A new week with good news—if just a few days ago we learned of the nomination of Madre at the Oscars, last weekend we won the Goya for Best Fiction Short Film for Cerdita, by Carlota Pereda, a short film that is part of the latest edition of Madrid en corto.
The festival circuit has also been spectacular—it has surpassed 100 festivals halfway through its run—and we will be competing for the Oscar again next year. In addition, this very week it is competing at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival, one of the most important in the world.
Awards are great and help us a lot in our day-to-day work, but distribution work never rests and we must keep going without stopping, so leaving awards aside, these days we have been reviewing festivals in March and April to prepare new submissions.
Among the festivals that have open calls and close in the coming weeks, I have selected four of them that are very worthwhile and you should consider if you are promoting your film.
Despite their differences, you will see that they have several points in common.
They are not part of any festival list, nor do they qualify for awards, but in all cases they are festivals specialized in independent cinema and organized by associations that have been working on these projects for many years and growing them little by little, something very difficult in this sector.
Moreover, they are not limited to organizing screenings—they are events that go much further thanks to the organization of markets, workshops, distribution, exhibition circuits, and a long list of other activities.
These festivals are a good opportunity, whether you have a short film or a feature film, and not just to attend if you are selected.
You could consider traveling to these festivals even if only to attend some of their workshops or meetings, or to network and meet other directors and producers.
If, on the other hand, you are organizing a festival, they are a good example to see how you can grow your festival and what activities parallel to screenings you can consider:
#1 New Horizons Film Festival
This is one of the most prominent Polish festivals. It takes place in the southwest of the country, in Wrocław, from July 25 to August 4. It has been organized by an association of the same name since 2001.
They accept all types of genres, with special dedication to works of a more innovative and experimental nature. This festival had a short film competition in its early days, but is now specialized in films with a duration of more than 60 minutes. It also accepts short films, but only if they are produced in Poland.
They must be films with a premiere in Poland, and as with many other festivals, they value world and international premieres, produced from January 2018 onward. The submission deadline is March 24 through their own website.
Parallel to the festival, the association that organizes it has also created a distribution company and an educational platform that you can see at this link. In addition, the festival has very strong industry sessions, dedicated primarily to sales and film marketing.
#2 Avanca Film Festival
Although it is not the best-known festival in Portugal, it is very worthwhile. It takes place in a town near Porto, in northern Portugal, from July 24 to 28, organized by an association and a film club that have been working for many years to promote cinema.
It accepts all types of genres, both feature films and short films, that are premieres in Portugal.
It has a particularity that can be very interesting in some cases—it has a special prize for a film that has its world premiere at the festival. Keep this in mind when submitting. They even have a competitive section for trailers, which also includes trailers for films already presented.
Its last deadline is now open, closing on April 15, with a price of $16, and you can submit through various platforms, such as Festhome, Movibeta, Clickforfestivals, Filmfreeway, and Filmfestivallife.
#3 Olhar de Cinema Curitiba Int’l Film Festival
From Europe we jump to Brazil, to another association that has been working with independent cinema for many years, in another town away from the big cities. This is Olhar de Cinema, which organizes the International Film Festival in Curitiba, in southern Brazil, from June 5 to 13.
This festival is also very interesting, with a market and workshops along the lines of the Polish New Horizons, working on a broader festival concept with many branches.
In this case, all types of films are accepted, with only the requirement of a premiere in Brazil for films released after April 2018.
The deadline is open until March 8, and submission is done through their own online form.
#4 La Guarimba Film Festival
This is the only festival specialized in short films in this post. La Guarimba is also organized by an association of the same name. It is younger than the other festivals, but already has an important track record since its first edition in 2013.
It takes place in southern Italy in the middle of summer, from August 7 to 11. Screenings take place outdoors in Parco La Grotta in the town of Amantea (Calabria), an Italian town that was left without cinemas.
This project created by Giulio Vita and Sara Fratini has brought cinema back to this place, and thanks to the success of the festival, they continue with other parallel projects from the same association, such as an animation festival for children or a traveling showcase, among others.
As a curious fact, this festival is part of the short film festivals that collaborate with the programming team of Vimeo Staff Picks for selection on this channel.
The maximum duration of short films cannot exceed 30 minutes and it accepts all types of genres.
It now has its regular deadline open until March 15, with a price of €15. Submission can be done through Filmfreeway.
Note the Deadlines and Festival Dates
They all take place in summer, a good time to consider traveling to these festivals:
- Olhar de Cinema – March 8 – June 5 to 13 (free)
- La Guarimba – March 15 – August 7 to 11 (€15)
- New Horizons – March 24 – July 25 to August 4 (free)
- Avanca – April 15 – July 24 to 28 ($16)
See you in the comments!