Governmental Organisations, and the world’s first festival of films on international development by young directors.
Festival Aims
Encourage filmmakers/creatives to work together to raise awareness of the Three Pillars of Freedom through screening of films created around these themes.
Three Pillars of Freedom and the Environment
* Freedom from want: Through the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
* Freedom from fear: Through efforts to bring about collective security and peace.
* Freedom to live in dignity: Through the application of justice for all, from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Development: poverty, shelter, healthcare, education, gender, governance, finance
Human Security: conflict prevention, conflict resolution, peacekeeping, shelter, migration
Human Rights: gender, education, dignity, participation
Environment: ecological issues, preparation for and consequences of natural disaster, sustainability, new technologies
Short films: any of the above
Young Film Makers: under 25 years
£2,500 in CASH PRIZES for the EMERGING TALENT from our sponsor Katie Partridge, CEO of the Saphira Group, to support a new generation of filmmakers/artists.
NEW RENAISSANCE LONDON #11
Apart from a high number of UK and International films, NRFF London has a category for EMERGING TALENT (debut or early stage filmmakers embarking on their careers in the film industry).
Previous winners and nominees have gone onto win major international prizes or have directed their first feature film.
ABOUT NEW RENAISSANCE LONDON
Our friendly and welcoming art-house festival based in London is genuinely passionate about promoting the highest calibre of independent cinema around today. New Renaissance has been described as “One of the UK’s top film festivals,” alongside Raindance and Aesthetica (London METRO, O1.08.16), appeared in reputable publications such as Vogue, GQ and iD magazine, and we are a registered IMDB film festival.
Filmmakers are a discerning audience and the 100+ five star reviews from filmmakers around the world is proof of our commitment and respect for the hard work and care that goes into making a film. Since 2021, we have been awarding cash prizes to support talented up-and-coming filmmakers we believe in thanks to a generous sponsor (see below).
SUCCESS STORIES
We have premiered and screened films that went on to win an Oscar (The Silent Child, 2017) or later received a major distribution deal (A Bird Flew, 2022; Avi, 2022; Roy, 2022; A Living Dog, 2021; Into The Mirror, 2019; You Go To My Head, 2019; and Phantompain, 2018) to name just a few.
Despite the festival's relatively small size, there are each year many gems to be found among the many short and feature films in the programme. Furthermore, many filmmakers and actors are traditionally present - and a lot of productive networking takes place.
OUR CURATION: ARTISTICALLY-DRIVEN FILMS, INSPIRING STORIES
Film is a unique medium, and NRFF’s mission is to support and champion inspiring, independent artists and storytellers. This includes experimental work, emotional drama, music, dance, and emerging talent (see below).
Our festival is built around ARTISTS and their STORIES. By doing so, we aim to establish an international COMMUNITY of inspiring storytellers. We are not interested in following current fashions or being politically divisive. We seek out stories that are genuinely imaginative, emotional and life-affirming. At the heart of what we do is our passion to tell great stories.
Curating a festival is never easy but we strive to put together a great programme each year in an environment that is warm, inclusive and truly dignified. You can visit last year's programme online at ww.nrff.co.uk to get a feel for the quality of curation we are known for.
NEW RENAISSANCE LONDON 2025
2025 will be our tenth year in London, a city known for its diversity and innovation in the creative arts. For 3 days in September, we will screen around 100 outstanding films in the heart of London. The programme will include narrative shorts, features, documentaries, animations, dance and music videos, a NETWORKING party and AWARDS CEREMONY.
Running alongside the festival will be a SCREENWRITING COMPETITION, a series of MASTERCLASSES by film industry experts, a filmmaker's PANEL DISCUSSION, Filmmaker Q&A's, and other networking opportunities.
EMERGING TALENT AWARDS
Apart from a high number of UK and International films, NRFF London has a category for EMERGING TALENT (debut or early stage filmmakers embarking on their careers in the film industry). Those selected can win CASH PRIZES. We found a sponsor for this in 2021 and are happy to announce that they continue supporting these cash prizes for emerging talent in 2026.
Please read our Rules & Terms before making your submission.
Key Dates:
Submissions for 2026 will be open. The festival will take place in October 2026, and all contestants will be notified at least 4-6 weeks prior to the event.
SUPPORTING THE INDEPENDENT FILM COMMUNITY
It is our passion to not only provide a stage for our filmmakers but also to strengthen the INDEPENDENT film community, by building an engaged audience through social media - especially Instagram and Facebook. We actively encourage directors, screenwriters, producers and actors to network during the festival and after the event. By doing so, new artistic collaborations have occurred.
