Blog: Film festivals

The SITGES - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia is a specialized, competitive fantastic genre Festival in accordance with the regulations established by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations). The Festival has also been declared a “Qualified Festival” by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® in the United States. This means that those shorts winning the awards for “Best Short Film” in the Official Fantàstic Selection and “Best Short Film” in the Anima’t category will automatically be taken into consideration by the Hollywood Academy Awards® selection committee.

Only for Spanish and Argentinian Filmmakers.

Only for Brasilian Filmmakers.

"The 9/16 Film Fest is an international film festival in vertical format that aims to foster the creation and promotion of audiovisual content specifically designed in 9:16.

Our objectives are:

- Democratize creation, allowing creativity to flourish independently of available resources.

- Promote collaboration and reward excellence in vertical content, providing a platform for emerging filmmakers.

- Stay at the forefront of technology, following consumer trends, and educating in this format.

The selection is divided into several categories:

- Fiction
- Animation
- Microdocumentary
- Advertising Spot
- One-Minute Video
- Video Art (Music, Dance, Performance...)
- Travel Vlog
- Capaces. (Short films focused on raising awareness and sharing experiences, achievements and challenges of people with disabilities) Category in collaboration with AVIVA

These categories can also compete for:

- "Most Viral" Award
- "9/16" Award (best technical adaptation to the vertical format)

The event also includes non-competitive sections such as screenings, talks, gastronomy..."

Brought to you by MANHATTAN SHORT (The world's first and only Global film Festival), a 10-day festival where 8 unique short films will be chosen and screened virtually from Feb 14 - Feb 25, at ManhattanShortOnline.com.

With so many marvelous short films being produced each year, the quest for the perfect vehicle in which to launch it...is never-ending. With a legacy of 24 years; growing from the side of a truck to now screening annually in 500+ cinemas across 6 continents, MANHATTAN SHORT is the perfect organization for these filmmakers.

Now your great ideas have the right launching pad to catapult your work into the stratosphere! So, join with us and create magic!

The Event will be marketed through the MANHATTAN SHORT Channels, and each selected filmmaker will receive $350.00.

La Asociación Cultural Cinergias, con sede en Madrid, España, organiza la Edición Lanzamiento de Cinergias Festival de Cine Iberoamericano, que tiene como objetivo la promoción, difusión y reconocimiento de cineastas iberoamericanos para dar impulso a los jóvenes talentos con la divulgación de sus obras en formato corto, o de sus óperas primas de largometraje.

En esta primera edición de 2024 el festival busca generar una programación a partir de la reflexión, la multiplicidad de voces y discursos, y la diversidad de miradas.

El festival quiere constituirse en un espacio trascendente para un cine que sea relevantemente contemporáneo y que no tenga miedo de mirar al pasado ni al futuro.

Se trata de un festival no competitivo en su sección oficial de cortometrajes y largometrajes que pone el foco en una cuidada programación representativa de Iberoamérica y, en lugar de un premio único para uno de los participantes en la sección oficial, propone el pago por selección de 200 € a cada una de las películas seleccionadas.

El nombre de Cinergias surge de la combinación de las palabras cine y energía en su sentido de eficacia y virtud para obrar. Y a la vez alude al término sinergia, como la unión de varios elementos para obtener un resultado mayor al de esas partes por sí solas.

Chhayanat is not just another film festival!
Since its inception, the Chhayanat Film and Theatre Festival at Jadavpur University has stood as a bastion of alternative cultural expression. Rooted in a profound commitment to challenge dominant narratives and advocating for social change, this festival has evolved into a vital platform for cinematic and theatrical exploration. Drawing inspiration from cinematic movements such as poetic realism, Italian neorealism, French New Wave, Surrealism and Iranian and world cinema, as well as the rich tradition of socially conscious theater, Chhayanat has become an abode for film lovers. It embraces an anti-fascist and anti-imperialist perspective. The influence of Italian Neorealism on Chhayanat is evident in the festival's selection of films that prioritize raw emotions, personal storytelling and stark portrayals of social injustice.

