Blog: Film festivals

The Salento International Film Festival Is a celebration of films and filmmakers, promotes international independent films, in recognition of the fact that movies are the most powerful form of cultural communication and link between cultures' and peoples'.

Founded in 2004 by Luigi Campanile, the Salento International Film Festival emerged as a major cultural event and the top film festival in South Italy. Each year it introduces filmmakers worldwide to the Salento area's unique resources, while celebrating the history and future of the film industry with 5 days of world premieres, special events, seminars, feature films, short films, documentaries.

For the past few years SIFF has organized and run a world tour, taking the festival to international destinations like Zurich, London, Hong Kong, New York, Santiago del Cile, Moscow, San Petersburg, Oslo and more, presenting the “Best of the Fest” event. This gives SIFF the opportunity to showcase some of the best movies presented at the Festival to an international public, in prestigious locations such as Italian Cultural Institutes in the world and Cinema theatres, increasing the visibility and appreciation of such works which struggle to find a distribution channel.

Moscow Indie Film Festival is easily one of the most filmmaker friendly independent film festivals screenings in a major entertainment city anywhere in the world. We know how painstakingly difficult it is to make a movie. Moscow Indie Film Festival is about helping independent filmmakers gain the credibility and promotion they justly deserve. We are here to show your talent to the world.

The festival aims to bring to Moscow several films from all around the world, but very few times (sometimes never) screened in our great city.

Edinburgh Short Film Festival Now Open! International Tours & Cash Awards

The 14th edition of the ESFF with International Film Festival showcases, more short film screenings, trophies, cash prizes and awards!

Max Length 25 minutes, international films welcomed, all genres eligible.

Open for entries online and via Festhome!

http://www.edinburghshortfilmfestival.com/

Looking forward to seeing your films!

CortiFestival Cine Escolar will be held in the Ámbito Cultural of El Corte Inglés in Alicante and Elche (Spain).

CortiFestival (Educational centers): Short films made by students, which aims to bring the audiovisual language to the classroom and introduce the cinema as a didactic tool in educational centers.

CortiFestival (Professionals): Short films made by professionals or enthusiasts of the seventh art, with a theme aimed to children and young people where education in values is present.

GENERAL INFORMATION

TIRANA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is the first international film festival created in 2003 as one of the most important cinematic events in Europe.

We are thrilled and honored to be approved as an official Academy Awards® and European Film Awards qualifying festival, it’s truly a tremendous opportunity for our filmmakers and future Best Short Film Award winners also for Student Academy Awards (SAA).

TIFF aims to create in Albania, as well as in the region, a cultural center of worldwide alternative and independent cinema. Albania is a solar, enthusiastic and friendly country and besides the “strong competition” TIFF aims at the same time to be a meeting point of cultures, where people of Tirana, the guests and all those who love films will have a cinema-language-communication week.

TIFF aims to create a friendly space for film artists and cinema enthusiasts from Albania, Europe and the entire world to come together and share their linked passion and knowledge of the motion picture art form. The intention of TIFF is to bring filmmakers, producers and distributors from all around the world to Tirana, in hopes of fostering future co-operation in this interesting scenic area. By bringing together these distinct voices and their work, TIFF commits itself to introducing audiences to alternative visions of extraordinary diversity. "Think Different, Watch Alike" is the slogan and motto of TIFF.

TIFF aims to demonstrate strong efficiency in audience development (especially toward young audience) by implementing activities before, during and after the event, including year-long activities and traveling to other cities with various smaller partner and smaller festivals in the country. Partnering with small organizations and youth centers around the country in order to use the existing facilities in each city will not only give to TIFF a large national impact, but will enhance on the other side the increase of values of small events in each respective city in which TIFF will be present.

The festival gets thousands of submissions a year from over 120 countries around the world that of submitted online through online platforms, which are then considered for selection. TIFF is an international cinema event whose main objective is to enlarge the number of venues and time of screening of European and non-European films of all genres and durations in Albania as well as it is considered to be an event to develop new audiences around the country, combining film screenings with public debates and thematic debates approaching new and an increased Film Audience and focusing also on Film Literacy.

The daily program of TIFF combines more than 200 premieres of feature and short films in competition in all formats and genres: fiction, documentary, animation, experimental and video art. Open to any filmmaker from around the world, TIFF showcases new cinematic work by established directors with international reputations as well as movies by talented students and young artists.


