With so few spots available at the bigger film festivals, independent filmmakers struggle to get noticed. After all the hard work of making a movie, there's nothing like seeing it on the big screen. Sunset Film Festival seeks hidden gems bigger fests often overlook. Sunset Film Festival programmers are looking for visionary filmmakers with fresh voices to share with an audience hungry for independent film.
Now celebrating its fifth year, the annual Berlin Short Film Festival aims to be one of Europe's leading film festivals for international film-makers. It is a unique platform for new talent and a celebration of cinematic creativity and innovation.
The Festival attracts a broad selection of shorts by film-makers working in every genre and format, and offers Berliners and visitors an extraordinary chance to glimpse the future of cinema. The festival prides itself upon providing opportunities for talented directors, producers, writers, actors and crew members from all over the world to learn together and exhibit their work in a stimulating international environment.
The 2018 Berlin Short Film Festival will show over 90 short films. Four days of premières and networking events provide ample opportunities for selected film-makers to showcase their achievements, learn from their fellows and build contacts for future collaborations. The Festival also benefits from the vibrant Berlin film-making community and the cinema's proximity to the media hub of the metropolis.
The festival is open to any film in any genre under 50 minutes in length, and especially prioritises low-budget films of independent spirit and exciting new talent.
The Balkan Film Food Festival is not a festival only about Food and Culinary. The Balkan Film Food Festival is about Balkan Film Production. The Festival intent is to create a climate of understanding of friendship and collaborations among Balkan countries. All guests sit on a common table and taste our common Balkan culinary drink the same wine.
Cuisine is part of this event and it aims at having better friendly contacts among the participants.
Discover Festival PROTESTA, where cinema ignites social change.
This international event celebrates films that challenge, question, and inspire. With a diverse lineup of documentaries, fiction, and animation in both feature and short film formats, Protesta is a crucible for filmmakers committed to questioning and challenging the status quo.
We embrace creativity, positive social impact and innovative storytelling. With more than 11 editions, PROTESTA is the primary social impact festival in Catalonia and a main player in social cinema in Spain. Join us next October in the culturally vibrant town Vic in a series of parallel activities designed to enrich, educate, and inspire.
The Guadalajara Social Commitment Film Festival (FESCIGU) is celebrating its 24th edition this year, at its venue in Azuqueca de Henares, where it is currently based in exile. Over the years, we have sought to bring our audience the very best of the short film world, with social, thought-provoking, or simply humanistic content. All genres are welcome, provided they do not promote violence. FESCIGU is a qualifying festival for the Goya Awards. This year, in addition, the central theme is ADDICTIONS, so short films dealing with this subject will be especially welcome.
THE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL OF CALAHORRA, THROUGH THE YOUTH DEPARTMENT, ANNOUNCES THE 27TH SHORT FILM FESTIVAL “¡¡CORT...en!! 2026”, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FOLLOWING RULES.
IMAGINARIA is the first and only international animated film festival of Apulia region.
In its history Imaginaria has grown enormously, earning an important artistic and social position in the international festival sector.
Festival of “people and places”, Imaginaria manages to create a family atmosphere among the public and professionals who come in open air cinemas of Conversano. Imaginaria, which is characterized by the importance of “numbers” and the excellent quality of thousands of works of international standing, is a project to promote, disseminate, film training, which aims to promote the independent authors of animated films. Imaginaria intends to trigger, in a long-term perspective, all possible synergies in the community helping to create socio-economic opportunities in the area and at the same time promote the culture of animation. The festival, therefore, is a project which aims to spread the use and knowledge of animated films not only during the event, held every year in Conversano, but also in places and times of the year using different networks, made up of other festivals and exhibitions (national and international) to which Imaginaria participates or which it is the promoter.
We are an international short film festival, for express the spiritual cinema with a universal language, dealing with internal affairs of the human being, a cinema of the invisible that captures the essence of the deep and transcendent, in introspective and reflective stories; with questions and answers about life. Each story is fruit harvested from the inside out and symbolize 9 spiritual values that are fundamental for us: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Gentleness, Kindness, Fidelity, Humility and Self Control.
What’s your Genre?
The Threadbare Film Festival is an eclectic and eccentric celebration of genre, inter-genre, and underground cinema, here in the tell-tale heart of Michigan.