The impetus behind the formation of the Chhayanat Film Festival stems from a deep-seated desire to showcase films that not only entertain but also challenge and provoke thought. It is a celebration of cinema that transcends mere entertainment, delving into the realms of political and social commentary. From the works of directors who embody the spirit of resistance, such as Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak, to contemporary filmmakers like Jafar Panahi and Jean-Luc Godard, pushing the boundaries of storytelling, Chhayanat provides a platform for voices that often go unheard in mainstream cinema.

Moreover, the festival extends its embrace to theater, recognizing the inherent connection between the two art forms. Drawing from the revolutionary works of playwrights such as Bertolt Brecht, Federico García Lorca and Augusto Boal, Chhayanat underscores the importance of freedom of expression in theater. It pays homage to the legacy of figures like Shambhu Mitra, Utpal Dutt and Badal Sircar, who used theater as a tool for social change.

14th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival-24, Delhi NCR, India

Celebrating Excellence in Cinema


The Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival is a not-to-profit, non-commercial & India’s only independent film festival, established in the year 2011 in Delhi NCR with a mission to celebrate the cinema & work of aspiring, young, independent & professional filmmakers. The festival is important for Indian film industry as it is organized on 30 April each year to mark the birth anniversary of Late.Shri. Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, who is regarded as the father of Indian Cinema & fondly remembered as Dada Saheb Phalke by the film fraternity across the India & globe. Its aim is to recognize the enlightening, entertaining & progressive new age cinema of youth & experienced filmmakers.

In past years festival gains reputation & regarded as among most prestigious festival in India. The festival grows over the years & attracts filmmakers from across the India & 90+ nations across the world. The festival has sections for feature films, short films, documentaries, animations, music videos & ad films. The festival awards the filmmakers in production, creative, music & performance categories.

14th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival-2024 aims to celebrate the excellence in cinema. Dada Saheb Phalke started the movement of cinema in India in real sense & he is the symbol of excellence. His contribution to Indian cinema is unparallel. Today Indian cinema is touching the sky in terms of both content & technology but it is worth mentioning that it was started by legendry Dada Saheb Phalke and we are just carrying it forward.

Founded by the Educationexpo TV, a leading entertainment research & branding company and managed by Miniboxoffice, Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival-24 provides chance to filmmakers to showcase their creativity. While the festival is open to filmmakers of all age, we feel that just as it is imperative that we should support and encourage participation by filmmaking community members & professional, it is also important that we find and cultivate the future members of the entertainment industry.

Amazine: Resilient Amazon

In its third edition in 2024, Amazine returns to its original roots and the theme that stands as its founding reason and backbone: The Amazon, or Amazonia, nine countries with the largest river and forest system in the world. A complex, incomparable, and irreplaceable biome that provides environmental benefits not only to the region but to the entire planet, including climate regulation.

We aim to move our Islamic values to the agenda of young and professional filmmakers to ensure the production of films which have ethic, esthetic and technical integrity all over the world.

The awareness which we want to create with our young colleagues aim to contribute to community awareness with the films containing our core values.

We want to describe Islam in a correct and understandable way with a new cinema language by subjecting 7 saints of 7 cities with aggregating filmmakers from many countries in the same frame.

Television and cinema are the producing and transporting instruments of the global culture today.

We want to have our next generation filmmakers to produce films through the architects of our root paradigms and values with 7 Saints 7 Cities Short Film Festival.

We would like to open a new perspective for our young colleagues with this awareness which we want to create with our festival.

We have the honor of making 7 saints of 7 cities a cinema theme with adhering to Islamic decency and share the enthusiasm of our young colleagues of whom we hope will produce films and scenarios with the same decency.

BAÑOS DE AGUA SANTA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

It is created and based on the support and dissemination of film culture.

Baños de Agua Santa in the Tungurahua Province of Ecuador, will host great filmmakers and moviegoers who seek to discover new film trends worldwide, generating meeting, promotion and creative exchange.

The Shorts Costa Rica International Film Festival is an initiative dedicated to promote and celebrate the richness of the short film, its diversity in themes, styles and voices, and the great national and international talent responsible for its creation.