A. COMPETITION PROGRAM
1. FULL LENGTH FILMS
• Feature films
• PerspecTIFF (debut feature films)
• Documentary
• Made In ALBANIAn

2. SHORT FILMS
• Fiction/Live Action (Oscar® & European Film Awards qualifying)
• Animation (Oscar® & European Film Awards qualifying)
• Documentary (European Film Awards qualifying)
• Video Art & Experimental (European Film Awards qualifying)
• Student films (all genres) (Academy Awards® qualifying)
• Balkan Films (all genres)
• In Albanian (all genres)

3. PANORAMA has some thematic sections dedicated to the most sensitive social topics and problematic social groups as for children, women, immigration, integration of persons with disabilities, LGBT, etc. with those sections:

• KIDs
• GENERATIONs
• NEW WORLD
• DIVERGENT MINDS
• PARADE

4. SCREENPLAY ContesTIFF
Consists in the application of original live-action and animated short film scripts and other short form scripts of all genres (max. 20 pages).
The said competition did not aim to evaluate only the best script, but to evaluate from our partners, producers and distributors, the best and most possible script to be produced by them and with the greatest chances to be successfully distributed in the most popular international festivals for short films.


B. SPECIAL PROGRAM & SCREENINGS

Besides the competition program TIFF reserves a large space to the special programs and screenings.

1. FOCUS is a special program, which is based on tribute or homage to the cinema author and/or the filmography of a given country.

2. RetrospecTIFF and TIFF Classics brings to the new audience the most prominent national or international authors of the film history.

3. PICTURE YOUR LIFE, CREATE THE FUTURE
TIFF will continue to have a large space to the special program KIDs, an exclusive program for children from 5-15 age average. This initiative comes as a long-term investment to raise and educate future cinematic audiences with artistic films through acquired projects in Creative Europe for the distribution and promotion of European films.

4. REFLECTING ALBANIA is the oldest program of the festival, dedicated to the foreign filmmakers who have produced their films in Albania or in Albanian speaking territory.

5. Oscar® Nominated Short Films & European Film Awards Shorts Tour

6. FesTIFFal is a special program with selected films by festival partners.


C. NEW FEATURES – PARALLEL SCREENINGS
TIRANA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL has the pleasure to announce four major services available for the applicants. Since its inception in 2003, TIFF received over 50,000 short and feature films from over 120 countries around the world. Out of all these applications more than 200 films can be chosen each year for the competition program. With these four new services, TIFF offers the opportunity to many films to be shown in alternative ways (TV, online, market, special programs) in a wider audience and experts.
The applicants must optionally apply clearly for each one of these new services.

• TIFF.TV Competition
With our media TV partners we offer the possibility to directors screening their films (selected for the official competitive program or not) to the Albanian audience and win the TV juries and audience awards.

• TIFF on Tour
TIFF will act as ambassador for the submitted films and will travel with a selection to other Albanian cities during the year. TIFF will also propose special screenings to other regional festivals in accordance to a specific subject or theme of each collaborative festival.

• TIFF Online Library
TIFF offer the online presentation of each film, in a dedicated page, as a part of a film library, with all related information and with the possibility to receive comments from the international internet audience and industry. The screening of films is open to anyone without charges. The films will be available for viewing in the film library as long as director/producer wishes.

• TIFF Market Corner
TIFF will create a market corner, where potential buyers can watch all films and make their selection. TIFF will also act as a festival promoter and distributor. In case of financial contract with a distributor, TIFF will receive a fee of 5%.


Find us:

info@tiranafilmfest.org | www.tiranafilmfest.org | facebook.com/TiranaFilmFest |
instagram.com/tiranafilmfest | twitter@TiranaFilmFest | youtube.com/user/TiranaFilmFestival1 | vimeo.com/ tiranafilmfest | linkedin.com/ company/1796049/admin/

ARCHÈTIPO Associazione Culturale and
AMICI DI MARCO NOCENTINI, together with the Assessorate to Culture of Comune di Bagno a Ripoli (Fi) and FST Fondazione Sistema Toscana–Area Cinema e Mediateca,
are organizing the nineteenth edition of the Short Film Festival SCHERMI IRREGOLARI,
which will take place at TEATRO COMUNALE di ANTELLA, via Montisoni
10, Bagno a Ripoli (Fi), on Friday March 23rd
2018 at 9.00 p.m.

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.

A STEP TOWARD THE OSCARS
for FOX, NBC, CBS and Authority Magazine.