As the Michigan Film and Digital Media Office said:
"Think of the Threadbare Mitten Film Festival as the anti-genre, but all-genre film festival, if that makes any sense. Truly a grassroots festival if ever there was one." - June Newsletter 6/12/18
We won't push you into a box:
Horror, Sci-Fi, Absurdist Comedy, Exploitation and Grindhouse, Documentary and Mockumentary, Experimental and Non-Narrative, Animation and Puppetry, Noir and Neo-Noir, Fantasy and Magical Realism, Surrealism and Liminality, Contemporary Western or Samurai, Psychological or Sex Thriller, 80s Action Homage, Splatterpunk, Creature Feature, Zombie/Everything, Road Trip, Afrofuturism, Underground, and genres not mentioned or yet to be celebrated... whatever weird quirks and kinks spark your camera rolling, we want to give you an exhibition home to exorcise them with an appreciative audience (…and if being pushed into a box is your thing, well ok, show us that!).
We categorically reject festivals that require filmmakers to sort their submissions by genre, pay multiple submission fees for awards, or don’t even screen films for an audience! It’s our job to categorize and program films, not yours. We take great pride in our thematic programming, each film block sequenced like the songs on an album. Every year’s festival is guaranteed to be different than what came before, based upon the characteristics of the films received.
We particularly advocate work that articulates across the ineffable gap between genres, films that surprise, that do not have precedent or prior comparables.
Our Festival Director personally watches every submission and makes all selection decisions. There is no selection advantage for early submission deadlines; we have and will select films submitted on the final day.
Threadbare is an ethos. Whether your budget is $10 or $10 million, your stars are old high school friends or SAG actors, your camera a potato or an Arriflex, we’re focused on the artistry of the work on screen, not any seams that may occasionally show. Independent film production requires a punk mentally to ignore the gatekeepers and go your own way, to make your art personal and powerful.
While we do not put limits on when a submitted film was completed, for this edition we are generally interested in films made since we went on hiatus at the end of 2021.
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NEW FOR 2027:
A GUY A GIRL AND A GUN FILM COMPETITION: we are launching our own film competition inspired by Jean-Luc Godard’s famous quote: “All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun.” Competition films must be shot and finalized during the month of June, with top films screening in a special program at the Threadbare festival. Separate competition trophies will be awarded at the screening.
More details here: threadbarefilmfestival.org/competition
Registration link: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/a-guy-a-girl-and-a-gun-film-competition-registration
SHOT ON A POTATO: We are introducing a new discounted category for films shot on unusual formats, including Super 8 and 16mm celluloid film, VHS and DV video, still and pinbox cameras (basically anything outside the typical digital cinema camera, handicam, or cellphone aesthetic). Films must still be submitted, and will be screened, in digital format as per our Rules.
DISABILITY FILMMAKER DISCOUNT: Any filmmaker with a disability may email director@threadbarefilmfestival.org for a submission fee discount code. As a working filmmaker with a neuromuscular disability, our Festival Director is offended by the existing disability focused festivals that seem only interested in films explicitly centered on the experience of disability, rather than supporting the vast community of disabled filmmakers and the art we make. If your film is a fit for us, please take advantage of this discount.
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HISTORY: For five years, the original Threadbare Mitten Film Festival developed a wonderful community of oddball filmmakers and cineastes, with unique thematic programming in a variety of venues, free community events, live band accompaniments, and filmmaker discussions. We pivoted to secure online screenings through a local company during the pandemic, before enduring a lengthy hiatus. Now we’re back with a slight rebrand and regular theatrical screenings, with the same focus on independent and Great Lakes filmmakers, and the same core of dedicated and experienced volunteers. Why bring it back? Because too many established and storied Michigan film festivals have folded in the interim, and our community needs what we can offer.
We’ve exhibited films in an independent cinema, listening room theatre, and arts gallery, with special screenings in a public park, pub, coffee shop, under a pole tent in an alley, and online through Festivee.
We’ve screened films from established filmmakers like Oscar winning director Jonathan Glazer and nominee Yorgos Lanthimos, with recognizable stars like Will Ferrell, Matt Dillon, Margaret Cho, and William Jackson Harper, and from local luminaries like Devin Cameron, Jackson Ezinga, Bret Miller, and Michael McCallum. Hell, we turned down more films with ‘names’ than most regional festivals have the luxury to judge. We are especially partial to filmmakers from Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, collectively the Great Lakes Region states and provinces.
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ABOUT US: The Threadbare Film Festival is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, because we don't operate to maximize revenue off the backs of independent filmmakers.