This festival seeks to strengthen cinematographic diversity through the exhibition, training and dissemination of Costa Rican talent, and participation of international viewings in the country, giving the public the best of short filmmaking.

Our proposal is to provide small and large producers of short films the possibility of obtaining an impact within the cinematographic field, activating presence in cinemas and alternative spaces in the seven provinces of the country as well as in other cities around the world.

We recognize the importance of making short films visible as a means of cultural expression and we hope that you will be part of this great beginning and that we will continue to develop audiovisual diversity nationally and internationally through these efforts.

From March 19 to 29, the third edition of the film festival will be held in San José, with the support of various sectors of the artistic community to raise the efforts present in our present time.

Shorts Costa Rica will be held in four stages: CR Shorts Lab, Shorts Costa Rica Festival, Shorts Communities and SHORTS+, seeking to strengthen cinematographic expressions through the exhibition, training and dissemination of Costa Rican talent, and participation of international viewings in the country, giving the public the best of short films.

The festival exhibits a wide variety of short films from around the world to showcase national and international creativity. Its main objective is to share this artistic diversity with the local audience, highlighting how it influences our ever-changing identity. In addition, it seeks to support all film professionals, offering an inclusive space to promote and develop different regions on a cinematographic level.

SHORT FILM COMPETITIONS
The Shorts Costa Rica International Film Festival offers the opportunity to participate in the different eligible competitions, which, through these, seeks to encourage and promote efforts to export, consume and disseminate the talent and creativity of filmmakers from around the world and expose the cultural, artistic and / or social identities of each region.

Eligible categories: Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Videoclip and Experimental.

NATIONAL COMPETITION
The National Competition encourages the efforts of all audiovisual sectors, regardless of their artistic background and training. The festival is committed to bring this diversity of projects in front of the national audience, expanding these records through the recognition of those artistic foundations that lead to the evolution of our national identity.

Eligible for the National Competition are those short films where the origin of the director or the production are from Costa Rica.

**There is no entry fee for this competition.

CENTRAL AMERICAN COMPETITION
The Central American Short Film Competition aims to promote the efforts of all audiovisual sectors, regardless of their formation and artistic training in this region.

The festival is committed to bring this diversity of projects in front of the public, recognizing those artistic foundations that lead to the evolution of our Central American identity.

Eligible for the Central American Competition are those short films where the origin of the director or the production is from a Central American country.

**To register a short film in the Central American Competition has a cost between $0 and $15 (depending on the stage in which the short film is submitted).

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Short films from all parts of the world (except Costa Rica) are eligible to participate.

Those short films where the origin of the director or the production is not from Costa Rica or any other Central American country are eligible for the International Competition.

**To register a short film in the International Competition has a cost between $0 and $25 (depending on the stage in which the short film is submitted).

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

The Villammare Festival Film & Friends is organized by the Villammare Film Festival-Golfo di Policastro Association. The competition between short films was the beginning and is still the backbone of the Villammare Festival. The attention to the short genre wants to be an opportunity to give space to experimental cinema, to young talents, and to the evolution of cinematographic languages. The Villammare Festival Film & Friends wants to be an opportunity for international filmmakers and an occasion to contribute to the cultural liveliness and the promotion of the territory south of Salerno in a wider context.

It includes a competition between short films, one between feature films, meetings with personalities from the world of culture and cinema, attention to soundtracks and environmental themes, debates, in-depth analysis, shows and tasting moments after watching the film.

TRAVEL FILM International Film Festival collects the best travel, outdoor, nature and adventure films from around the world, which were created both by professionals and by enthusiasts, and helps to get them across to the Russian speaking audience.

All best films will be shown on the big screen during the solemn final ceremony on February 15 - 16, 2025 in Moscow, Russia and will be able to struggle for the main prize and the title of the "Best travel film". As well as for the prizes in the standalone nominations.

Born as the Amateur Film Festival of Vilagarcía in 1973, the Curtas Film Fest has been held uninterruptedly in Vilagarcía de Arousa. It’s the film festival dean of Galicia and one of the contests with more tradition of Spain. Specialized in fantastic cinema.