REVIEWS
"My favorite festival" Alex Proyas (I Robot, The Crow, Dark City)

"Other nominees included already famous people! It really was an honor to be nominated alongside such great nominees" Lisa Hurel.

“I truly cannot say enough good things about the Paris Art and Movie Awards. My experience with this event was easily the best and rewarding” - Ev Duran.

"One of the most organized and professionally run festivals I've been to! The official selections were of a high standard and the networking was incredible" - Jami Ramberan.

"One of the best festival experiences I've had. Magnifique!" Warren Paul Glover.

"The Fisherman's Diary" won twice at the PAMA in 2020, and is now selected to the 2021 , to represent its country.

"Game Changer" won an, his director Aviv Mano then worked on Disney’s COCO and TOY STORY 4 (2018).

"The Wishgranter" won an, an EMMY AWARD, and a (2016).

"Legacy of Lies" is distributed by Lionsgate (2020).

"Sgt Stubby", an unlikely hero, got a distribution deal at (2018).

"Curpigeon" got selected to, won the AMAZON VIDEO DIRECT Film Festival Stars (2016).

"Whisper" screened at FILMQUEST (2015).

"None of That" was STAFF PICK by (2015).
through the years included:

- John Lunn, 2 times Prime Time Emmy Award Winner, composer of "Downton Abbey"
- Monica Cruz, "Un Paso Adelante"
- Olivia Sandusky, journalist, NBC
- Mark Dacascos, actor, "John Wick III"
- Samuel Arnold, actor, "Emily in Paris"
- Patrick Fabian, actor, Emmy Award Nominee “Better Caul Saul"
- Claire Kopsky, Emmy Award-winning Journalist, CBS
- Jamie Campbell, producer, "Sex Education"
- Cindy Mollo, Eddie Award Winner, 4 time Emmy nominee, editor for "Ozark"
- Rena Owen, actress, "Star Wars Ep II" & "ep. III"
- Fola Evans-Akingbola, actress, "The Night Agent", "Siren", "Game of Thrones'
- Michelle Tesoro, SXSW winner, Eddie Award Winner, editor, "The Queen’s Gambit"
- Paz de la Huerta, actress, Boardwalk Empire
- Brent Huff, director & actor "The Rookie", 'The Rookie Feds", 'The West Wing"
- Max Markson -rep. A. Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, JCVD...
- Cole Sibus, actor "Stumptown', Olympic Gold Medal Athlete
- Mina Sundwall, actress, Netflix’s “Lost in Space”, DC’s “Legends of Tomorrow”

Our line up included through the years: Kirsten Dunst, Sam Rockwell, Vladimir Cosma, Kristanna Loken, Mark Dacascos, Caterina Murino, Andrew J. West, Hugo Becker, Jansen Panettiere, Leslie Bibb, Melanie et Alain Doutey, Macarena Gomez, French Prime Minister Edith Cresson, French Minister Frederic Lefebvre, Emma Bell...


We celebrate filmmakers and we focus on the humans making the movies : each director/attendee gets to talk about his movie.

You meet new audience, screen and show your latest work, connect with fellow professionals, share your passion with screenings and special events all over the city, including red carpets, movie premieres, parties, filmmaker’s networking, numerous Q&A's, international spotlights, industry talks and masterclasses, art performances and exhibitions, live music…


AN INDEPENDENT MOVIE FESTIVAL WITH
- Awards
- Photocall
- Artistic Recognition
- Networking
- award ceremony

NexT International Film Festival celebrates innovative and creative filmmaking from all around the world. The biggest short film festival in Romania, NexT aims to discover and support emerging international film talents by promoting their works locally, nationally and internationally.

The 12th edition of NexT IFF will take place in Bucharest from June 20 to June 25, 2018.

As part of the Love letters festival, A l'Assaut D Rues offers you a springboard of talents, open to all, amateurs, professionals,
... to put love in the honor or abyss, with the focus "The meeting and the kiss,"
Fiction, animation, documentary, ... with the constraint of not exceeding around 10 minutes.
Different media possible, .MPEG / .WMV / .AVI / .MP4 / .MOV
Shippable on this site from 16 December 2017 midnight to 10 March 2018 midnight.
Keep an eye on the lens :-)

Austin's first outdoor film festival, Austin Under the Stars (AUTS) is an international film festival held at Lone Star Court, a retro-inspired boutique hotel.

