Important note on COVID-19: None of the Indie Short Fest live events will be cancelled. Although are currently postponed, all of the screenings and Q&As will be scheduled for the first safe opportunity, even if they have to be merged in large events. Until then, ISF-LA has also optional streaming opportunities for who wants to join, namely VOD or monthly subscription via our TV channel.
This means that our event dates designate, at this temporary stage, the day for the announcement of the award winners of each season. The respective live events will take place as soon as possible.
Everything else is working as usual.
IMDb qualifier Indie Short Fest (ISF-LA) is an LA-based international film competition with red carpet live screenings and Q&A at the Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, CA, every two months.
ISF-LA is looking for independent projects from all genres, particularly low or no-budget ones, as well as from all countries, especially from those traditionally underrepresented in the global film industry.
Each round, all submitted projects are featured in ISF-LA site and social media (with the publication of synopsis, stills and a trailer/teaser) as part of a general promotional action of indie production. Submitter has the option of decline any public highlight, as long as notified ISF-LA, keeping however his project(s) under consideration. These projects are judged by a random team of invited experts from academia and film industry from Los Angeles area, against a high standard of merit. From the pool of official selection, which has a very competitive acceptance rate, ISF-LA chose the nominees and award winners of the season. All of them can add their projects to IMDb. Some of the award-winning projects, selected by the programmers of ISF-LA, are publicly screened in Los Angeles at the end of each round.
Before submitting, please read carefully the following:
Every submission can add numerous additional judging categories increasing the chance to become a multi-award-winning. In these cases, the name(s) to be credited should be included in the submission.
Notice that any entry is judged only according to the nature of the submitted category or categories. After the preliminary evaluation, ISF-LA can email the submitter with recommendations to other categories in which the entry can be more suitable to and have more chances to be a good competitor. Still, the decision to submit to other categories, and the payment of the associated fees, belong exclusively to the submitter and does not guarantee any award or the official selection.
GRACE! International Film Festival & Cinema Awards is an annual international event focusing on independent filmmakers.
Located in the centre of Berlin, we look forward to host an unique event at Arsenal cinema theatre.
The Festival’s mission is to support independent filmmakers
and to bring them to wider attention.
Our aim is to give the talented filmmakers a helpful step in their future careers and to provide them an alternative to the commercial film experience.
The Festival accepts films of any genre and format and will showcase some of the excellentest international short films in:
- Narrative, Documentary, Experimental, Animation,
- Student, Debut, Woman Filmmaker, Young Filmmaker,
- Trailer, Music Video and Drone Film.
The GRACE! IFF accepts screenplays as well and has a student category to submit and provides special fees for them.
We take to heart the amount of work put into each film.
The committee judge all films equally and with great respect and consideration.
The quality standard of GRACE IFF is very high, so finalists of this competition can be really proud of their achievement.
All the finalists will go to the annual competition ending with the live screening event in Berlin we organize each season.
Some of the winner films will also be screened at other international film festivals.
Please note that we will not display your films or screenplays online, with the exception of a poster, a description and/or a trailer.
1. Brain Film Fest
The Brain Film Fest (BFF) is an international film festival dedicated to highlighting and promoting the creation and dissemination of feature films and short films about any aspect of the brain, from its amazing abilities and conditions to its pathologies. The BFF is jointly organized by the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and Minimal Films. In addition to being a film competition, the BFF will also organize throughout the festival other in-person and online social, cultural and/or scientific events that focus on the brain.
The 9th edition of the Brain Film Fest will be held from March 9 to 14, 2027.
The purpose of the festival refers to awareness of both the external filters on the screen, including censorship (commercial, ideological, aesthetic), and the internal filters of screen perception and projection, including self-censorship. NEFILTRAVANAE KINO is an exploration of aestheticization and commodification in art. The next aim of the festival is to expose the complexity, manysidedness, and variety of filmmaking.
NEFILTRAVANAE KINO (NoFilter Kino) is a film festival that is held by the Short Movie Club, the platform for cinematic projects. NEFILTRAVANAE KINO is ADAMI Media Prize qualified festival. The International Film Studies Conference is held at the same time as the film festival. In this way, film theory and practice are integrated together at the NEFILTRAVANAE KINO.
