Blog: Film festivals

ONLY FOR PERUVIAN FILMMAKERS // SOLO PARA CINEASTAS PERUANOS

Welcome to Kino Manchester, we operate Kinofilm, the North West of England's longest running short film festival. The dates for our next Festival (16th edition) are provisionally 26th Feb - 1st March 2020. First read about our current offers:

*NEW SPECIAL OFFER for 2019 - open to all Kino Alumni filmmakers (directors) that have previously screened at Kinoflim. If you have previously had a film screened at Kinofilm you can submit for 20% off all entry fees - but you must submit to the Alumni section to get this discount. You will be asked to enter a code that you will receive after providing evidence of your previous film screened at Kinofilm. Please also put these details in a cover letter on your FilmFreeway entry to us stating the year, director's name (which should be the same), the film's title and the programme it was in (if you can recall). Fees open at just $10.00

* REDUCED ENTRY FEES for filmmakers from EASTERN EUROPE and the Russian Federation - apx 30% off, please submit under the Eastern European section to obtain this discount. You must first contact us to provide evidence of residence and country of production to obtain this code to submit to this section. Fees open at just $10.00 or $8.50 for Gold Members of FFW.

* REDUCED ENTRY FEES for filmmakers from GREATER MANCHESTER - 30% off, please submit under the GREATER MANCHESTER FILMMAKERS section to obtain this discount.. You must upload evidence to your entry of residence within Greater Manchester and the film must be produced within the region. Fees open at just $10.00

* REDUCED ENTRY FEES for STUDENTS anywhere - 30% off, please submit under the KINO EXPOSED "Student" section to obtain this discount. You must first contact us to provide evidence of student status to obtain the code to submit under this section. Please also attach evidence to your entry on FFW. Fees open at just $10.00

* REDUCED ENTRY FEES for MICRO SHORTS (5 Minutes and under) - 30% off, please submit under the MICRO SHORTS section to obtain this discount. Fees open at just $10.00

* REDUCED ENTRY FEES for MOBILE PHONE SHORTS (10 Minutes and under) - 30% off, please submit under the MOBILE PHONE SHORTS section to obtain this discount. Fees open at just $10.00

*****A special youth section dedicated to young people of 17 years old and under. Please contact us first providing evidence of age when applying for the code to submit to this section. Please note reduced fees start at just $10.00 for Youths and Community filmmakers where the film is produced with young people of 17 and under.

**SPECIAL OPENING EARLY BIRD OFFER. ok so you don't qualify for the Alumni offer or the Student and Youth offers? Fear not, we are now offering until the 14th APRIL 25% off to everyone else from 26th Feb - 31st March (now extended till 14th April). Just submit early to qualify for reduced entry. All standard entry fees are only $15 during this period.

***FREE ENTRY - Waiver code for Iranian filmmakers based only in Iran. We realise the difficulties Iranian filmmakers experience by Western imposed sanctions on their country. We also recognise the importance of new stories coming out of work by young filmmakers and we are thrilled to have the ongoing special section in the festival for Iranian Filmmakers. Therefor our only free waiver code this year is for entries from IRAN. Please contact us first providing evidence of residence for the code to submit under this section.

****1st and 2nd features being made by Kino Alumni that have moved on to features, We would like to screen a couple of features this year to show the progression of filmmakers from shorts to features. Similarly to above you must provide evidence in your application that you have previously had a short shown at Kinofilm Festival to receive a code to submit to this section.

Women in Film
Women play an important role in filmmaking and there are many talents out there and to celebrate Women in Film we have two categories. One programme is a focus solely on Women directors, the second programme category will focus the work of women practitioners in the roles of writers, actresses, producers and Directors of Cinematography but please note the film lead roles must be female led. If you have a film that has a strong female led role or strong female writer etc and you want to be considered for this sectin of the festival please submit to the Women Practitioners category. Film Directors should submit to the Women in Film (directors category).

General Information.
Established in 1995 the festival is now in it's 16th International Shorts edition. Kinofilm has a unique reputation for showcasing the best short films from around the world, whilst being renowned for seeking out diverse, challenging and groundbreaking new films. We welcome filmmakers that are pushing the boundaries of the short film art form. The festival maintains a high standard with many European & International award-winning shorts featured in the Festival. It includes special programmes in North West Shorts (UK), British New Wave, Euro Cine, International Panorama, Kino Exposed (student and youth shorts), low/no budget shorts, Animation and various themed programmes, giving new and emerging filmmakers the opportunity to have their work screened alongside that of critically acclaimed, established short filmmakers.

