Blog: Film festivals

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**

Cortoons Gandia is the International Animated Film Festival of Gandia, organized by Cortoons Festival, the city of Gandia, la Generalitat Valenciana, through the Institut Valenciá de Cultura (Culturarts), and the participation of Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) Campus de Gandia.

In the 2016, after 12 years of great success in Rome, Cortoons international festival of animated films, he moved to Spain in the beautiful town of Gandia in the province of Valencia.

The 20th Cortoons Festival Gandia edition will be a great festival of animated films for professionals, animation film funs and all the general public.

The competition categories are:

International animated short film from 1 to 4 minutes

International animated short film from 4 to 20 minutes

Spanish animated short film

Spanish animated short films produced in the

Valencian Community

Graduation animated film

Works may take place after January 1st, 2022.

The deadline is September 01, 2024

There is no entry fee

Contact us:
info@cortoons.es
www.cortoons.es

The 11th Annual Ciclismo Classico Bike Travel Film Festival invites professional and amateur filmmakers to submit for consideration films ranging from 3 to 60 minutes. (as a one-night festival with limited airtime, the VAST majority of accepted submissions are between 3 and 20 minutes)

Films should center on BICYCLE TRAVEL of any type, whether an organized tour or a solo exploration. The destination can be domestic or international.

The Festival’s mission is to inspire attendees to explore by bicycle. Whether across the globe or a few towns away, there’s nothing that recharges and expands horizons like bicycle travel. The Festival will increase awareness and appreciation for bicycle travel by showcasing independent films that depict the adventure, humor, and growth inherent in two-wheeled journeys. We seek films that portray a broad range of experiences – destinations ranging from small African villages to a campground 30 miles from home; solo travel or a family reunion on bicycles; an organized tour from inn to inn or a shoestring jaunt with tent and sleeping bag. Ours is the ONLY film festival in the USA that focuses specifically on bicycle travel

The annual Merlion Film Festival Singapore (MFFS) is an inspirational event bringing together all the film organisations, storytellers and artists in Singapore, to celebrate their efforts towards a sustainable future and accelerate their impact. The festival hopes to foster more collaboration, raise awareness & ignite a public passion towards independent talent film makers and artists around the world!

The Merlion Film Festival Singapore showcases a selection of world films, giving local audiences a taste of world’s diversity and creativity. Films screened are recent and have encountered success in their country of origin.

The International Gay, Lesbian Trans Film Festival of Lima - the OutfestPerú - opens its call for the XXI edition and films of all nationalities whose theme is LGBTIQ, and which are eligible for the various sections of the festival can participate in it: Feature films ( Official Section and International Panorama), Short Films Section either Documentary or Fiction and Video Art (Official and Panorama). The works must not have been exhibited in commercial theaters, broadcast on TV or be available to the public on the Internet or other windows in Peruvian territory prior to the celebration of the festival and must have copyright after 2023. Feature films and short films must preferably be unpublished in Peru, although this is not exclusive but will be valued very positively. OutfestPerú reserves the right to include films that do not meet these conditions in the programming, but out of competition.

CONSTRUIR CINE: INTERNATIONAL LABOR FILM FESTIVAL 2024 EDITION - OFFICIAL COMPETITIONS TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Construir Cine is the only International Labor Film Festival in Argentina. Its next edition will take place in Buenos Aires in May 2024, in a hybrid mode (face-to-face and online).

Construir Cine celebrates national and international cinema aiming to recognize and support filmmakers and to improve knowledge, accessibility, and understanding of socio-labor issues among a wide and diverse public.

Construir Cine is an event organized by UOCRA Foundation for the Education of Construction Workers’ TV channel, —hereinafter, the Organizer, with support from the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) and its on-demand platform CINE.AR, and sponsored by UOCRA CULTURA and Construyendo Arte. This festival is part of the Global Labor Film Festival, an organization that brings together labor film festivals from around the world, and belongs to “RAFMA”: Argentine Network of Audiovisual Festivals and Exhibitions.

“CONSTRUIR CINE” is a groundbreaking proposal aimed at offering quality entertainment with social consciousness. A sensitive and insightful view of the world of work and labor.

Bilbao City Council is currently organizing the 30th BILBAO FANTASY FILM FESTIVAL – FANT2024, to take place in Bilbao from 3rd to 11th of May 2024.

International queer film festival Merlinka is organized every year from 2009 in Belgrade Serbia. For five days we screen short, documentary and featured LGBT-themed films.