Originally the festival was held in Belarus, but because of political repression and publicly stated anti-war stance, screenings and events can be held in different countries. First of all in Poland (Warsaw), Germany (Berlin, Hamburg), Lithuania (Vilnius). For example, the 11th and 10th Nefiltravanae Kino took place in Warsaw, Berlin, Hamburg, Vilnius and Helsinki. The content of past years' film programs can be found on the website https://shortmovie.club/programmes/
The festival will be held in a hybrid format. We will have a part of live screenings and online screenings on a video platform https://film.nofilterkino.org/ . The video is cryptographically secured. In addition, we pay attention and promote films from our previous years that are released to the public on the Internet after their festival curcuit.
Nefiltravanae Kino involves theater, artists to interpret symbols and history. We work with the audience's reaction and participants' as well.
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The concept of the NEFILTRAVANAE KINO (NoFilter Kino):
ALIENATION PROBLEM
We live in a world of malls and cinema multiplexes. We see that indie cinema and non-commodity art go to the periphery of public attention. Primitive attractions replace the cinematography. The escape audience is alienated behind the big screen. So modern mainstream cinema is part of a manipulating tool that leads to the society of alienation. Thus the tendency is that indie cinema becomes more unreadable for the wide audience. We should understand the context of the filmmaker to understand the independent cinema. That is why the NEFILTRAVANAE KINO concept implies the physical presence of filmmakers.
FILM SELECTION PROBLEM
Filmmakers shoot millions of movies. And thousands of short film festivals organize screenings all over the world every year. On average, several thousand films are submitted to a film festival. So various good films can be neglected for whatever reason. Often selecting probability is like winning a lottery. As a result, filmmakers are left with no feedback. It is a paradox that no one can hear you in the age of the Internet! The mainstream culture prefers attractions and casual viewing.
Also, this idea is based on the film selection problem. Perhaps it’s no surprise one person, i.e. programme director at best, or even students of film schools make a preliminary decision to select a movie. Сoncordance of judges or previewers is more seldom thing than the difference of background, tastes. So selection or judging can be one-sided or perfunctory. It is not bad as the programme director has a good taste and aesthetic sensitivity, of course. But we’ve discovered another conception of “unfiltered cinema”. We matched it against “the best of the best” way. This way aids to perceive cinematic idiom without the dictate of art-curators.
CELEBRATION OF INDIE CINEMA
So the NoFilter Kino tries to avoid “the best of the best” way but it does not ignore it completely, sure. The festival selects fiction, animation, documentary, experimental and virtual reality sections. A jury awards the best film in every section. The festival holds the screenings at cinema theatres, the National Centre for Contemporary Arts, and art-spaces.
Our aim is to gather people in art, to have a dialogue to be happy with smart communication.
Cinema is art but not sport. The key point of our project is to establish communication between the filmmaker and the audience.
Please, read about the festival history through the link to the festival's website. http://shortmovie.club/history/
THE XI ARCTIC INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL "GOLDEN RAVEN"
March 29 – April 11, 2027 • Anadyr, Chukotka, Russia
Free submission • Deadline: November 30, 2026
Golden Raven is the easternmost international film festival in Russia. It takes place in Anadyr, the capital of Chukotka, on the shores of the Bering Sea, where Russia's new day begins. For two weeks every spring the Arctic town becomes a meeting point for filmmakers from all over the world, and your film meets an audience unlike any other.
A festival that keeps growing
The jubilee X edition received 3,394 submissions from more than 100 countries. Festival films were screened in 67 regions of Russia and in six countries, from Minsk to Buenos Aires, reaching a combined audience of over 130,000 viewers. The Grand Prix went to a film from China, chosen not by a jury but by the audience in Anadyr.
What we are looking for
Full-length films: stories of the Arctic and the North, of indigenous peoples around the world, of nature and the relationship between people and their environment. We look for films where the North is not an exotic backdrop but a living world of people, characters and destinies.
Short films: Arctic and northern themes are our priority, but films of other themes are welcome too.
All films must be completed on or after January 1, 2025.