Please note for 2019, the festival will move dates to February 2020. We will further welcome short films and animations from Eastern Europe as we extend the Polish festival to include more Baltic countries. This year we welcome films for this section from Romania and Russia.

As part of out 16th anniversary we are introducing a features section called Transitions for those short filmmakers that have successfully made the transition from short film to feature. This section is for previous entrants of Kinofilm Festival and can only be entered if you have previously had a short film at Kinofilm Festival. You must provide the name of the short film and year of the festival it was screened in advance of submitting..

All short films should have been completed since January 2018 to present and be no longer than 20 mins (accept documentaries which can be up to 23 mins including credits). PLEASE NOTE FILMS SHOULD NOT BE ONLINE FOR PUBLIC VIEWING. ANY FILMS THAT ARE SEEN TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN WILL FACE DISQUALIFICATION.

WE ARE OFFERING STUDENTS (world wide) , GREATER MANCHESTER FILMMAKERS, Youths and community groups, Eastern European Filmmakers and Alumni Filmmakers 20% OF ALL SUBMISSION FEES (please see offers at the top of this entry). The discount is automatically applied when you submit your film to the relevant sections, entry fees start at just $10.00 Please note PROOF OF ELIGIBILITY MUST BE SHOWN in all these categories in advance of submitting the film, you will then receive a code to submit your film.

IRANIAN Filmmakers can submit for free (see above details).

Please note, if your film is selected for screening in one of the cinema screenings you must be able to provide either a DCP or high-quality Bluray of your film. Please contact us if any issues with this and we will try to resolve it by showing the film in one of the other programmes not requiring either of these formats. If it playing in one of our other venues then we will require a digital version, details supplied if your film is accepted.

REFUNDS GIVEN ONLY IN THE FOLLOWING CIRCUMSTANCES: Please note if you make a genuine mistake and submit your film to us not realising that it does not fit all of the criteria, or you have to withdraw it for other reasons, we will refund your fee if the request is made only within the first two weeks from the date of submission. Films withdrawn later for other reasons such as you wish to withdraw it as your film has been accepted in another festival that requires premier status, will not receive a refund. (Please note that any refunds will be after FFW (8%) and PP (3.5%) commission fees already deducted from your fee, you will only be refunded the net amount that the festival receives).

Aims of the Festival:

1. To deliver a film festival of regional, national and international significance.

2. To nurture new talent and support the work of culturally diverse, emerging filmmakers.

3. To attract an industry base of filmmakers and media industry professionals, to encourage the exchange of ideas and development of partnerships.

4. To attract cinema goers and diverse audiences that would not normally experience the short film art form or film festivals.

5. To focus on the needs of the regions filmmakers, visiting filmmakers and the region’s audiences.

ACME Comedy Theatre was founded in 1989 as a place for comedians to perform and be discovered. Since then, ACME has helped launch the career of hundreds of comedy writers, directors, producers, and actors.

Today, ACME continues to be a place for comedy performers and writers to be discovered. These days though, new talent is more often discovered through online videos, so ACME developed a new screening series. The screening series is dedicated to bringing the upcoming stars of comedy video to the big screen via ACME Comedy’s own film festival.

In the Summer of 2017 we will be screening films in June, July, August

We are excited to bring a whole new class of comedic talent to the ACME Comedy Theater.

Perform free screenings of film themed on the environment in the markets of the cities of Assis Brazil, Brasiléia, Epitaciolândia, Xapuri, Capixaba, Acre, Plácido de Castro, Rio Branco, Porto Acre, Bukhari, in Acre and Guajará Mirim, Puerto Velho in Rondonia State in order to free spread the production of Latin American cinema and raise awareness about the importance of caring for the environment, as well as exchange experiences and good conservation practices and generate content and information locally on the environment and biodiversity.

ROFFEKE is pronounced "rafiki" which is a Swahili word meaning "friend". 'Friendship, Fun, Freedom' is the motto of the ROck 'n' ROll Film FEstival, KEnya.