NEW RENAISSANCE ALUMNI
Former New Renaissance attendees and or winners include: Oscar winning couple Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton (The Silent Child); Oscar winning actress Whoopi Goldberg (Palace); BAFTA and Emmy winning actress Anna Friel (The Sea); Great Expectations and Top Boy director Brady Hood (Sweet Maddie Stone); Oscar winning writer/director James Lucas (Paint The Dragon's Eyes); BAFTA winning actress Sophia Myles (All That Glitters); BAFTA winning actor George MacKay (Infinite); Ivor Novello winning musician Gary Kemp (InSolo); BAFTA winning and double Emmy nominated documentary director Zoe Dobson (The Cunning Man); BAFTA winning animator Catriona Black (You Are At The Bottom Of My Mind); Emmy winning actress Tatiana Mislany (Souls of Totality); Oscar nominated cinematographer Jarin Blaschke (A Million Eyes); BAFTA nominated director Shona Auerbach (Rudy); Actor Tom Cullen (Souls of Totality); BAFTA nominated actress Celine Buckens (Prangover); Silent Witness actress Emilia Fox (The Ghost); Chicago actor Darren Day (Rudy); Rag Doll actor Ali Cook (The Cunning Man); Olivier Award nominated actress Amy Lennox (Near); student Oscar winner Tristan Holmes (The Fragile King); and student Oscar winner Ariel Heller (Mammoth).
The Barichara Green Film Festival FESTIVER, created by Colombian actors Toto Vega and Nórida Rodríguez, seeks to build a new generation of artists and audience commited to the environment. Through its screenings and a continuous search for resources to create environmental film content, FESTIVER aims to educate and entertain by developing academic, artistic and recreational activities which enrich the Colombian cultural landscape and help build a better world. The 16th edition will take place on September 24-27, 2026 in Barichara, Santander, Colombia.
CINETORO 2026
Converging Boundaries
#MIRAYESCUCHADIFERENTE
Under the concept of Converging Boundaries, CINETORO 2026 proposes a curatorial framework inspired by the force of tectonic collision. Just as, in geology, a convergent boundary is the space where two plates collide to destroy the old and raise new mountain ranges and volcanoes, this edition seeks films in which the impact between languages generates new ways of seeing and hearing. We move away from the static reading of maps — those arbitrary divisions of dots and lines — to focus instead on the energy that emerges within the zone of contact, where the friction between the human and the non-human, or between the here and the elsewhere, constructs new narrative geographies.
CINETORO 2026 calls for works that explore processes of collision and emergence. We seek films that use experimentation as a tool to blur political and social boundaries, proposing perspectives that recognize the continuity of the jungle or the vastness of the desert beyond geographical fictions. How does perception transform when cinematic form itself becomes the result of a clash of forces?
In this edition, the border is not an impenetrable wall, but a living zone of creation; a space of formal risk that challenges pre-established categories and allows us to understand, through cinema at the margins, what new unions emerge when we dare to inhabit the liminal state. We seek films that inhabit the interstice: the space that exists precisely in the middle of the line, inviting audiences into a cinematic experience where genres do not simply intersect, but transform one another. We are interested in a cinema of hybridization where documentary, animation, and fiction function like tectonic plates in constant motion.
This is an invitation to a cinema unafraid of crossing and dissolving boundaries; a cinema that inhabits the periphery and the frontier in order to raise, from the margins, new and necessary mountains of imagination.
#ConvergingBoundaries #TheLiminal #Cinetoro2026 #SeeAndHearDifferently #CrossTheBoundary #ExperimentalFilmFestival #HybridCinema #ExperimentalCinema #ExperimentalNarrative
The FICAH MEXICO will be held annually and its main objectives are to promote and promote the production, completion and exhibition of independent cinematographic works.
Festival of Future Storytellers has been one of the most important festivals for young filmmakers worldwide since 1981. Each year, it offers young filmmakers from all over the world a platform for presenting their own short films and exchanging ideas about filmmaking. Each November, Munich becomes the focal point of up-and-coming international filmmaking — a place for lively exchange, networking, and discussion.
The short fiction, documentary, and animated films screened in international competition are eligible for valuable prizes, which are awarded by an independent festival jury. In addition, Festival of Future Storytellers presents a DACH Short Film Competition, in which short films from the DACH region will be programmed. An extensive supporting programme with panels and masterclasses complements the film programme.