Competition sections
— International competition of full-length feature and documentary films
— International competition of full-length animated films
— International competitions of short feature, documentary and animated films
— FilmRising! — interregional competition for filmmakers from Russia's North, Siberia and Far East
— NEW: AI Film Competition
NEW in 2027: AI Film Competition
For the first time, Golden Raven opens a competition for films created with generative artificial intelligence. It is open to features, shorts, animation, experimental and hybrid works from 1 minute long, where more than 50% of the main visual sequence is created with generative AI. There are no thematic restrictions. Applicants disclose the AI tools used and the creative contribution of the team. The winner is chosen by audience vote.
Awards
The Grand Prix, the Big Golden Raven statuette, is awarded by audience vote. An international jury awards Golden Raven statuettes for best film, directing, screenplay and cinematography in the full-length competition, and Golden Raven medallions in the short film, animation and FilmRising! competitions. The festival also presents a Press Award and a children's audience award for the best animated short.
Hospitality
For each film selected for the full-length competitions, the festival covers economy flights within Russia to Anadyr and back, hotel accommodation and meals for one representative. Official invitations for visas are provided to representatives of competition films.
More than screenings
— Full halls and Q&A sessions with filmmakers after the screenings
— An industry program: panels, round tables and master classes. Past speakers included filmmakers from Korea, China and Russia
— An animation lab run with the legendary Soyuzmultfilm studio
— Opening and closing ceremonies with concerts, theatre performances and creative meetings with actors and directors
— The "Golden Raven Camp": yarangas, traditional Chukchi food, games and crafts
— For guests: dog sled rides, trips into the tundra and tours of the Arctic's easternmost town
Submission
Submission is free. Working languages: Russian, English, Chinese. Selected films provide an English or Russian subtitle file and a DCP by February 1, 2027. The official selection will be announced by March 25, 2027.
Come to the edge of the world and bring your film to the Golden Raven.
FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS OF THE FIRST EDITION, GABES CINEMA FEN FESTIVAL IS HOLDING A 4th EDITION FROM 6 TO 12 MAY IN GABES.
The festival, which considers Arab cinema as a priority by highlighting the new dynamics that it knows with openness on other cinemas and visual arts, returns with a new edition that it hopes will be up to the expectations of its public and actors of the cinema sector.
We extend an open invitation for Arab directors to register their long, short, documentary, feature or experimental films on the website www.gabescinemafen.com.
Many Awards Many Official Selections, Many Categories... CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI International Film Festival's main objective is to provide the opportunity for filmmakers from all over the world to excel, and to have the best work selected and showcased in a celebration of cinema, as well as to give filmmakers a platform to network amongst fellow professionals and cinematic artists. CSIFF is looking forward to fostering these relationships and to helping extraordinary filmmakers get their projects seen by global audiences. CSIFF unites cinematic, cultural, educational more over Inspirational objectives by presenting its film discoveries.
About CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivaji
The CSIFF is dedicated to showcasing new and innovative films while fostering the next generation of filmmakers. It is a strong advocate for social change, and encourages cultural diversity and understanding between nations. It strives to foster the movie art of all continents by stimulating the development of quality cinema and promoting meetings between cinema professionals from around the world.
The CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI International Film Festival is dedicated to showcasing the spirit, passion, and skill of the best new filmmakers from around the world for audiences around the world.
We are also including and actively supporting not only the finest examples of classic moviemaking, but works that are experimental, breaking ground in new non-narrative forms and crossing over into the video arts. All films will be reviewed as they are submitted, and the best in each category will be chosen to screen at the festival. A jury of industry professionals will then view the finalists and choose the winning selections.
Filmmakers planning on attending should notify the film festival as soon as possible, so their names may be listed in the scheduled program at the venue where their film will be shown. https://csiff.buddhafest.in/
"Italian Film Days" brings Italian films to Cyprus.
The event is organized by the IMAGO Group and the Embassy of Italy in Nicosia. The artistic direction of the Festival is entrusted to Claudio Rossi Massimi, Italian author and director.
Films from all Countries are allowed to partecipate, not only Italian films!
* All winners will receive an official laurel and a free certificate (PDF/JPG file, ready for print).