AUTS aims to make film festivals fun again! Enjoy live music, drinks, socializing, and films - all nestled in the live music capital of the world.

Arrive early & experience a taste of the local music scene! An Austin-based band will set the tone with a movie-inspired playlist leading up to show time. Grab a cocktail or your favorite Texas beer and wait for the show to begin.

As the sun sets, take a seat under the stars and watch the best indie films compete!

Proceeds go towards "Autism Society of Texas".

euro shorts international film festival is held annually in London. Our mission is to discover new storytellers by showcasing innovating and unique visions in independent cinema.

The festival will showcase independent filmmakers dedicated to discovering the brightest emerging voices in storytelling. Competitive sections for short form cinema; a diverse selection of films from around the world, selected to showcase break-out global talent.

The Seoul Guro International Kids Film Festival: The principal objective of the GUKIFF Kids International Film Festival is to present the best of contemporary and classic film for children, youth and families. Its mandate is to feature the most outstanding children’s films produced in every part of the world. Films are selected on the basis of quality and originality. Preference will be given to films not previously screened at a festival in Korea. GUKIFF Kids also promotes contacts between industry professionals and educators to assist in developing the role cinema plays in the education and enrichment of young people.

International film festival of entertaining, fantastic and arthouse free genre films.

The Obscura Filmfest was founded by David Ghane in 2016 and has been run by him alone ever since. He is a passionate genre film fan since 1996, attends several film festivals per year since 2004, sometimes helps out there, acts as an extra in horror films and is an extreme film collector.

The Obscura Filmfest specialises in entertaining and fantastic B-movies, films that are rarely shown in cinemas. They show mostly big blockbusters or arthouse films that can be found at most other ordinary film festivals. Even comparable festivals are expanding their programmes to include more and more arthouse. Those who instead like entertaining, smaller and special independent films, but can also imagine bigger productions from far away countries, will find what they are looking for at the Obscura Filmfest: Films that are fun with rough edges, raw and uncompromising; from nasty little horror films to Asian battle epics, there is something for every fan, just no boredom.

It started with small, offbeat, trashy and depraved underground grindhouse films, meanwhile the Obscura also screens commercial, mid-sized films that are traded on the big film markets.

Highlights of the previous festival editions included the German premieres of the Argentinian fantasy sci fi cyberpunk action film "Daemonium", the Ukrainian thriller "Egregor", the Filipino zombie shocker "Day Zero", the Danish horror film "Finale", the ghost comedy "Deadtectives" and the two Backwoods films "What the Waters Left Behind" and its sequel "Scars" 5 years later.

The European premieres of the Indonesian comic superhero film "Valentine" and the Backwoods film "Drifter" were also screened.

Another highlight was the crazy Japanese splatterfest "Kodoku - Meatball Machine" which can look back on a long festival history including the biggest festivals of its kind, as well as the Universal/Blumhouse production "The Hunt".

With "Redbad" and "The Great Battle", two big battle epics were also screened at the Obscura.

The German premiere of the hard-hitting exploitation film "Trauma" in Hanover was even attended by visitors from the Ruhr area.
After its international premiere at the Obscura, the cowboy backwoods film "Lasso" was shown a few months later at the famous british Frightfest.

In 2022, the Obscura had its first two feature-length film world premieres with "All through the Hall" and "Hidden in the Woods II".

At each Obscura there were film guests who introduced their film in person and were available for a Q&A. They came from Ireland, UK, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Greece, Hungary, USA, Argentina, Mexico and of course Germany.

More information incl. an archive on the new and old websites:
https://www.obscurafilmfest.com
https://dvdscot.wixsite.com/obscura

The goal of Kyiv Film Festival is to encourage emerging movie makers for new film making by appreciating their work.

We accept all genres of films from all over the world.

Our mission is to support filmmakers, recognize their hard work, and Award them so that they are more inspired to keep telling amazing stories.

ONLY FOR SPANISH FILMMAKERS // SOLO PARA CINEASTAS ESPAÑOLES (EXCEPT THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY SECTION, WHICH IS INTERNATIONAL)

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.

SHORT TO THE POINT (STTP) is an international network of distribution, broadcast and promotion of short films. Since 2009, SHORT TO THE POINT has gone through several steps and right now it has gathered some awesome projects under its umbrella.