MACAU INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL (“FESTIVAL”) is an annual worldwide audio-visual festival that aims to motivate overseas and Macau short film and music videos productions to compete in this FESTIVAL.
The Festival was previously known as "Sound & Image Challenge" and was first launched in 2010 focusing only on an audiovisual competition for local talent. This initiative was co-founded with professionals in film, music, sound and image fields, with two priorities: to promote the Creative Industries in the audiovisual sector and highlight the local talents in the production of sound and moving image design. Over the years, it expanded across 5 continents, grew and gained recognition, and finally became a short film festival in 2015.
The Festival will be held from 6 to 12 December 2026. A series of cultural programs will be scheduled in venues throughout Macau during the Festival week, such as public screenings of “SHORTS & VOLUME” official selection, Masterclasses of film production, development, International Film Festival curatorship and organising; audience voting for “Audience Award”; as well as gala awards ceremony.
The Paracho International Independent Film Festival (FICIP) was founded in 2012 as a social event for the screening and awarding of audiovisual works that employed cinematic narrative despite having a very low budget. The Paracho International Independent Film Festival is a space for independent filmmakers and producers to showcase their work and learn about the work of others.
Media affirmation association “MAT” (in further text: The Association) is non-governmental and non-profit voluntary association, founded for an indefinite period of time due to media affirmation of all social segments via audio-video material making, press articles and web presentation making. One of the aims of the Association is the organization of festivals which, due to their content, contribute the development of culture. From 2016. one of the organized festivals is International festival of short movies and photography, called “Short cut”.
The Association for Media Affirmation "Mat" from Indjija, has announced a competition for the tenth edition of the International Short Film and photographs Festival "Short cut" Indjija 2025. Short feature, documentary and animated films are shown at the festival. The festival is open to films by domestic authors, as well as to authors from all over the world. The topics of the films should be in the field of: ecology, tourism, life and animated film. The public call for authors of short films lasts from May 15 to 31, 2025. Received films are reviewed by a selection committee that will not consider films that contain offensive or aggressive messages or content.
The International Short Film and Photography Festival "Short cut" Indjija will be held on from August 25 to September 2, 2025. The festival screens short feature, documentary and animated films on the theme of ecology, tourism and life. The festival is open not only for the movies made by native authors, but also for the authors from all over the world. The following program consists of the photography exhibition (the theme is “Objective(s)”),which is a competitive nature too, and will be realized from August 25 to September 2, 2025
COMPETITION FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
The Short Cut Festival organizers organize an exhibition of photographs titled “Objective(s)” in the accompanying program, inviting all interested people to participate in the exhibition, photographs with personal information and contact send on shortcutfest @ gmail.com with an indication for a photo contest “Short cut”, from 15 to 31 May 2025. Photo authors for the competition can send a maximum of 10 photos, the size of the longer page of acceptable digital photos cannot be less than 3,000 pixels, the file type can only be jpg, ie. jpeg and the maximum file size must not exceed 20MB.
An exhibition of selected photographs for the competition will be held from August 25 to September 2, 2025.
Since its creation in 2013, the Santurtzi Film Festival has gradually evolved to become a benchmark event in the Basque Country, expanding fields of action and gaining in solidity. Always faithful to its three founding axes –the socio-cultural promotion of the municipality, the connection with the community from the artistic point of view and the promotion and professionalization of new directors– the original motto of "cinema at street level" has consolidated a distinctive personality –close, participatory cinema with a social vocation– that has served as a platform for emerging filmmakers and for cultural revitalization, social and economic of Santurtzi.
The great success of SZ has been to position itself as a platform for emerging Basque cinema: to screen and give space to short films and debut films that have then toured national and international circuits, which has reinforced the festival's reputation and attracted media attention and institutional collaboration. Among its greatest values is also an identity marked by horizontality: bringing authors and the public closer together, eliminating barriers between professionals and spectators and facilitating direct interaction in informal venues such as hospitality or historical spaces (Cofradía, Casa Torre).
What began as a post-crisis cultural antidote of 2008, with the idea of screening short films in bars on weekends, has grown thirteen years later: since then, more than 50,000 euros in prizes have been awarded and the making of more than 200 short films has been promoted in the local section, filmed in the village of Santurtzi. In the last edition, in 2025, there have been numerous sold-outs (such as at the SKA, with a capacity of 600 seats) and an overall record of attendance, participation and institutional collaboration.
