Blog: Film festivals

Rather unusual, rather trapped on the border between dream and reality, silent film has for several years found affirmation at the PSSST! Silent Film Festival organised by the Trešnjevka Cultural Centre.

PSSST! is a unique film festival presenting the art of silent film in a new, exciting and entertaining way. This Festival is a rare gem on the cultural scene which lacks initiatives offering artists the opportunity to try out their skills in this specific (and demanding!) artistic form.

The event confirms its status as a festival in the classic sense of the word through its competition programme in which contemporary “silent” titles are screened to an audience. The best film in the competition is awarded the Brcko Grand Prize, the official award of PSSST! named after the main character of Croatia’s first feature film Brcko in Zagreb made back in 1917.

But how many real silent films are made today, someone may rightfully ask? Certainly very few are made (although we can’t say none), and so we could ask the question – what is the point of the competition, what is the point of the Brcko Grand Prize? But the concept of this festival should be understood as a media experiment, created in the spirit of heterogeneity and the visual wealth of silent film. Authors can send films to PSSST! which they think could function and communicate even after we remove the original sound, and our festival is responsible for providing high-quality sound support, live music which will accompany the silent projection. Our expert improvisers cover a range of different genres and their hybrids – from rock via classical to jazz and electronic music, providing the audience with an interesting synaesthetic experience. This of course creates a film completely different from the original from which we removed the soundtrack, which is precisely why PSSST! is so exciting.

Apart from the competition programme, the Festival screens a rich selection of film classics from the golden era of silent film.

Silent film, with an expressive musical accompaniment, will lull you into a state of reverie. Its hypnotic power is not destroyed by the rude reality of the spoken word and so it becomes clear that dreams and silent films have much in common – they both deal with simple, direct emotions and action, such as love, hate, conflict or escape. This dimension of silent film emphasises its undying charm.

If you wish to open the door to a different world of unusual poetics again this year, come to PSSST! where the art of silent film lives on.

Mumbai- The city of celluloid dreams since past century- is the destination of thousands of budding & professional filmmakers in India & world. The city has nurtured many great filmmakers, technicians & entertained the millions worldwide through cinema. People also fondly called it as Bollywood. In the highly competitive age of cinema ‘Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival’ is the platform for short filmmakers to put their work forward among the league of professional.

MSIFF, a progressive cinema movement started in year 2012 with the consultation of senior industry members to highlight the short cinema. The 2012 inaugural year followed 2013 to 2023 editions witnesses the great participation & enthusiasm from filmmakers & industry professionals from India & abroad. The festival objective is to contribute towards the development of upcoming filmmakers & to create short films culture in India.

The festival aims is to feature great cinema of worldwide filmmakers in a big way & at the same time providing professional networking & introducing current trends of cinema to the participants. The festival also strongly advocates the need of commercial short film industry in India & will raise the issues related to short films in front of various governing bodies of cinema.

13th MSIFF-24 will prove one more step towards achieving excellence & enhancing your skills in cinema & fore sure it will contribute immensely in your growth as filmmaker

The International Film and Sexual Diversity Festival CINHOMO accepts LGBTIQ-themed films of all nationalities, which will be eligible in the various sections of the festival: Fiction Feature Films, Fiction Short Films, Documentary Feature Films and Documentary Short Films.

The works must not have been exhibited in commercial theaters, broadcast on TV or be available to the public on the Internet or any other platform in Spanish territory prior to the celebration of the festival and must be copyrighted after 01/01/2023. Feature films must be unpublished in the Community of Castilla y León; in the case of short films it will not be exclusive but it will be positively valued. The organization reserves the right to include in the out-of-competition program films that do not meet these conditions.

It will be held in person with online activities .

In-person format, it will be held in the cities of Lebu, Capital of the Province of Arauco, and in the city of Concepción in the Biobío Region, Chile, from April 1 to 6, 2025. With national and international virtual sub-venues for the exhibition of competitions. Since 2018, CINELEBU is the only festival in Chile that qualifies short films for the Oscar® Awards in three categories: International Animation, Regional Fiction, and International Fiction. and since 2023, qualifier for the Goya Awards and Marca Chile.

New 2025 Season OPEN.

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The Wild Indie Sci-fi & Fantasy Film Festival continues to celebrate our favourite genres of film. Enter once, your film is assessed for all the categories (see note below). It's a shorts specific festival and there are prizes for some categories. We are trying to get more all the time. We'll confirm prizes for the new season between the hyphens below.

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News Oct 24 - First Prize Sponsor - Announcement week commencing 20th Oct.
News Oct 24 - Open
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The last season of WISFFF brought us to a new home in Genesis Cinema - London. And this season, we are staying. There is a lovely welcoming "film-o-phile" vibe going on at the cinema, which resulted in lots of fun, and a surprising amount of networking. WISFFF continues to grow with more entries and awards and prizes than ever before We also had an awesome and ever growing selection of films at the screening. There are some photos of the various events on here.