We welcome you to Diamond Film Awards.
Our mission is to promote films, helping filmmakers to improve their careers.
At the final event, our Jury will award the best films after live screenings.
All filmmakers are invited to the Gala to experience a great evening of movies with a final dinner.
* All winners will receive an official laurel and a free certificate (PDF/JPG file, ready for print).
We communicate all official laurels and certificates with useful information within 48 hours of notification date to the email ids available in the submission form. Please check your email junk/spam/trash folder if you do not see it in your inbox.
Each short film represents time, decisions, a way of seeing, of telling, and of expressing.
In its 15th edition, El Festivalico continues to receive works from all over the world, each one very different from the others.
Not all of them are screened.
The selection is carried out by a team with diverse sensibilities and perspectives.
This process takes us months of viewing, always approached with the utmost respect and rigor for every work received.
Over the years, some of the selected works have continued their journey, later being selected and awarded at the Goya Awards, among other recognitions.
But all of them are part of the same thing:
the need to tell stories and to be seen.
For a few days, a selection of these stories is shared and experienced.
Animotion Film Festival is a competitive Film Festival dedicated to 2D-3D Animation and Stop Motion Films. The fourth Edition will be held in Florence (Italy) at Guelfi Sport Center on July 14th 2021.
The Blue Ridge Film Fest is presented by Barnstorm Media as an extension of their mission: the preservation of independent film through the nurturing of independent voices.
All films screened for awards consideration will come from submissions! We know of no other festival making such a claim. We're looking to discover new voices. We're looking to create a community of the next generation of filmmakers.
The festival will take place over three days in the bucolic hamlet of Blue Ridge, GA, at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. With an ideal downtown district and an arts hungry community, Blue Ridge is the perfect home for the next generation of film festivals.
BRff is all about community. It’s about bringing independent film to a thriving art community and it’s about building a community of filmmakers who are invested in keeping independent film alive.
The events and workshops built around the festival were created to encourage filmmakers to connect, to build relationships, to fuel one another's artistic talents, and ultimately, to find ways to collaborate.
WE'RE ONLY JUDGING TALENT. We're looking for original voices, not deep pockets.
Azkuna Zentroa - Alhondiga Bilbao launches the Call for Entries to participate in its programme entitled BIdeOtik. Focussing on other audiovisual narratives, which forms part of their film and audiovisual season to be held in February and March 2021.
The Call for Entries is aimed at artists and video-creators whose artistic output in terms of video expression is channelled through the audiovisual medium.
Azkuna Zentroa is a Contemporary Societal and Cultural Centre in Bilbao, the Basque Country, that connects society and contemporary culture through six lines of programming: Contemporary Art, Live Arts, Cinema and Audiovisual, Society, Digital Culture, and Literature. Through constant dialogue with each other these different lines have generated a hybrid, multi-faceted, and expanded programme of events that favours the regular day-to-day presence of the contemporary, using mediation and education as a means to generate critical knowledge and transform society through art and artists.
As part of its programme of events, Azkuna Zentroa carries out various initiatives to support creation in contemporary cinema and audiovisual media, reaching out to different audience sectors through either completed works or the creative processes.
BIdeOtik. Focussing on other audiovisual narratives is conceived as a bridge where audiovisual creation and the audience can meet with the following purposes:
- Provide visibility for artistic, cultural, and creative audiovisual creation, as a tool for creation, reflection, and cultural and social transformation.
- To encourage the development of the audiovisual sector by creating a space to showcase local and international audiovisual works.
- To incentivise the dissemination and exhibition of contemporary audiovisual creation.
- To promote the use of new linguistic forms of expression through moving images.
- To consolidate Azkuna Zentroa as the place in Bilbao where the various agents participating in the audiovisual chain of creation can interact.
- There is no element of competition between the selected works, but rather the intention is to promote and disseminate different artistic and experimental practices within the video sector.
The artworks selected will be screened during the course of the BIdeOtik. Focussing on other audiovisual narratives programme of events at Azkuna Zentroa-Alhóndiga Bilbao, in accordance with the schedule to be compiled once the Appraisal Committee has given its verdict.
