Blog: Film festivals

The Reel Youth Film Festival is a touring festival of the world's best youth-made short films. Chosen by a youth selection panel, it is a diverse collection that includes all genres, celebrates youth culture, and showcases a new generation of film makers.

The festival kicks off annually at the Vancouver International Film Festival (Canada) and goes on to tour in partnership with screening partners across Canada and around the world. Overall winners are determined by cumulative audience votes.

The eighth edition of Ventana Oscura, will take place on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 October 2016 at the Forum of FNAC Callao within the events of the Madrid Gothic Week VIII. During the event the selected works will be screened, and this event, only a sample and in no case a competitive contest.

Films of any genre, length and format with human rights themes.

"Toronto After Dark is a fabulous launching pad for independent genre film" - John Landis, Director/Writer/Producer (AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, BLUES BROTHERS, SOME GUY WHO KILLS PEOPLE)

Toronto After Dark Film Festival is one of the world’s leading showcases of new horror, sci-fi, action and cult films. Entering its celebratory 10th Year in 2015, the critically acclaimed annual event spotlights thrilling new feature films and shorts from around the world. Last year’s festival was attended by over 11,000 enthusiastic film fans and over 200 members of press and industry, resulting in an unprecedented over 500 published reviews for its film selections and a number of distribution deals for filmmakers. As well as the screenings, festivalgoers also look forward to the lively Q&A's with filmmakers, as well as Pub After Dark, our popular nightly social event where fans get to hang out with the filmmakers! In a poll of local filmgoers, Toronto After Dark was also voted Runner-Up for Best Film Festival in the City.

Following last year’s record-breaking success, for its next edition, Toronto After Dark runs for nine thrilling nights, October 15-23, 2015. We look forward to your entry and participation in this year's exciting 10th Annual Toronto After Dark: Horror, Sci-Fi, Action & Cult Film Festival!

WHAT FILMMAKERS & PRESS SAY ABOUT US

"Great films and a great time, Toronto After Dark is a can’t miss event!" - AIN'T IT COOL NEWS

"An amazing atmosphere and great energy! The fans at Toronto After Dark are the best." - Eli Roth, Producer/Actor/Writer (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, THE LAST EXORCISM, CABIN FEVER, HOSTEL, GRINDHOUSE)

“Toronto After Dark is a really cool event, run by a dedicated group of hardcore fans, that celebrate genre cinema." - BLOODY-DISGUSTING

“A festival with great taste, I love Toronto After Dark! It is an event close to my heart.”
- Simon Pegg, Writer/Actor (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ, STAR TREK, A FANTASTIC FEAR OF EVERYTHING)

Toronto After Dark is an epicenter for genre fans across the globe." - MOVIE MAKER

"Well organized, friendly, and relaxed, you can’t go wrong with this festival." - FANGORIA

WHAT WE OFFER FILMMAKERS

"The people responsible for Toronto After Dark have given me nothing but positive support and assistance with my film.” - Steven Kostanski, Short Filmmaker

If your submitted film is selected for screening at the 2015 Toronto After Dark Film Festival, here is what you can expect from us:

- EXCELLENT PRESENTATION: Toronto After Dark takes pride in screening all films with the very best projection and sound equipment available.

- EXTENSIVE PROMOTION of your film as part of our massive two month festival marketing campaign that involves print, cinema, web, social media and street marketing. We also create excellent film profile pages on our festival website to showcase each film to the general public in the best possible light.

- A WELL-ATTENDED SCREENING: Our festival has become world-famous for its packed, enthusiastic audiences, with typically over 400 fans in attendance at every screening. These fans create fantastic word of mouth for the films they see.

- MASSIVE PRESS COVERAGE: Very few festivals in the world come close to Toronto After Dark when it comes to generating publicity for independent genre films, both feature films and shorts. Given our status as one of the world's top genre film festivals, over 100 press and industry members cover our event annually including the Hollywood trade press and most importantly we encourage them to cover our short films too.

Outlets Toronto After Dark and its film selections have been featured in include: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Ain’t It Cool News, Bloody-Disgusting, Twitch Film, Coming Soon.Net, Fangoria, Rue Morgue, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Filmmaker Magazine, and the SPACE Channel. Last year we were delighted to set a new record for editorial coverage, with over 500 published feature film reviews and short film reviews at the festival.

- EXPOSURE BEYOND OUR FESTIVAL: We like to tell filmmakers, that at Toronto After Dark your film is not just programmed, it is adopted. You can rest assured, if selected that our experienced festival team will do all that it can to make sure that your film's journey to finding the perfect audience wider than just our festival. is a successful one!

- HELP WITH DISTRIBUTION: Most recently Hollywood has also been taking notice of our festival with trade press coverage. Toronto After Dark has a number of high profile contacts that we can share with you if you are selected by our event, and seeking distribution domestically or internationally. A number of our official selections have gone on to find distribution deals following the buzz surrounding their screenings at Toronto After Dark.

ALL SUBMITTING FILMMAKERS CAN EXPECT

- A FAIR AND FULL PRE-SCREENING of your film: we don't pre-guarantee a program slot to any filmmaker, regardless of their relationship with the festival. Our programming department watches every single film that it is submitted, before making our final selections.

WANT MORE INFO ON TORONTO AFTER DARK?

You can find out more about our film festival, on a special page we have created for Filmmakers here:
http://bit.ly/tad15-filmmakers-about-us

Cordoba International Film Festival, is an educational film platform, cultural, artistic, industrial, and a prime symbol of the city and the country.