Only gay, lesbian, bisexual, trangender, transsexual-themed films.

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.

NON STOP BARCELONA ANIMACIÓ is a cultural integral event about animation cinema that offers to stimulate the interest for this language, learning, practising it and seeing it.

Cortogenia is short film festival held all year along.

International film festival for films of young filmmakers up to 26 years old!


“MAY NUFF SPREAD ITS WINGS AND FLY!"

«A truly wonderfully and unique experience. Incredible! I have traveled the world extensively making films and attending festivals and have never experienced such a loving, poignant and profound time as this one. Your dedication to media activism and global media literacy is astounding. May NUFF spreads it wings and fly!» (Paolo Davanzo, experimental filmmaker, USA)

Nordic Young Film Festival - NUFF is an annual short film festival for young filmmakers up to 26 years old from the Nordic countries & the world with short films (max 20 min) made in the last 2 years.

NUFF has been an important international platform for youth film and a meeting place for many young filmmakers since 2003.

Based at the youth culture house Tvibit in Tromsø, Northern Norway, NUFF has already a long success-story. Started by the wish to support young local filmmakers and to get an idea how our neighbours are making films and telling stories, NUFF discovered the world of Youth Cinema and all of the exciting potential that came with it.

The quality of submitted films has steadily been increasing and so too has the incredible atmosphere of the workshops and the growing network of filmmakers, partners and projects. All of this is making NUFF a unique summer event above the polar circle and under the overwhelming midnight sun.

NUFF OFFERS
Nordic film competition
International film competition
International film workshop
International film network
International film seminars, discussions and a lot of fun!

«NUFF has been one of my life’s best weeks» (Stian Skjelstad, Norway)

THE FILM COMPETITIONS
NUFF has two film competitions for short films made in the last two years (with a max length of 20 minutes) by filmmakers under the age limit of 26 years old. All genres are accepted!

For the Nordic film competition the films have to be produced in a Nordic country or the filmmaker comes from or lives in a Nordic Country. Nordic Countries are defined as Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Island, Denmark, Sweden, Norway & Finland.

For the International film competition the films have to be produced outside the Nordic countries or the filmmaker comes from or lives outside the Nordic countries.

The submission deadline for both competitions is June 1st!

The Malta Short Film Festival is now in its 14th year, and it is adjudicated by a panel of judges. This enables the filmmaker and the viewer to understand the production value of each entry and its ability to communicate with its audience

The final program consists of an award presentation.

The Festival has a wide audience, 40,000 +

9 programmes on Malta National Television. (TVM) and repeat on TVM News Plus on Sundays at 9p.m.1 hour duration, starting Sunday 24 July 2022 and ends on the 25th of September 2022

The 2023 COMMFFEST will celebrate 18 years from September 14-22 2023 screening in movie theatres exhibition spaces, and ONLINE presented yearly by a group of dedicated volunteers. COMMFFEST a charitable corporation makes its home in one of Toronto’s most fast growing, economically diverse neighbourhood, Old Town Toronto, where many languages are spoken amongst an eclectic population.

Our screenplay competitions is spearheaded by 30 year filmmaker, writer, director and producer Vladimir Bondarenko who is an instructor at Toronto Film school,

COMMFFEST is a film festival that presents a broad range of local and international films representing current affairs and relevant issues that affect our society. COMMFFEST provides opportunities for emerging filmmakers, artists, musicians and global community stakeholders to express themselves freely and to connect with audiences on a more personal level. This unique blend of film, filmmakers and audiences creates a dynamic atmosphere to provoke thought and stimulate further understanding and exploration of ideas, attitudes, and emotions that can foster change – starting with the communities in which we live.

FILMS OF ANY GENRES ACCEPTED; independently produced films. Included in that mix are childrens issues, poverty, human rights LGBTQ, women's rights, third world struggles,

The last 18 years Commffest has built a valuable platform for introducing emerging and professional filmmakers to bring together communities, not for profit organizations with government officials in panel discussions to tackle pertinent issues often resulting in more funding and support for these groups.
Commffest is a cultural platform that strives to educate and create a hospitality environment where filmmakers and attendees can mix and mingle over food, drink and entertainment.

TESTIMONY , Eleanor Mc Grath’s
As an independent film-maker, you work often for a year or possibly years to direct, edit, produce a film and then comes the waiting game to be selected by a film festival.

