In Spain, there are hundreds of film festivals held every year; there are even cities with many different types of festivals, such as Madrid, Barcelona, or San Sebastián.
There is often talk of a certain saturation of festivals, although, no matter how many festivals there are, I never believe there are too many. The more festivals, the more diversity, enrichment, and freedom for audiences.
Despite this quantity, there are several types and segments of festivals that are not held in Spain but are very successful in other countries. Therefore, there are still many opportunities for you to start organizing a festival and contribute something new to the market.
In this post, I have selected 7 ideas for festival niches and segments that I have observed are not held in our country, or have little development, some of them very successful outside Spain. There are also innovative segments in a growth phase that are not currently being covered.
Here are some ideas:
#1 Festivals with films dedicated to children and youth audiences
Worldwide, there are very important and constantly growing festivals in this segment, such as the Chicago International Children Film Festival, the New York International Children’s Film Festival, and the Toronto Kids International Film Festival, which is part of the TIFF organization, the Toronto International Film Festival. There are many other successful examples around the world. Furthermore, these are very important festivals for this market, attracting numerous buyers and distributors.
While not reaching the importance of these festivals, Spain has hosted FICI, the International Children’s Film Festival, which has not been held since 2013, and the Valencia Children’s Film Festival, which screens several films aimed at children, but little else. There is an opportunity to create a major festival on this theme in our country, which is booming, with a strong market and a very clear audience segment.
#2 Festivals with a special dedication to screenwriting
As in the case of the Austin Film Festival, whose programming and activities are aimed at the world of screenwriting, I believe there has never been a festival of this type in Spain.
#3 Festivals dedicated to cinematography
A few years ago, MadridImagen was held with the participation of short and feature films, but since 2013, it has become a television series festival. In other countries, there are festivals focused on film cinematography, such as the Camerimage Film Festival in Poland, which is one of the most prestigious in the world.
#4 Festivals focused on films made with regional subsidies
These types of festivals aim to highlight regional film funding. Furthermore, it aligns with the previous two ideas, as they are usually focused on film production, with workshops and conferences aimed at producers. A good example of this type is the RegioFun Festival, the producers’ festival, which also takes place in Poland.
Considering the regional development of our country, it would be a good idea to try to organize a festival of this type.
#5 Festivals dedicated to film schools
Although we have had some good examples, such as the Base Film Festival in Barcelona and the Opera Prima Festival of Granada, neither of these projects has had continuity. Only the San Sebastián Festival Student Meeting continues to be held.
These types of festivals are focused on the works of film schools, and there are some very prestigious international examples, such as Tel-Aviv, Munich, and Moscow, which I discussed in the post about the distribution strategy for film school short films.
#6 Science Fiction Film Festivals
In Spain, we have excellent fantasy and horror film festivals, such as Sitges, Donosti, and Bilbao, which also include science fiction. Despite this, we do not have a festival exclusively dedicated to science fiction in our country, a niche with many possibilities. Some examples of this type of festival would be the Other Worlds Austin SciFi Film Festival in the United States and the Nantes Utopiales, Science-Fiction Film Festival, in France.
#7 Vertical and Snapchat Film Festivals
New technologies give rise to new opportunities and new festival projects, as Paramotion and Mecal de Barcelona have clearly seen, with the creation of the first virtual reality festival in our country. The Movistar 360 BCN VR Fest took place in Barcelona at the end of February and was a complete success.
Along these lines, it should be noted that a festival dedicated to vertical cinema is not yet held in Spain, which is slowly beginning to develop.
Some examples of this type of festival are the Vertical Film Festival held in May in Australia, the Vertical Cinema Project in Rotterdam, or the Snapchat video competition (which only allows vertical video recording) organized by the Tribeca Festival this year, which has been a pioneer worldwide.
Start today
As you can see, there are still festival market niches to be covered. There are many opportunities to generate new projects and find new audiences. Furthermore, if you are a director or producer, I hope this post has also helped you see new distribution options for your film.
Do you know of other festival niches with little competition?