The festival aims to promote cinematographic culture through short films.

The Friends of Ribadesella Cultural Association was born in 1986, with the vocation of disseminating culture among the citizens of Ribadesella and its council, its statutory objectives being very broad (giving conferences, organizing exhibitions, publishing books, protecting cultural and historical heritage , artistic, ethnographic, natural or scientific of the town; also activities of a sporting or social nature) currently having about a thousand members, who support our cultural trajectory.

13th edition of the RIURAU FILM FESTIVAL

Requirements:
-Production date after 01/01/2023.
-Duration of short films: less than 20 minutes.
-Only fiction short films.
-Subtitles in English, Spanish and Valencian according to rules.

Categories:
-Dance Film (multiperspective+fragmentation+continuity)
-General Fiction (free themed)
-Social Diversity Fiction (cultural, functional, gender, sexual, age...)
-Sustainability Fiction (environmental, economic, socio-cultural)
-Ficció in Valencià (free themed)
-Fiction El Nostre Cinema (linked to La Marina Alta region in Alicante)

€4,100 in prizes: 8 monetary rewarded prizes and statuette + 1 specific prize for Short Film directed by a woman + 7 Diplomas

This is an excerpt from the bases. Consult the complete rules in the call and also on the website: riuraufilmfestival.com

Feelmotion UDIT International Short Film Festival is a shortfilm festival for university students organized by UDIT University in Madrid.

Originally conceived as a film festival for university students, the festival celebrates its first edition in 2012, born from the initiative of the students and Raúl San Julián, director of the festival and professor at UDIT. Since then the festival has celebrated a total of twelve editions, with more than 3000 participating short films from over 50 universities in 33 countries around the world and a total of more than 5000 university students who have participated or collaborated with the festival.

Thanks to the support of our partners, our finalists have been able to use Feelmotion to give themselves momentum and reach such important festivals as the San Sebastian International Film Festival, the New York International Independent Film & Video Fest or the 3D Wire.

Among the outstanding participants are our alumni Diego Porral, nominated for the Goya Award for Best Animated Short Film 2018 for "Un día en el parque" which was selected as Best Feelmotion Short Film 2017 and currently has more than 40 awards and 200 nominations; and José Herrera, winner of the Goya Award for Best Animated Short Film 2019 for "Cazatalentos".

In each of its editions, Feelmotion has relied on a large team of professionals and volunteers from the student body to organize both the contest and its corresponding awards gala and the numerous thematic events of each edition. In total, more than 200 students from different UDIT grades have collaborated with their efforts to make Feelmotion happen.

Feelmotion has also counted on great professionals from the film industry to be part of the juries that each year choose the winners. Professionals such as directors and screenwriters Juan Carlos Rulfo, Borja Cobeaga, Paco Martínez Velasco, Hector Hercé, María Pérez Sanz or Alex Rodrigo; producers and academics Marichu Corugedo, Txepe Lara, José Nolla; actors Tristan Ulloa, Natalie Poza, Olivia Molina, Ana Arias or Jon Viar among others; and a long list of journalists, technicians, academics, etc.

THE FESTIVAL: MOVEMENT OF CULTURE

The Festival was born with a very specific mission: it aims to stimulate public attention towards an open and wide representative space, such as the rural environment, makes its outdoor projections, open to all, the best exponent. Youth and adults, generations separated by years and experiences, gather around a screen, which is the focus of the light of a past and a future: culture is timeless, culture unites, and film language will be the link common to temper emotions and feelings, to treasure memories, to provoke lively gatherings.

In this way, all attendees of the event can enjoy a heterogeneous and dynamic speech. Through this cultural impulse, the different currents of creativity allow viewers to move and explore new and old codes in a public space, creating community.

EMERGING SPANISH FILM FESTIVAL (FECICAM), oriented towards new producers, supports independent films and fosters alternate author’s films, thus contributing to development of cinematography. Among its basic objectives is spreading and promoting makers in Castilla-la Mancha, Spain, Europe and Latin América.