Blog: Film festivals

Founded in 2003, IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival is dedicated to short films, new media and digital arts. Originating as a competitive forum for student films, it has grown to be a recognized platform for the expression of both young artists and established professionals – the only one of its kind in Bulgaria serving this particular sector of contemporary culture, and one of the oldest short film forums on the Balkans.

IN THE PALACE is a Goya Awards qualifying festival, Student Academy Awards® qualifying festival, and an Academy Awards®/OSCAR® qualifying festival for shorts in the categories of Best Animation, Best Fiction, Best Documentary, and Best National Film. IN THE PALACE is a member of the international network of festivals and institutions serving the short film sector – the Short Film Conference.

22nd IN THE PALACE will take place in the Palace of Culture Pernik (Pernik, Bulgaria) from June 28th until July 5th 2025.

IN THE PALACE is an established international festival dedicated to short films and digital arts and also presents special competitive programs for feature films and film series.

The program consistс of several main components:

• International and national, professional and student competitive programs in fiction, documentary, animation, experimental - for short and feature films and series

• ON FOCUS film programs & screenings

• Q & A sessions

• FILMER FORGE: industry market, industry meetings, film pitching session, educational program

• International Interdisciplinary Science Conference

• Video library

• Film events and initiatives for general audience

• Parties

IN THE PALACE takes place over a week and offers a range of events, activities, and programs for both - local and international film industry and audience. IN THE PALACE is a cultural meeting point of film industry, artists, students, educational institutions, and the general public, that provides access to the latest trends, developments, and learning in the arts and culture through screenings, training and interdisciplinary exchange. Since 2018 the Festival organizes the International Interdisciplinary Science Conference.

Wildlife Vaasa International Nature film festival is located on the West Coast of Finland, and it was held in the city of Vaasa every second year, since 2002. Since its conception, it has grown in stature receiving commendation from participants, delegates, media and the public world-wide. The upcoming 9th biennial edition of the festival will be organized from 26th - 30th September 2018 and it will host the 9th international nature film competition. The competition aims to raise public awareness , as well as to participate in a global dialogue about Nature and The Environment. Therefore, only Nature and Science related to Nature documentaries produced after 2016 are accepted in the competition. The festival calls especially for films related to ENERGY and CLIMATE CHANGE. Wildlife Vaasa Festival the only sustainable film festival of its kind in Scandinavia.

MOLINOS DE PAPEL

First Children's Film Festival Maipú
MAIPU (BUENOS AIRES) ARGENTINA
MOLINOS DE PAPEL, The Children's Film Festival held in Maipú Maipú (Buenos Aires) Argentina.

MOLINOS DE PAPEL is organized by the Graduate Marina Golé, Secretary of Culture of Maipu as a representative of the Ministry of Culture of the Municipality of Maipú and Raùl Etchelet, CEO and executive producer.

You’ve chosen to film. Chosen to put together a visual piece of art if we may say so. Today when anyone with a camera can, in theory, make a film... how will you make your short film stand out? What you intend to do with your film is what the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival is all about. We will be what you create. 

After the tremendous success that was BISFF 2023, we are all set to host the 11th edition. Just as every year, this is an attempt to understand the medium a little better and go a little further in inventing new forms of storytelling as filmmakers.

The festival showcases shorts from across the world, creating a physical space for a great audience experience and bringing together a keen audience for the filmmakers. BISFF also exhibits works by past masters who have dabbled in short filmmaking that today is viewed as an art form that needs a unique approach. Additionally, the festival presents talks and panel discussions with leading thinkers and industry practitioners, enabling budding makers to interact with the best in the industry. BISFF also includes hands-on learning experiences in workshops and demonstrations by professionals, putting together an exclusive audience experience and perhaps space for makers to find what they are looking for.  

We are a festival that emphatically promotes independent social cinema, that cinema that tells stories of people, places, conditions and situations common to the bulk of humanity. In other words, stories of flesh and blood, sensitive and true.

On the other hand, we are convinced that cinema is the most important tool of social and cultural transformation in the world; and that festivals are alternative media and windows of exhibition, whose specific function is the dynamic interaction with the target audience, in order to reach levels of deep awareness for those spectators.