We are passionate filmmakers, dedicated to growing our film community and providing a viewing experience worth the time and effort of everyone involved from ourselves to the filmmakers and the ticket buyer. We respect the film and the filmmaker, the cast and the crew, as does our audience. We support local and regional film, student film, international film, diverse voices, and quality craft regardless of budget or thematic content. We take an expansive view of what a genre festival can be, pushing the boundaries of expectations to include the most gripping and unusual documentaries we've seen.
About the only thing we DON'T want are straight-up 'indie' dramas and serialized content that does not provide a complete narrative.
As the Lansing City Pulse commented:
“When Kofoed talks about the films playing at the festival, he was unceasingly enthusiastic. His passion for film - especially locally produced, DIY films - is immediately apparent.” - September 4, 2020.
Our festival is neither a vanity exercise nor a party for ourselves, and we do not screen our own films or shower our friends with prizes. We strive for quality of presentation and experience across all our venues.
OUR HOME: We are proudly of and from Lansing, Michigan’s oft overlooked capital city, a vibrant rustbelt dystopia full of creativity and festivals. Our opening night will be hosted by Stage One at Sycamore Creek, a newly renovated performance space next to the Eastwood Town Center on the Northside. Our all-day Saturday screenings will take place in The Fledge, a wonderful nonprofit community hub tucked away in the Eastside neighborhood just off the downtown core. Both venues are within easy travel of numerous restaurants, bars, and shops in the Lansing metro. As is tradition, we’ll pregame the festival with a free community program on Thursday at a surprise local business.
Awards & Prizes
Unique laurels and hand-crafted Trophies for each of 10 Award Categories. Award nominations are made by the Festival Director, with award winners determined by an independent panel of judges.
___Juried Category Awards___
Best Short Film (all short/micro films eligible)
Best Feature Film (all feature/mid-length films eligible)
Stranger than Fiction (all documentary films eligible)
___Audience Award___
Michigan Masterpiece (all Michigan made films eligible)
___Juried Special Recognition Awards___
A+ B-Movie (for the best 'bad' movie)
Bloody & Brilliant (for fluid fun)
Eye of the Beholder (for exceptional visuals)
Not Just a Pretty Face (for acting excellence)
Subversive Selection (for defying formal or social expectations)
Special Jury Award (for anything else that grabs our attention)
See our Wall of Fame for past years' Award Winning films: www.threadbarefilmfestival.org/awards
KFF was launched in 2013, as International Short Film Festival. From the very beginning, the essential part of our mission was to bring the audience closer to different kind of films and to provoke interest in film art, and furthermore in understanding its impacts in everyday life.
Festival is held annually during September in the city of Kraljevo (meaning "the King's Town"), where seven Serbian kings are said to have been crowned. Because of our historical heritage, we decided to name our festival “Kraljevski filmski festival”.
KFF is offering a filmmaker-friendly environment with a casual vibe, which is the reason why during the last 6 years we have had filmmakers flying in from the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Brazil, Hong Kong, Finland, France, Switzerland, Russia, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria…
In 2019, Kraljevski filmski festival had significant changes both on programming and management level by evolving to Post-production Film Festival. Our main goal besides showing great Short films will be to promote the art and craft of Post-production as well as the creative people from behind the camera. To achieve this, the KFF will invite postproduction artists from across the globe for masterclasses or workshops, and organize filmmakers meetings at KFF.
The 11th Chinese Documentary Festival organised by Visible Record will be held in October 2018. The Festival comprises two Sections: Competition and Special Selection. The Competition Section is now open for submission. Documentary filmmakers from all over the world are invited to join.
Since its inception in 2008, the Festival has drawn the attention of filmmakers from around the world, especially those of mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Thanks to their support, the Festival is attracting bigger audiences each year and has become a major event for Chinese documentaries.
Founded in 2004, Visible Record is a non-profit arts organization, which has dedicated itself to promoting Chinese documentaries.
Short and music outdoor. This is what is proposed Korterraza, a festival of short films that celebrate its SEVENTEENTH edition of June 24 to 27, 2026 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, and throughout the summer, the twelfth edition of Korterraza Araba.
The 13th Annual Toyama International Film Festival will take place in June of 2026 in Toyama Prefecture. With such great success in previous years, we are excited to once again share the visions of filmmakers from all over the world with our local community in the countryside of Japan.
Submissions will be open until March 22nd, 2026.
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The Annual Toyama International Film Festival (TIFF) began in the rural prefecture of Toyama, Japan. Started by a few English teachers in the area, we hoped to reach people not just in Japan, but around the globe.