In the 9th version of the festival, again converge producers, directors, distributors, film critics, actors and audience around the latest and outstanding national and international productions, handing Cordoba and the country a single framework for meeting quality and today.

Every film selected have a official selection in CORDOBA FILM FESTIVAL in the year event.

The excellent results obtained in the last years -great influx of public, international visits, quality and novelty of the films shown, press coverage, diversity of high convocatoria- related activities confirmed that Cordoba International Film Festival has become a benchmark of national cinematography and international: a window of culture for which Colombia looks and opens to the world.

In this context, one of the objectives is to continue complementing and enhancing the explosive audiovisual industry in Colombia, through a space for development and promotion as attractive as Cordoba International Film Festival Industry, whose excellent results last year, we intend to continue developing in this edition. Also, Cordoba International Film Festival is a showcase to appreciate firsts and pre-premieres of international films of recent invoice and quality, both directors of prestige as young talent.

The International Film Festival of Leon IFFOL, invites all filmmakers to participate in the IFFOL Official Call 2024 from April 1 to August 05 of this year, being able to apply with fiction, non-fiction or animation feature film, short film or short documentary to be part of the 10th Consecutive Edition to be held between October 30 to November 03 of this year. Those selected may be part of the three competitive sections of the festival: International Talent, Local Talent and University Talent.

Croydon International Film Festival is a small independent short film festival run by volunteers on the outskirts of London. We screen short 10 minute or less Documentary & Animated films with a factual theme, with a focus on quirky entertaining true stories.
The CIFF festival is run by Donna Lipowitz, an Independent Documentary Filmmaker, and a small team of volunteers. The Venue, The Studio Theatre at Matthews Yard in Croydon is a fantastic space to hold film screenings, amazing people, great bar and cafe attached as well. The focus for the festival is to make it an entertaining afternoon of films, The local audience in Croydon has embraced the festival over the past two years with a full house at every screening so far. The festival will be in November 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Only for national Brazilian filmmakers

Accepted films will be short, medium and feature length films produced in digital video; categories in documentary, fiction, experimental or animation; movies about mountain sports, adventure or expedition; films that contribute to knowledge and protection of the environment; films about mountain culture or outdoors lifestyle.

Torremolinos International Fantastic Film Festival has become in a few years in one the most important events at Costa del Sol (Spain). Place in the Torremolinos' exhibition and conference centre: theaters with 240 and 460 people capacity. Organized by the Cultural Association "Cinefans", the festival it's now a reference of innovate and transgresive ideas. It starts at Halloween (with its own Halloween night) and it includes galas, shows, horror movies marathons, charitable sessions, guests and honored films for their anniversary.

Year 4 is on the way! The film industry of Philadelphia has come together to make this city an active spot for HORROR shorts from around the world to be screened and celebrated. Philadelphia has one HUGE thirst for horror flicks and Average Superstar Films has stepped up and lead the way for this massive event. This event truly gives both local and international filmmakers their due. It is held at the world famous Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia. With a $60,000 sound system, and a FULL screen, the theater seats up to 600 movie-goers. This years event will run 10 hours, with a big networking party going on in the lobby area. News outlets and press are active at this event. Celebrities and horror movie Icons from all walks of life have shown up at this event. Last year we members of The Howard Stern Show on hand. Along with Lloyd Kaufman and The Angry Video Game Nerd. We are only accepting online screeners. There are a variety of ways to submit your screener to us (YouTube, Vimeo (FAVORED) , or through one of the online submission services.). This will SAVE YOU MONEY! These events are 21 and up.

Each film director and cast is also interviewed at our event for an episode of Average Superstar Films TV. PLEASE visit our website averagesuperstarfilms.com to see videos and pictures from past events.

Want to take a deeper look into this fest? Click on the link below and see highlights from last years event join us!

Our events matter! Our events are fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zsoIqizbF4

The Global Independent Film Awards is an online awards competition dedicated to recognizing filmmakers and actors for high quality work. We recognize how difficult it is to make an exceptional film, and want to reward filmmakers for achieving success in different aspects of the filmmaking process. You need credibility. We've got awards. If you do an amazing job making your film, we will give you awards for it. You get to include your credentials on your resume and promotional materials. Groovy, right?

This project involves bringing students and teachers from different countries to participate with their films . Part of the program are even lectures and workshops of the movie professionals from different countries about film issues. We think that is very important for a student to confront with other students from around the world, so to know different cultures, different thoughts and to analyse the way their colleges work. We hope that First Step Fest will be a good chance young filmmakers in Albania to get inspiration and continue their dream.

Since 2009, the Puerto Rico Queer Filmfest is the first and largest LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) themed festival in the Caribbean region. We are seeking out films from all over the world to be screened at the Festival’s Twelfth Edition in May 2024, as well as special screenings.

The main objective of the Festival is to open dialogues around contingency issues through cinema as a platform for mediation and engagement, in the Province of Colchagua, also assuming the role of exhibitor of national and Latin American cinema and independent works from different parts of the world.

Our motivation for this 2021 version lies in the social transformations focused on human rights and the conservation of the ecosystem, as well as the dissemination and enhancement of heritage, in order to consolidate the Colchagua International Film Festival as a space for intellectual, political and cultural turmoil.

The 18th edition of CORTOCOMENIUS intends to show the best valencian productions , with the intention of promoting, broadcast and support to the development of the digital cinema.

"MAIPÚ SHORTS" IS A COMEDY / HUMOR FILM FESTIVAL.