Therefore, we want to introduce ourselves to you, filmmakers, in a formal and honest way, pretending to be considered a bridge between those who see, interpret and shape reality in a different way and the inhabitants of our region; a region located in Colombia, which urgently needs to hear messages of social and cultural hope through art, in order to achieve inner peace and radical changes in their lives.

The Chicago Caribbean Film Festival is the only Caribbean Film Festival in the Midwest. We work along with the Piton International Film Festival (PIFF) (Saint Lucia); the Houston Caribbean Film Festival (HCFF); and now the Boston Caribbean Film Festival (BCFF). More details to follow about the BCFF. We hold the film festival in June to honor National Caribbean American Heritage Month (CAHM).

The Chicago Caribbean Film Festival (CCFF) will be held from June 09, 2018 to June 30, 2018 at the Oak Park Public Library (Main Library), 834 Lake Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60301, in the Veteran's Room. The Chicago Caribbean Film Festival (CCFF) will now screen films at North Park University (NPU), 3225 Foster Avenue, Carlson Building #13, Chicago, Illinois 60625. The NPU film festival dates have not been scheduled yet. Moreover, CCFF will be hosting a Caribbean Book Festival to correspond with the film festival.

Submit your entry now!

The 12th International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra & Awards, offers you the opportunity to submit your documentaries now, in order to compete in the monthly awards of the Festival for February. Winners will automatically qualify to compete for the annual Festival awards, taking place from August 2nd to 24th, 2025.

This year the IDFI, is dedicated to Climate Change. It is worth noting that films from all thematic sections will be eligible at the end of each month to compete for the annual awards in August. The rich thematic sections of the Festival include: human rights, recordings of memory, docudrama, young directors, true stories, climate change, environment, the role of women, Greek Panorama, views of the world, human portrait, violence, war threat, diversity, socio-political discrimination, religious conflicts, racism, migration, as well as themes related to all forms of art and culture, such as folklore, customs, mythology, history, biographies, ethnographies, journeys, and travel-tourist documentaries.

The 12th International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra & Awards, promotes the best documentaries from Greece and around the world for screening in its’ competitive section. Ierapetra, the southernmost city in Europe, a crossroads of cultures and continents, will once again host a plethora of films and artists from the ends of the earth. The judging panels consist of international recognition personalities.

The film files must be in mp4 format and must have embedded English and Greek subtitles (in case of foreign dialogue).

Our 5-star and Gold-rated festival holds the EFFE quality seal.

Trailer of the 11th International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra & Awards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZAQStCWPFA&t=27s

FICARQ is the International Film & Architecture Festival of Spain to screen both documentary and fiction films where architecture plays the main role.

This year, following the success of previous editions (in Avilés and Oviedo, Asturias, Santander, Madrid and Barcelona).

The official competitive sections are ARTE EN EL SÉPTIMO ARTE (fiction films) and ARQUITECTURAS FILMADAS (documentaries).

In this new edition of FICARQ, in addition to being a bridge between the cinematographic and architectural arts, we want to be a bridge between generations and for this reason we dedicate a special mention to those proposals that come to the festival made by people who are younger that twenty-five y.o. and over fifty y.o.

With this, we intend to encourage the participation of citizens, especially in the fiction and documentary short or micro-film categories to give a space of recognition to all those people who, by age range, are further away from the conventional circuits of audiovisual production and film festivals. cinema.

we sincerely believe in the transforming power of art and culture in our society and in this way we give way to many points of view of creation in freedom, showing in each city in which FICARQ is organized a window open to its citizens and their concerns, whether conventional through the urban, rural or archaeological landscape, as well as other ways of relating to their environment as occurs in urban art or showing forms of expression of people within an architectural environment such as contemporary urban dance, streetdance, breakdance, parkour movement, etc.


2021-FICARQ'S LEITMOTIV:
CLIMATE CHANGE AS UNCERTAINTIES POSED TO US IN THIS NEW NORMALITY, WHERE SOLID SOCIAL AND FAMILY STRUCTURES DILUTE IN AN INFINITE SUCCESSION OF NEW BEGINNINGS BECAUSE THE LACK OF AN INSURED FUTURE.