CINEfoot - International Football Film Festival is the first film festival in Brazil and Latin America with unique curatorial and conceptual approaches about football. The event aims the promotion, diffusion, reflection and appreciation of football films from all over the world.
ASUFICC - International Contemporary Film Festival of Asuncion is an event born with the aim of bringing contemporary cinema from around the world, through unique authors with works that take risks and invite reflection. Emphasizing social issues that empathize with the Asuncion and Paraguayan society, it seeks, through a program of cinematographic excellence, to form spectators with greater sensitivity and greater awareness of the cinematic experience and the problems of society. Likewise, it seeks to be a space for meeting and promotion of national creators.
Imagine This Women's International Film Festival (ITWIFF) aims to amplify and empower independent and aspiring women and non-binary filmmakers from around the world.
The 8th Annual Imagine This Women's Film Festival will feature fierce, bold, original films by women and non-binary filmmakers and storytellers, Q&As, educational panels, and special events.
Imagine This Women's Film Festival's goal is to support women by sharing their work with the public, promoting equal opportunities for BIPOC women and the LGBTQIA+ community while providing educational and professional development, and serving as a resource information network.
Imagine This Women's Film Festival accepts films from womxn filmmakers and storytellers in leadership positions. At least one woman must fill the role of either a director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, leading role and etc.
Imagine This encourages BIPOC women, LGBTQIA+, student filmmakers, and storytellers to submit.
"Imagine This Productions has launched the Women’s International Film Festival with the aim to celebrate and empower independent and aspiring women filmmakers from around the world." - IndieWire
"Celebrate the work of women filmmakers from around the world at the second annual Imagine This Women’s International Film Festival (ITWIFF) in Brooklyn" - AFAR Magazine
"When it comes to film screenings and industry events, there's plenty to get you off the couch this week. From a lesson in copyright licenses to a women's international film festival, read on for the week's top film events to add to your calendar. " - ABC 7
"Recent Hollywood scandals have underscored the importance of supporting women in the film industry, and the second annual Imagine This Women’s International Film Festival is a great place to do so. The films here–which include shorts and features, documentaries and fiction films–are as diverse as the women who made them." - CBS New York
Please note: Imagine This is still planning on holding our annual film festival during our announced dates. We will also continue to follow the guidelines put forth by the public health directives and New York State, which will help to determine whether the festival’s format will be in-theatre or online, or a mixture of both. We will announce any updates via our website.
u22 Festival is the young film festival of Barcelona, the meeting and networking point for young filmmakers from all over the world. It takes place every September at the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona, and is also available online at Filmin.
Around International Awards ✈ Barcelona ✈ Paris ✈ Amsterdam ✈ Berlin.
Annual Independent event with 4 major programs for all Features, Shorts, Documentaries, Experimental, Commercial, Music Video, Animations, Student Films, TV, Series, and New Media. The international community evaluates the all-genre creations to serve ARFF Official Laurels and to certify the awarded filmmakers at the end of the annual festival run. Thus, all the ARFF Finalists will be mentioned multiple times to have the best out of the entire year altogether. Submit today to participate in all 4 programs, regarding the unique system of ARFF International. Submissions made via Festhome are getting evaluated and selected, directly for the yearly festival run and participating in the Official Certificate Program exclusively. Monthly selection is available on other associated platforms.
See you Around & Fest Regards
15th Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival-26 is an amalgamation of unleash cinematic creativity & madness of cine-goers of beautiful city of Kolkata.
The Kolkata city is the hub of Bengali Cinema, a culturally rich & destination of many budding filmmakers since past century. The festival objective is to give momentum to the short cinema & to foster the growth of new breed of filmmakers.
The festival is dedicated to serve the short filmmakers specifically from west Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Orissa along with short film makers from India & world.
The humble journey of KSIFF has began in year 2012 to mark the 100 years celebration of Indian cinema & to salute the contribution of the Bengali film industry towards the development of cinema in India. The 2012 to 2025 editions of festival were huge success with participation from all over India & foreign nations and are the trendsetter festival in India & now in huge demand among young filmmakers.
The festival provide platform to aspiring and professional filmmakers for showcasing their talent with networking & marketing opportunities in film industry. The festival also hosts master classes & short film market. The festival objective is to create short films culture, promotion of upcoming filmmakers, developing sources of revenue generation for short films and to make short film making a commercial enterprise.