The first TIFF took place in a small room inside of a shopping center, where about 70 people watched the 10 films we had received. The following year was a tremendous success with over 100 submissions from different countries, quite a step from our first year. The event was held in the city of Toyama at a local independently-owned venue, Bodegas-Mambo with around 80-100 guests coming to view the films. Every year since, we hope to expand even further and provide an even larger venue for participants and the movie-going community in Japan.
Today, with over 3000 submissions each year from countries around the world, TIFF has become a highly-anticipated annual event and a staple of Toyama's international community.
Note: Due to time constraints, we cannot accept films that run over 10 minutes. However, any genre of short film will be considered for exhibition.
Welcome to Filmstrip International Film Festival. We’re an online and independent film festival with live screenings, that takes place in the heart of Moldavia region, in Iasi, Romania, one of the leading centers of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life.
Known as The Cultural Capital of Romania, Iași is a symbol in Romanian history, and it is still referred to as The Moldavian Capital, being the main economic and business center of the Moldavian region of Romania.
Filmstrip International Film Festival is involved in promoting young filmmakers, maintaining a high standard, that of a festival eminently dedicated to spiritual and cultural values.
The best films of each category will be screened at a vibrating venue, "La Baza”, home of many cultural events in the city throughout the year.
The festival runs once a year, the whole process of selection and awarding takes place online, with live screenings being held at the end of each edition.
There will be a total of 10 films screened at our location - the AWARD WINNERS (Best Film, Silver, Bronze, Special Mention) and the CATEGORIES AWARD WINNERS (Animation, Documentary, etc).
KFF was launched in 2013, as International Short Film Festival. From the very beginning, the essential part of our mission was to bring the audience closer to different kind of films and to provoke interest in film art, and furthermore in understanding its impacts in everyday life.
Festival is held annually during September in the city of Kraljevo (meaning "the King's Town"), where seven Serbian kings are said to have been crowned. Because of our historical heritage, we decided to name our festival “Kraljevski filmski festival”.
KFF is offering a filmmaker-friendly environment with a casual vibe, which is the reason why during the last 6 years we have had filmmakers flying in from the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Brazil, Hong Kong, Finland, France, Switzerland, Russia, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria…
In 2019, Kraljevski filmski festival had significant changes both on programming and management level by evolving to Post-production Film Festival. Our main goal besides showing great Short films will be to promote the art and craft of Post-production as well as the creative people from behind the camera. To achieve this, the KFF will invite postproduction artists from across the globe for masterclasses or workshops, and organize filmmakers meetings at KFF.
The Mostra Curta Vazantes: cinema in community, aims to contribute to the inclusion and social and cultural promotion of the residents of the Vazantes Community, Aracoiaba district, Ceará (Brazil) and neighboring locations through the exhibition of films produced anywhere in the world. world with the idea of understanding, observing and making visible the social and cultural processes that are developing both in the south and in the north of the planet.
The 12th edition of the FICS will take place in Bucaramanga – Santander from September 27 to October 1, 2022. The call in all official competitive categories, will be open from June 24 to August 19, 2022. For this edition, the Festival will have prizes in effective, recognition support for audiovisual development.
The Social Education and Communications Corporation PRESS LIBRE, whose trajectory of more than twenty years, in the leadership of the development of the media in Santander, supports and qualifies the suitability of the FICS.
The FICS is made up of the presidency of the film director Sergio Cabrera and is headed by its director, Oscar Fonseca, in accompaniment of administrative partners.
Its main objective is to work for the formation of a public criticism and for the consolidation of spaces for discussion and appreciation around a real film culture in the region and in the country.
The department of Santander as the headquarters of the FICS, is among other
the department with the highest average economic growth annual and is promoted as one of the most popular tourist destinations
important, a cultural epicenter of enterprising people, who opens its doors to new markets.
The competitive sections of the FICS are windows to the development of the
culture and the film industry, with new looks towards Ibero-America, maintaining its strong commitment to cinema national, supporting the cinema made in Colombia and Latin America
Aware of the importance of audiovisual media in Spanish society today and, trying to make them both a comunication and education media, to promote values of solidarity and tolerance, the International Social Film Festival of Castilla-La Mancha was born and it will be held in Toledo, It will continue in Toledo, Torrijos, Cuenca, Olías del Rey...
In this Festival are invited to take part to public and private entities that share the same concerns.
The Festival consists of several sections, including a contest of short and documentaries, social issues include: xenophobia, generational conflict, child labor, domestic violence, social roles, ecology, children´s rights, coexistence, etc.