The main objectives of ROFFEKE are:

1)To showcase local and international rock "n" roll films and music videos for the purposes of education and entertainment.

2)To organize workshops, forums and seminars related to various aspects of rock music and the film industry.

3)To provide a platform for emerging and established, local and international rock bands.

The mission of ROFFEKE is to promote rock 'n' roll music in Kenya by dispelling rock 'n' roll myths and misconceptions via the media of film.

The theme must focus, from the values ​​of solidarity, tolerance, culture of peace, nature and commitment to gender equality, on ways of life, traditions, trades, crafts, sustainable economy, respect for the environment and living beings, that is, all aspects of the diversity of human culture, with a specific section dealing with issues of the peoples of Siberia and Central Asia.

OutReels Cincinnati fosters a creative outlet for the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area where LGBT issues are expressed and discussed through the art of film.

The V edition of CORTOSPLASH will take place from September 20 to 22 2017. During the period of the festival will be organized events and collateral activities such as retrospectives, monographs, sections out of competition, photo exhibitions, meetings with actors, writers, artists, musicians, filmmakers and journalists.

The Just A Minute Festival is an online viewers choice event that encourages people to make short films, one minute or less, using any device or media of any genre or subject matter.

There are cash prizes and there is no entry fee.

There will be a premier event at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA and screenings at various locations.

For more information, visit our site www.JustAMinute.tv

THE NEXT EDITION OF THE MADEIRA FILM FESTIVAL WILL BE MARCH 27 - APRIL 1 2020.

We continue to accept submissions but please not your film will be submitted to the 2020 edition NOT 2019. This is due to Government elections on Madeira.

Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal.

The entry fee is 30 / 40 / 50 Euros depending upon submissions date and irrespective of genre and running time. Exhibiting filmmakers will be offered 3 nights accommodation including breakfast on Madeira during the festival.

Call for entries
The call for entries starts on August 16th 2018 and will remain open until April 2nd 2019.

The Madeira Film Festival is non – competitive. Rather than present awards MFF offers delegates the status of ‘AMBASSADOR OF THE LAURISSILVA’ thus helping to preserve and create awareness of Madeira’s endemic Laurissilva forest.


The Madeira Film Festival organisation fervently believes there is no better place in the world to stage a film festival than on the piquant Island of Madeira and there is no better place on Madeira to stage a film festival than in glorious Reid’s Palace Hotel and the Municipal Theatre in Funchal.

The crux of the Madeira Film Festival is to pay homage to the resilience of Madeira’s endemic Laurissilva Forest by screening a slate of films which are expansive, unsettling and profound,films which will hopefully impinge upon the viewers imagination.

One of the most effective measures that can be implemented in order to raise awareness of the Laurissilva forest and subsequently it’s preservation is through the undisputed persuasive strength of audio- visual communication. The aspiration of the Madeira Film Festival is to become one of Europe’s foremost film festivals, by sheer virtue of location there exists an inherent capacity to attain this.

The ACCIONS 3E Non-Profit Cultural Association is convening and organizing the 29th SUNCINE International Environmental Film Festival, to be held on November 2-10, 2023.

SUNCINE, formerly known as FICMA, was first held in 1993 and is positioned as the oldest Environmental Film Festival in the world; it is a reference in its genre.

SUNCINE is a multi-screen festival (in-person, online and televised). Its primary objective is to promote, disseminate and publicize environmental audiovisual works to raise awareness about the state of the environment, biodiversity and the planet’s sustainability.

19. International Izmir Short Film Festival
Izmir International Short Film Festival has been holding its place as being one of the greatest events in the field of movie in Turkey and it will meet with its audience 17th times in this year. The festival is the first film festival that gives international rewards to short films. It began to show its movies in 2000 and since then it has been one of the most esteemed festivals between movie lovers and in the field of movie.

In the Official Competition Programme of The Festival the right to participate have short fiction, animated and documentary films from film schools in the countries of the Balkan Peninsula and the Black Sea region (Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia).

The films should be directed by students in a regular form of education from the first to the last semester, regardless of their degree. The participation of students in the rest of the team or the cast is not a sufficient condition for selection.