Directed by Women Spain is a film viewing celebration of films directed by women in Spain.

Our celebration is part of the International movement Directed by Women, that for the past 9 years has been dedicated to promote and give visibility to films directed by Women.

Cineteca of Madrid and the CICUS of Seville are hosting the tenth edition with a complete program of short film sessions, feature films, unseen documentaries, sessions for young audiences and children. Filmmakers will be invited to present their pieces to the public and to participate in a Q&A.

There will also be debates, professional gatherings, workshops and a lot of celebration!

#DirectedbyWomenSpain

The international competition will reward the best soundtrack, then the best film music composer who will receive the Grand Prix The international competition will reward the best soundtrack, then the best film music composer who will receive the Grand Prix “VIOLETTA D’ORO” (Golden Violette), a flower that is the symbol of Parma, but also represents the name of the most famous female heroin created by Giuseppe Verdi, much loved by the public.

In addition to the first prize, the Violetta d'Oro, will be assigned the “Violetta d'Argento” to the best movie, and Honorable Mentions to best director, best photography best actor, best script and best short film.

The purpose of this initiative is not only pointing out to the audience recent and important features, but also underlining the value of a musical score as an essential element for the poetry and the success of a movie itself.

Besides, the contest will be a chance for film makers and producers to show their own works to a various audience and to a high-qualified international jury.


In addition of the section about feature films, it has been included also a section concerning short films, that will participate in the contest for a dedicated award.

The attendance is open to feature films and videos of any nationality, subject and length (musical productions but also dramatic films, comics, historical or Tv productions, etc).

SPECIAL CATEGORY: short film of Dance, with a Jury that will give a "DANCE AWARD".

Award Ceremony will take place at Casa della Musica in Parma on September 21th 2024 at 5.00pm with Dinner Gala, at which all producers or directors who have their film in nomination will be invited.

Deadline of inscription: 15th June 2024.

Caostica is an International Shortfilm an Videoclip Festival that takes place in Bilbao (Basque Country) with these sections: Videozinema (Fiction Shortfilms), Animation and Videoclip (Music Video).
All prizes are given by a professional jury except of Bizarre Prize. The Caostica Association will award the Bizarre Prize to the participant whom best represents the fresh, innovative, quirky, irreverent, Martian, jokester, weird, risky, brave and daring spirit that characterizes this festival, regardless of the section in which he or she is registered.In addition to this the Festival will award a prize to the best film in basque language, independently of the section in which its signed up.

The Burguillos Short Film Festival's goal is the promotion and exhibition of short films shot in Andalusia or made by Andalusian artists. Also, the support of cinematography and culture in the town of Burguillos (Sevilla).

ONLY FOR ANDALUSIAN FILM-MAKERS // Solo para cineastas andaluces (España).

It's time to have your film showcased at the Indie Fest USA International Film Festival! We have several new and exciting events and changes in store, all for the benefit of the filmmakers and your audiences. We are unique and proud that many films we have showcased and screened have received theatrical distribution, ancillary distribution and a few have even received Oscar consideration.

Check out this promo video by one of the filmmakers who attended in 2010, it captures the spirit of Indie Fest USA!

https://www.facebook.com/IndieFestUSA/videos/510289675808266/
​
Indie Fest USA Int’l Film Festival was established in 2007 and is an exciting and entertaining eclectic mix of exceptional independent films from the U.S. and International filmmakers

To date we have screened over 2580 independent films from around the world, been attended by more than 2500 filmmakers and 23,000 film fans and go the extra step to provide an entertainment experience for everyone attending the film festival Complementing this we add red carpet events, special guests and celebrities including Academy Award nominees and Golden Globe Winners, opening and closing night parties, daily seminars and socials plus networking galore.

Combined with our sponsors and supporters we proudly present a festival which has worked hard for our reputation of being truly filmmaker friendly and willing to do everything we can to promote and showcase great independent films. We are an nontraditional film festival at nontraditional yet fun and exciting venues. We spotlight you the filmmaker and writer.