The works will be screened within the context of sessions designed to encourage interaction with audiences that are interested in exchange and dialogue regarding the process of audiovisual creation. As such, those authors whose works are selected will be required to attend in person on the date set for the screening of their work. These sessions will include a colloquium with the live audience, and will be held at the Golem Alhóndiga cinema at Azkuna Zentroa (Annex I. Technical specifications).
Zoroaster Award (Italian-Azerbaijan Film Festival) aims to promote the past, present, and future of cinema in Italy and Azerbaijan. By showcasing the film industries of both countries, in their similarities and their differences, this festival will help bring them to the forefront of international film discourse, and stimulate international market presence.
Organized by IMAGO GROUP and the publisher SANDRO TETI EDITORE, the Italo-Azerbaijan film festival will be held for 5 days in Baku. The festival will open with an anthology of classic Italian and Azerbaijani films, screen a selection of contemporary films from both countries on multiple projections, and culminate with an award ceremony on the final evening.
Many important figures from both countries will be feature prominently in this event. In the leadership positions, First Vice President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and president of the Aliyev foundation Mehriban Aliyeva will serve as the Honorary President of the festival, while art direction shall be handled by Italian screenwriter and director Claudio Rossi Massimi. The actor and director Remo Girone, well-known throughout the former soviet-bloc region for his portrayal of Tano Cariddi in the serial “La Piovra”, will headline the festival, and many other Italian/Azerbaijani actors and directors will take part in the screenings. The program will be enriched by workshops, networking events, and commercial exchanges between the film industries of the two countries.
The Mammoth Film Festival is a retreat for those who love, create and enjoy film. An all media festival celebrating varieties of filmmakers, actors, directors, writers, producers and their work. Regal with the wonderful town of Mammoth Lakes, California as it's beautiful backdrop. The film and media showcase has a firm purpose for the exhibition, exploration, celebration and competition of boundless media. A focus on independent creation and absolute risk-taking in the world of multimedia, film and television. So put your snow boots on, bring your skis, grab some free popcorn and enjoy this exciting festival.
The Mammoth Film Festivals central aim is to lead the charge for an ever-changing landscape of film and media. As content continues to be consumed on new and different platforms, the fear exists that independent film will become lost in the wayside. Mammoth Film Festival aims to be an important institution towards fostering independent filmmakers and their stories so that strong and important voices always have a way to continue to be seen and heard. The film and media showcase of the Mammoth Film Festival has a firm purpose for the exhibition, exploration, celebration and competition of boundless media. A celebration of independent creation and absolute risk-taking in the world of multimedia, film and television.
Chicago Comedy Film Festival is an international festival. We aim to showcase films that are both humorous and poignant. Comedy often has difficulty competing against other genres in the film festival circuit. The Chicago Comedy Film Festival is a welcoming environment for both experienced and first time comedy filmmakers. What our fest offers:
* An organized, top-notch festival We're bring you really opportunities that you'll only get at the top ranked film festivals.
* A festival staff that cares about your work and success. We're filmmakers too! (But we never screen our own work, our staff's projects or close friend's films because that is not fair to everyone that pays to submit)
* We have a management deal with YouTube Studio, Collab. If you want to learn more about YouTube success, we're the fest. Our channel here: http://goo.gl/9FR6uE
* A strong alumni network. We do LA events often.
* Introductions to Chicago press and Chicago film reviewers from Chicago Film Critics and other publications
*We're the only Chicago festival to premiere an Oscar nominated film. Something Out of Nothing.
* Networking with some of the world's funniest filmmakers, celebs, comedians
* We send out three submission waivers PER MONTH through our newsletter, first come first serve.
* Top Female Filmmaker (since our first year in 2010) and Diverse Voices in Comedy Awards as well as top awards in all categories.
* Be seen and talk to Cow Lamp Films, independent film distributor. And another distributor being added for 2018.
* Sometimes we have cookie or beer sponsors
Mission Statement: To support comedy as a vital and influential art form.
Our partner film festival: Chicago Independent Film (+TV) Festival and America's Next Great Reality Show.