COMMFFEST is more than a community film festival in Toronto; it is an art festival with a world perspective and I am most fortunate to have been part of the 2015 film festival programming with my documentary, "Forgotten". COMMFFEST's vision is to share stories that demonstrate the strength, struggles and beauty of humankind while providing a strong platform for independent film makers to showcase their perspective and vision of our world today and into the future. We need festivals like COMMFFEST who step away from the mainstream and champion works where the viewpoint is critical, enlightened or visionary in their approach to conflicts or issues that prevail throughout Toronto, Canada, North American and worldwide.

Behzad Sedghi Filmmaker
For me, COMMFFEST has been where my films have finally reached their maturity by connecting through the big screen with their audience. It is this connection that is essential for any artistic endeavour. As this may be the case with most other festivals, however, in my direct experience with COMMFFEST I clearly felt that each artist was given special attention, a chance to have a dialogue about their creation and ultimately was embraced in a celebration of their achievement. COMMFFEST founders and organizers are filled with the love of films and arts and clearly possess the vision and generosity to make this celebration happen every year. I look forward to being part of the next celebration either as an artist or a member of its community.

COMMFFEST mission statement:
To advance education by raising the cultural, artistic and aesthetic expression of the community and to advance the public’s appreciation of the arts through related artistic workshops and panel discussions, while promoting the works of filmmakers and artists alike.

The programming: The films are chosen by a jury of professionals from a globally solicited call for submissions. Once chosen, the programming is created to generate discussion around specific world events and themes, provoking dialogue and acceptance of others and their concerns.

More about COMMFFEST
COMMFFEST attracts educators, artists, politicians, business leaders, socially conscious organizations and trendsetters.

Local Educational engagement:
Over 6000 Children from local schools across the GTA that now include the COMMFFEST festival experience as part of their annual curriculum.
COMMFFEST’S unique diversity invites the world to one local community event over several days in Toronto

During one week of the year over 100,000 film-lovers gather in over 400 Cinemas across 6 Continents to view and vote on the Finalists Films' in the Annual MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival - MANHATTAN SHORT is more than just one of the largest short film festivals in the world....it's the World's First Global Film Festival.

If making short films is about getting your work out there, nothing compares to MANHATTAN SHORT.

Every Film Selected is eligible to enter the Oscars:
MANHATTAN SHORT does a full week's run in a cinema in Los Angeles, California. This theater booking means all ten finalists in the 2020 MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival will be eligible to enter the Oscar competition for 2021.

MANHATTAN SHORT is now in compliance with the rules governing the Oscar Awards set forth by the Academy of Motion Pictures of Arts and Sciences

Featured Musical Artist
We are excited to announce that the MANHATTAN SHORT will be featuring a Musical Artist or Band leading up to and throughout the duration of the Festival each year.

The selected Musician or Band will have his/her music featured in over four hundred venues and to over 100,000 people worldwide during the MANHATTAN SHORT intermission and in all promotional materials leading up to the festival dates, including exclusive headline billing on our website. This is a tremendous opportunity for new or unknown musical talent to have their music broadcast to our ready-made worldwide audience of eager festival attendees. It is also a unique chance to gain name recognition and immediate exposure. Check ManhattanShort.com to enter the Musical Artist Comp.

We are proud to present the fifth edition of the competition dedicated to short films is hosted in Pietrasanta.

In 1877 the poet Giosué Carducci praised this municipality now known, internationally, for its arts and crafts, such as the prestigious laboratories of marble, the famous foundries, numerous art galleries. With their work and with their presence, the artists, alongside the studios hosting authoritative masters from around the world, have made this town an open air museum. For such reasons, Mondo Cinema chose the beautiful city of Pietrasanta the ideal venue for their international film festival of short films, which aims to give visibility to authors that are little known to the general public, in a artistic and cultural environment known and appreciated worldwide.

Independent Lima International Film Festival seeks to contribute to the cultural development of Peru on an educational and artistic level through the promotion of a sustainable, diverse and innovative independent cinema

We have already completed seven uninterrupted editions and we prepare the eighth to be held from May 31 to June 9 of the year 2018. Throughout these editions LIMA INDEPENDIENTE has experienced an exponential growth both in its quality of exhibition and in the response of the public. For this INDEPENDIENT LIMA has made a decentralized festival placing the best of its programming in cities such as Cusco, Chiclayo, Arequipa, Iquitos, Huaral, among others.