Awards wise, there are a number of challenges, awards and prizes for Micro (2min), Mini (10min), and Short (25min) film categories within the genre.

The 2022 Early Bird Teaser can be viewed at:
https://youtu.be/8at62y06D_0

The 2021 trailer can be viewed here:
https://youtu.be/pQezUJrQroY

News for the 2024-5 season will come to you via the the social media channels, particularly the Facebook Page, mainly because the text isn’t limited in characters like other channels.

To answer a question asked all the time. Yes HORROR is included and has it's own sub-genera award.

The festival is open to all (UK, Worldwide, The Up/Down/LSide/RSide Dimensions, even the Outer Spiral Arm (of the Galaxy). English is the festivals first language ; other languages are welcome but should be closed captioned to English. Awards are listed in full below.

If we've had the good fortune to see an advert for your film and sent you a discount/waiver it's because we really want you to enter. We make films and enter festivals ourselves so we know just how many offers you'll get on a marketing cycle. If you've got an offer from us, it's because we think your film fits? If you we didn't see your ad'... ask us... filmmaking is about networking.

This event is completely independent of Wild Indie's production (but again ask us if you want to find out about any of those projects).

Os Prêmios Quirino nascem da necessidade de reconhecer o talento na indústria da animação ibero-americana, criando laços e redes entre ambos os lados do oceano.

O evento reúne, portanto, a florescente indústria latino-americana, junto com a de Portugal, Andorra e Espanha, construindo uma verdadeira irmanação para o desenvolvimento conjunto do grande mercado que é a Ibero-América.

Além de reconhecer os melhores trabalhos de animação ibero-americana em nove categorias, os Prémios Quirino servem de marco para o Fórum de Coprodução e Negócios. Cem empresas de vinte países participam todos os anos em reuniões B2B.

Os prêmios foram nomeados em honra do criador do primeiro longa-metragem de animação da história. Em 1917, Quirino Cristiani dirigiu “El Apóstol” (O Apóstolo), uma produção argentina na que foram usados 58.000 desenhos em 35 mm, além de várias maquetes.

Desta maneira, os Prêmios Quirino prestam homenagem ao talento e à criatividade ibero-americana.

ShorTS International Film Festival (ShorTS IFF) is organised by the Maremetraggio Association.

Since 2000, ShorTS IFF has been a landmark for short films and up and coming cinematographers at international level. In every edition, ShorTS IFF aims to make the short film genre known to a broad and heterogeneous audience, with particular attention to the young with specific sections for children and teenagers aged 6 to 15.

Cinema Camp Film Festival is a short film festival open to filmmakers from all over the world that has a double function: on one hand, serve as a platform for the dissemination of the short film in those places where it does not have much presence, and on the other hand, to function as an educational and formative tool, allowing the young spectators, who mostly make up their audience, to learn and draw inspiration from the visualization of the different cinematographic works.

The functioning of the festival, open to all types of audiences, is very simple: among all the short films received, a final selection will be made, which will be the one screened in the different sessions of the festival (which will take place in different Spanish cities at throughout the summer). Assistants to each of these projections will be the ones in charge of choosing their favoire short film. The short film that gets the most votes will win the Best Short Film Award of the festival.

Likewise, a specialized jury formed by professionals from the cinematographic sector will grant the different special mentions: Best Direction, Best Photography, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor/Actress.

“The Quarantine” is an international short film festival aimed at popularizing young and unknown authors among professional filmmakers’ circles. The festival is organized on completely voluntary basis, there are no screening fees and nobody receives any payment.

The festival takes place on the beach at “The Quarantine” fishing village which is the last standing fishing village in Varna, Bulgaria. The village is in danger of disappearing because a luxury residential complex is under construction on the coastline behind it. By provoking cultural exchange between contemporary artists from the whole world and locals, we intend to turn the fishing village into a culture and art zone and to preserve the fishermen’s way of life.

The name of the region “The Quarantine” comes from the past when sailors from commercial ships entering the harbour with suspicion of some kind of disease were taken ashore at the beach for the quarantine period of 40 days. In case they showed no signs of illness, they were allowed access to town. At present, the young authors who have still not found their realisation are in the state of a “Quarantine” – isolated by professional filmmakers’ circles. In analogy to the history of the location, we decided to name the festival “The Quarantine”.

FRAME Film Festival es un festival de cortometrajes itinerante, sin una única ubicación, que se celebrará en la provincia de Tarragona.

El FRAME Film Festival consta de dos fases.

• FASE CLASIFICATORIA
• FASE FINAL

El objetivo principal es difundir y promover la cinematografía en general y el cortometraje en particular, apoyando a las directoras y los directores de cortometrajes y creando un espacio donde puedan dar a conocer sus trabajos.

Pero sobre todo trabajamos para que las y los cineastas se sientan acogidos y vivan la experiencia de visitarnos cómo si estuvieran en familia. LA GRAN FAMILIA DEL CORTOMETRAJE!