Curt.Doc Vidreres International Short Documentary Festival is a cultural event devoted to short documentary film making. The aim of the Festival is to be an exhibition platform and meeting point for the general public, professionals and filmmakers from around the world, promoting documentaries and their makers in a innovative and accessible format.

Festival Inclús is a festival of audiovisual productions, both documentary and fiction centered on the theme of physical and mental disabilities. It is an initiative Associació Inclús and conducted by Fish Muvi.

The aim of Festival Inclús is to give visibility to audiovisual works produced around the theme of disability with a different point of view. The goal is to provide a deepest perspective of the reality of disabilities, whether the production is carried by entities directly involved in the world of disability, or other persons or groups.

We also are an inclusive festival that is why we have two new sections: Inclus values, cinema for kids and teens about social issues and Sing Language cinema, movies in sign language.

The Festival will be held in November, 2024, close to the International Day of Disability December 3rd. The Audiovisual material of the finalists will be played during this day according to the different categories. There will be awards for the best submittals. Inclús focuses on audiovisual productions, but it also has other artistic and commercial activities and disciplines in order to give visibility to this sector.

The short filme contest, on its first edition, is promoted by the Circle of Arts of Toledo in collaboration with the Youth Department of Toledo, the Social Film Festival of Castilla-La Mancha and with the support of the organization of the gastronomic capital.

As the oldest film festival of its kind in Canada, image+nation stands as a premiere site for launching new and innovative media works to a savvy and appreciative audience.

Located in the cultural mecca of Montreal, image+nation offers LGBTQueer filmmakers a unique opportunity to network with local creators, programmers and producers.

The XV Film Festival: Childhood and Adolescence -2024, is a festival with spaces for circulation and audiovisual training for children, adolescents and young people, with exhibitions, recreational activities, workshops, panels and discussions, whose main objective is to promote Bogota as a pioneer city in Latin America in terms of a visible, protagonist and full of rights childhood and adolescence through audiovisual construction. Participation is free of charge to the activities of exhibition and circulation of audiovisual content.

The Contest will be held from September 7 to 13, 2024.

Children and adolescents will have access to an audiovisual program made up of national and international animation and fiction short films, television series and the "FESTICINE AWARD" category, which is given to audiovisuals made by Colombian children. They will be accompanied by playful activities of reflection on the thematic axis: "TERRITORIES OF KNOWLEDGE, BIODIVERSITY AND INCLUSION THROUGH FILM".

FICARQ is the International Film & Architecture Festival of Spain to screen both documentary and fiction films where architecture plays the main role.

This year, following the success of previous editions (in Avilés and Oviedo, Asturias, Santander, Madrid and Barcelona).

The official competitive sections are ARTE EN EL SÉPTIMO ARTE (fiction films) and ARQUITECTURAS FILMADAS (documentaries).

In this new edition of FICARQ, in addition to being a bridge between the cinematographic and architectural arts, we want to be a bridge between generations and for this reason we dedicate a special mention to those proposals that come to the festival made by people who are younger that twenty-five y.o. and over fifty y.o.

With this, we intend to encourage the participation of citizens, especially in the fiction and documentary short or micro-film categories to give a space of recognition to all those people who, by age range, are further away from the conventional circuits of audiovisual production and film festivals. cinema.

we sincerely believe in the transforming power of art and culture in our society and in this way we give way to many points of view of creation in freedom, showing in each city in which FICARQ is organized a window open to its citizens and their concerns, whether conventional through the urban, rural or archaeological landscape, as well as other ways of relating to their environment as occurs in urban art or showing forms of expression of people within an architectural environment such as contemporary urban dance, streetdance, breakdance, parkour movement, etc.


2021-FICARQ'S LEITMOTIV:
CLIMATE CHANGE AS UNCERTAINTIES POSED TO US IN THIS NEW NORMALITY, WHERE SOLID SOCIAL AND FAMILY STRUCTURES DILUTE IN AN INFINITE SUCCESSION OF NEW BEGINNINGS BECAUSE THE LACK OF AN INSURED FUTURE.