The objective of the festival is to arrange a meeting of young filmmakers, to introduce the work of local and international film schools, and to award films chosen for the competition by the international jury. The festival is organized by Filmfest Písek, The Independent Film College in Písek and The Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček in Písek in cooperation with the town of Písek.

FanFilm Awards (FFA) is a ceremony recognizing artistic film makers in the independent film community. Held in the Los Angeles, CA, we in FFA welcome new and experienced film makers to showcase their work to fans worldwide.

Visit for more information: fanfilmawards.com

New York City's Winter Film Awards (WFA) is a volunteer-run and operated celebration of the diversity of local and international film-making. Our Mission is to recognize excellence in cinema and to promote learning and artistic expression for people at all stages of their artistic careers with a focus on nurturing emerging filmmakers and helping them gain recognition and contacts to break into this difficult industry. We pride ourselves on our diverse collection of Festival selections, allowing our audience to enjoy films they normally wouldn’t think to seek out.

Now in its ninth year, the rapidly growing Festival showcases the work of emerging filmmakers from around the world. For the 2019 Festival, 89 films from 32 countries were screened, including an eclectic mix of Animated films, Documentaries, Feature narratives, Horror films, Music Videos, Narrative shorts and Web series, including 34 first-time filmmakers. 50% of the films were created by women, 53% were created by or about people of color.

Works of all genres, forms, and lengths are considered. All selected films are screened at Cinema Village, NYC's top indie cinema in the heart of Greenwich Village. The Festival includes ten days of film screenings, educational panels, professional development workshops and industry networking after-parties, which will conclude with a glittering awards ceremony to be held on February 29, 2020.

Outstanding work will be awarded for each category, along with Best Director, Best Actor/Actress, Outstanding Woman Director, Best Student Film and the NY PERSPECTIVES Award for best depiction of the New York multi-cultural experience.

Winter Film Awards International Film Festival is an IMDB-qualifying festival.

Like many of the great film Festivals across the country and the world, WFA seeks to bring our audience compelling and unique content that inspires the viewers and honors the filmmakers. There are hundreds of film festivals in New York City; what makes us different is our intense focus on a bias-free submissions review, the variety of our films and helping new filmmakers reach what may be their first real audience.

WFA is a minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We work with all local NYC film schools, colleges, arts high schools and many cultural societies.

CATACUMBA UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL is a cultural, handcrafted and resistant project that since the year 2000 is developed in the Valencian municipality of Godella and that uses as a backbone the projection of recent audiovisual works that coexist during the celebration of this peculiar festival.
In its 17th edition, the festival aims to collect independent film proposals that offer an alternative perspective created from the transversality that filmic language allows. Works that in some way subvert morality, dismantle repressions, our philias and phobias and that evidence the structural defects of the society in which we live. On the margins of the entertainment industry we will find proposals that can lead us towards different models of expression that allow the narrative cinema to return to the expressive category that it seeks to invite reflection. Possibly if it is strange is because it remains hidden from perception and the senses.
We understand that the cinematographic production is living a creative process that enhances the fusion between genres, stoking the originality and the diversity of the medium, we ascribe to all these possibilities. From CATACUMBA we want to reflect this creative reality, giving space to a greater number of works, sometimes unclassifiable, but which act as reflecting mirrors of the strange reality that we live.
In short film and feature length format you will have the possibility to feel all the fears, dreams, philias and phobias that our directors intend to transmit. You will know genres once reviled and undervalued, but that have had transcendental titles in film history and that have become authentic referents of universal filmography. Reflecting cinema of our social reality, cinema that convinces us more every day that reality will always surpass fiction.

La Plata International Independent Film Festival - FestiFreak is one of the most relevant and inviting cultural event in La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires, Argentina. We settled 20 years ago with the idea of showing and giving premiere to films and authors that don't usually get in theaters and others screens well as reviewing greatest masters of cinema's filmography. Our 20º edition will take place in October 2024.

​Here, you can find the information of the last edition:
https://festifreak.com/

ONLY FOR BRASILIAN FILMMAKERS // SOLO PARA CINEASTAS BRASILEÑOS

Cinefest Gato Preto ("Black Cat") is a short-film festival for Brazilians film makers.

We will have a specific focus, trying to give attencion to all areas in cinema: art direction, sound design, editing, scrict, direction, acting, photography and production.