Otro motivo es ampliar la oferta de acontecimientos culturales para hacer llegar el cortometraje a a poblaciones que no tengan la oportunidad de disfrutar de nuestro cine en formato CORTO.

En el FRAME Film Festival queremos darle al público que sigue y disfruta los cortometrajes, la oportunidad de decidir sobre la selección de las películas que pasarán a la FASE FINAL para recibir los premios TALENTO FRAME.

4th Puno Film Festival - Hanan Cine: "We All Make Cinema"

The 4th Hanan Cine Festival is organized and promoted by the Puno Audiovisual Cultural Association, an initiative that aims to strengthen film production and diversification in the Puno region and nationally, while also establishing ties with neighboring Latin American countries.

In its fourth edition, the festival seeks to lay the foundations for an internationally recognized event, entering the important circuit of Andean Mountain festivals, and thus fostering the growth of emerging filmmakers.

Hanan Cine has become a space for filmmakers, critics, programmers, spectators, and, most importantly, new audiences to come together. Through decentralized activities and inclusive proposals, this great collective project continues to expand.

From Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, Hanan Cine will take place from December 7 to 14, 2024, in person, with virtual activities allowing audiences from various parts of the world to participate, reaffirming that cinema is a collective creation in which everyone can take part.

Filmfestival im HERBST, Neues Kölner Filmhaus e.V.

Die Tage werden kürzer und das erste Herbstlaub spiegelt sich in Pfützen, Teichen und Bächen. Und daneben vielleicht sogar das eigene Spiegelbild.

Wir laden euch ein zum Kurzfilmwettbewerb 2024: Thema sind Mensch und Natur in den bunten Grünanlagen von Köln und Umgebung im Herbst.

Bist du ein kreativer Kopf, der die Schönheit von Köln und Umgebung einfangen möchte? Egal ob Profi oder Laie - wir laden dich ein, uns deine Sicht auf das Leben, die Menschen und die Natur in den herbstlich bunten Wäldern und Grünanlagen zu zeigen!

Und ja, es darf auch schräg sein. Denn wir haben eine bunte Jury, die nicht nur auf technisches Können achtet.

KYIV INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL (KISFF) is largest short film festival in Ukraine.

Our festival features a diverse range of short films created by emerging and accomplished filmmakers, including film school students and independent creators from all corners of the world. Our goal is to showcase the most stirring, inventive and distinctive films while promoting Ukrainian cinema, encouraging communication and exchange of experiences between Ukrainian and international filmmakers and artists, and providing a safe and welcoming space for our audience.

New York Arts & Entertainment Film Festival (formerly NYC Popup Film Festival) celebrates quality independent films. Our goal is to bring quality short films to an audience and offer independent filmmakers a place to showcase their work. We also work to create network opportunities for future work to be created.

Short films of all genres are considered for Festival Screening.

It is a space of encounter that has been developed in Quindío since 2020 and where through a formative process in peace, coexistence and reconciliation with young people of the territory, tools are provided so that they can narrate through audiovisual content, their realities and generate proposals that advocate for Peace. In previous versions, more than 40 audiovisual contents have participated, as well as more than 100 teenagers and young people trained in audiovisual production from the pre-production, production and post-production stages.

Animatex is the biggest animation event in Egypt and the annual meeting point for all the animation community in the region; studios, freelancers, students, academics, amateurs and general audience. It offers a much needed window on the local and international animation scenes, through a multitude of workshops, talks, discussions, screenings, competitions, exhibitions, keynotes, networking sessions and markets. It is also the driving force of many collaborations and opportunities with international festivals and partners for the benefit of the animation industry in Egypt.

CALIFORNIA MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS celebrate some of the most year's exciting and creative music videos, music, musicians, artists, films and directors. They honor great work and excellence.

The music & film industry have an undeniable connection to California. Sometimes it's the passion, sometimes it's the vision, sometimes it's the style, and sometimes it's the sound. That is the reason for the CALIFORNIA MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS.

Entries do not need to be from a California artist, but should be music videos, films or docs from the most recent 12 months.

The awards accept music videos, music films, and documentaries.

The awards were originally launched by TasteTV’s music television series, MUSIC CALIFORNIA. The MUSIC CALIFORNIA television series for the San Francisco Bay Area and Wine Country reaches over 2.5 million households. The program brings a festival of music to viewers, and includes featured music videos and interviews from bands, artists, and musicians.

The CALIFORNIA MUSIC VIDEO & FILM AWARDS annual show takes place in one of San Francisco’s unique music venue, and is an amazing evening bringing together music videos, musician appearances, fans, and of course music video awards

The theme of the work to be presented is free, as long as the theme falls within the musical genre.

Film Festival framed within the Atlantic Arch of Xixón.

International horror film festival based in the city of Guanajuato, Mexico. All festival activities are nonprofit.