UNO SGUARDO RARO (A Rare Glance)
The rare disease international film festival is the first and only film festival on rare diseases in Europe. It collects and promotes the best video works on rare diseases and social inclusion through an international competition and works with public and private partners, both national and international, the rare diseases community, disability advocates, entertainment and film culture professionals.
It is a cultural project created by Claudia Crisafio, actress and author, and Serena Bartezzati, a rare patient and professional in the field of communication. Both share Ingmar Bergam’s claim: “There is no art form like cinema to strike the conscience, shake the emotions and reach the secret rooms of the soul.”
Our aim is to hold annual awareness-raising event on rare diseases and disability issues to share knowledge, information and experience. We believe that sharing knowledge and speaking about rare disease and disability can make life easier for persons affected by rare disease and/or disability, their family members and caregivers. It is important to break the isolation rare disease patients and their families, one of the most felt problems especially by younger generations.
CATEGORIES
UNO SGUARDO RARO is receptive and takes up the influences of the communities with which it enters into contact. In these years we have opened the Festival to topics that are close to rare diseases, such as disability, empathy, resilience, the ability to overcome one’s limits, this to celebrate the qualities that people with disabilities of any kind put in place to live their lives to the full.
ITALIAN SHORT FILMS
Short films of any kind of narrative on the theme of rare diseases, disability, empathy, resilience, the ability to overcome one’s limits, with a maximum duration of 15 minutes, including head and tail titles, only of Italian nationality, published or unpublished.
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILMS
Short films of any kind of narrative on the theme of rare diseases, disability, empathy, resilience, the ability to overcome one’s limits, with a maximum duration of 15 minutes, including head and tail titles, of any nationality, published or unpublished.
ANIMATION SHORT FILMS
Animation short films on the theme of rare diseases, disability, empathy, resilience, the ability to overcome one’s limits of maximum duration of 15 minutes, including head and tail titles, of any nationality, published or unpublished.
DOCUMENTARIES
Documentaries on the theme of rare diseases, disability, empathy, resilience, the ability to overcome one’s limits with a maximum duration of 20 minutes, including head and tail titles, of any nationality, published or unpublished.
SHORT FILM/SPOT in collaboration with FERPI the Italian Federation of Public Relations
Category dedicated especially to Patient Organizations and Pharmaceutical Companies that can participate with a spot or short films on disease awareness or behavioral change with a maximum duration of 15 minutes, including head and tail titles and credits, Italian or international, published or unpublished.
INSTITUTIONAL SHORT FILM/SPOT ON COMMUNICATION IN HEALTH in collaboration with PA SOCIAL the Institutional Communicators Italian Association
Category reserved only for Italian Spot and Short Films created and promoted by Hospitals, ASL, Patient Organizations active in Hospitals, for internal and external public with a maximum duration of 15 minutes including head and tail titles, published or unpublished.
Established in 2013 in the Estácio de Sá University, the Festival Brasil de Cinema Internacional is considered among the most exclusive and influential film festivals globally. Through linking the groundbreaking talent of emerging filmmakers and exposing the community to the latest innovations in the cinema field, the FBCI exists as a cinematic and cultural patron. The FBCI’s objective is to merge today’s filmmaking pioneers with the wealth of cinematic heritage from Brasil by edifying and developing the cinematic community and enhancing the impact of the arts.
By bringing the entire community together, The FBCI creates opportunities for the attendees to appear at the exciting red carpet publicity events, world premiers, and screenings of numerous exceptional films and be a part of educational panel discussions, workshops, and seminars, along with special events, and VIP after parties and priceless networking opportunities.
The FBCI vision is to establish a philanthropic identity as a cultural preserver and a fortified patron of literacy advancement in the fields of arts and humanities on a local and globalized level. The FBCI aims to involve and serve the next generation of entrepreneurs, investors, leaders, and producers in its community to provide cause work opportunities; to partner with authors and educators who wish to inspire and enlighten the public in the field of arts and humanities; to create and host innovative, educational conferences, panel discussions, digital productions through partnerships with renowned institutions and organizations; to compile archival data and produce innovative material dedicated to cinematic history and theory; to recognize and reward the unique skills of emerging filmmakers; and to fulfill the philanthropic vision of its sponsors in order to preserve and enhance the culture of the arts in return.