STTP MONTHLY AWARDS
Each month, our jury selects the winning short films for each category: Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Narrative Short, Best Student Short, Best Young Director, Best Documentary Short, Best Animation Short, Best Experimental Short, Best Music Video, Best Amateur Short, Special Jury Award.

STTP ANNUAL AWARDS GALA [EVENT: AWARDS CEREMONY]
All monthly winners at STTP Monthly Awards will compete at SHORT to the Point annual event. Each year, we organize a ceremony where we give awards and trophies to our winners for all categories of films.

SHORT FILM FACTORY by STTP [EVENT: MONTHLY SHORT FILM SCREENINGS]
Monthly screenings of short films in unconventional places!
Short Film Factory (by STTP) aims to bring short films in the most unconventional places where young people get used to spend time. Clubs, bars, cafes, bookshops and pubs of the most important cities will be hosts of the awesome festival films of SHORT TO THE POINT. We organize this event in more than 33 cities from Romania and in Chisinau, Moldova.

STTP FILM WORKSHOP [EVENT: FILM CAMP]
STTP Film Workshop is a solution for young talents to exercise their skills in filmmaking. They receive free guidance from specialists in cinematography, and they also receive free access to the adequate equipment and crew, in order to achieve a professional short film. The main goal of the STTP FILM WORKSHOP project is to initiate the young filmmakers in the art of film. This project is organized each year as a culture camp, in different beautiful places from Romania like Danube Delta or Transylvania.

THE WALLS TELL STORIES by STTP [EVENT: SHORT FILM SCREENINGS]
The walls tell stories (by STTP) brings to the people’s attention the short film in a very attractive way. The walls of buildings in the historic center of cities selected to participate in the festival will come to life for about 4 hours. Dozens of short stories that address the public in the form of films will entertain the film lovers, art lovers, bystanders, or even the curious that pass nearby. THE WALLS TELL STORIES wants to establish a connection between the people and the environment they live in, through film.

SHORT TO THE POINT comes with a number of opportunities for promoting, broadcasting and distributing the films entered into the festival. STTP offers professionals and amateurs the opportunity to see their short films projected in unconventional cinemas across Romania.

• 33+ cities of Romania have met the SHORT TO THE POINT film festival and the concept of short film;
• Over 1 million STTP ads were printed in the pages of romanian media publications;
• Hours of advertising on radio stations across the country;
• Hours of advertising on Tv stations across Romania;
• Over 5000 short films have been signed up until now within STTP.

BLOODBATH ON THE BAYOU is a unique Horror Film and Metal Festival taking place in Baton Rouge Louisiana, with our inaugural event being held at Baton Rouge's premiere venue, The Varsity Theater. We are seeking submissions from ALL sub genres of HORROR, from classic slasher, thrillers, found footage, drama, psychological, to the ultimate in GORE, documentary and everything in between. If you can classify it under horror please feel free to submit it! We are also accepting Horror Photography, check out the details of how the competition will work in the submission section!

**Do you hate waiting months and months to find out if you were accepted into a festival? BLOODBATH ON THE BAYOU will be announcing selected films monthly leading up to the event! There's no reason to keep filmmaker waiting if they are not going to be selected, monthly decisions will be made with this festival **

BLOODBATH ON THE BAYOU is a hybrid festival, with awards, screenings, special industry guests, meetups with locals from the thriving film industry in Louisiana, as well as panels and workshops with local professionals who work on major shows/productions in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge area. More details will come as more content for the festival is confirmed, including a special announcement for a 40 year anniversary celebration of the John Carpenter classic HALLOWEEN.

As for the METAL portion of the festival, In the evenings of the festival there will be performances from local and national Metal bands. So come early for the Horror Films and Industry networking, and stay late for the Metal and beer!

One of the goals of this festival is to promote the filmmakers to the best of our ability. Every director of accepted films will be featured on the festival's website. A lot of festivals never update their website or update it last minute before their festival, that's not the case with our festival. BLOODBATH ON THE BAYOU will spend a solid month of showcasing the filmmakers and photographers selected on our website and social media.

***This event will also have various charity events taking place, including a used camera/film making equipment drive to benefit student filmmakers and filmmakers who can't afford to purchase new equipment or rent expensive equipment, a Halloween costume drive for less fortunate kids, a blood drive (in keeping with the theme of the festival title), and causes that will help feed the homeless in the Baton Rouge area.***

We look forward to seeing your submissions, the Horror Genre is at it's all time best and we can't wait to see your creations!

**New Official website coming soon**