programming screens all genres from a wide spectrum of categories with high to low-budget films 40 minutes or under. From recognizable directors and celebrity actors to students from the finest film schools and high school teenagers- they're all here to celebrate the art (and business) of short-form cinema!

The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, celebrating its 26th Anniversary October 6th-October 15th is the oldest non-fiction festival in North America. HSDFF offers multiple awards categories, and is a designated Academy-Award© -qualifying festival for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Documentary Short Subject. MovieMaker Magazine has named HSDFF to its global list of “50 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee”. Each year, HSDFF presents multiple special sidebar programs, one of the most recent being Women Behind the Lens: Diverse Perspectives in 2016, funded by a grant from the Academy®. Hot Springs presents the annual breakout Spa City Sports Series showcasing a selection of powerful human stories played out against the fields, arenas, rings and courts of competitive sports across the globe.

HSDFF, a 10-day all-pedestrian festival, makes its home in one of the most unique vacation destinations of the American South, the Historic Spa City of Hot Springs, Arkansas, with all screenings and parties held within easy walking distance. Each October, the city comes alive as film-lovers and filmmakers gather to immerse themselves in over 100 of the best international features and shorts the documentary world has to offer, and to attend unforgettable events. HSDFF offers one-of-a kind forums, tributes to industry greats, and numbers of noted guests and visiting professionals. Over the years, Hot Springs has hosted many of the greats in documentary film, and is known for its warmth and hospitality to filmmakers.