Fancy seeing your film screened in Georgia, a land of impressive mountains, green valleys and vineyards? Then get submitting to BIAFF – Batumi International Art-house Film Festival, who has its Late Deadline at the very start of the month – so get on your skates, filmmakers! LGBT issues are a hot topic right now, particularly with the legalisation […]
Deadlines and Open Calls
THESS International Short Film Festival, Five Teasers!
Thessaloniki has it all. Great gastronomy, sultry weather and a dynamic history spanning the Hellenic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires. And Greece’s second city also has the THESS International Short Film Festival every October. An annual event devoted to the most cutting edge of cinema, it’s a festival not to miss out on. We spoke with their Festival Director Yiannis Zachopoulos about what […]
Deadline on FilmFestivalLife – July 2015
What’s cooking in July? Here’s what. A veritable ton of deadlines. Los Angeles International Short Film Festival is one to enter into your notebooks. Academy Award-qualifying, and BAFTA-qualifying to boot, a submission to this festival could herald the start of a very successful festival career. And it’s in LA, where the sun never stops shining. The Late […]
LIFF and The Challenge of Defining ‘American Independent Film’
We met Leiden Film Festival Alexander Moure and Managing Director Evert de Vries in Cannes Film Festival and talked about the films they are looking for and why it’s so hard to define what real American independent films are. ‘We’re interested in ‘crossover’ films, not too commercial and not too art-house.’ Alexander Mouret, Artistic Director […]
The ‘Wild East’ and ‘Westerners’ – Building Bridges with CinEast
One of the mantras of the CinEast – Central and Eastern European Film Festival is to make the ‘wild east’ just a little bit more familiar by showcasing the cinema of the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Every year the festival screens around 50-60 features and short films. Now in its 8th edition, CinEast is […]
Amanda Duthie About Cannes, Indigenous Filmmakers and The Adelaide Film Festival
Big news for the Adelaide Film Festival. The FilmFestivalLife submission partner has just announced that Cannes Film Festival’s Christian Jeune will lead the international jury at this year’s festival. Since 2002 the festival in South Australia has relished its status as a premiere film event, one celebrating contemporary on-screen culture from both Australia and the wider world. […]
Deadlines on FilmFestivalLife – June 2015
Welcome to the European Summer, filmmakers! Outdoor festivals, al fresco dining and long sunlit evenings. There’s much to look forward to, but don’t forget, there’s still plenty of deadlines to get stuck into… One to watch out for is the DocLisboa – International Film Festival. We had a chat with their Program Coordinator last year, Miguel Ribeiro, […]
Axe Throwing, Rocky Horror and All-Round Quirkiness with Portland Film Festival
Coolest city in the world? Portland, Oregon, is a bona-fide candidate, known for being a craft-beer swigging, alternative culture pioneer. And it’s also the home of the Portland Film Festival. Launched in 2013 by Josh Leake and Jay Cornelius, it’s still a relative newbie but it’s pioneering approach to film programming has seen them create a […]
Deadlines on FilmFestivalLife – May 2015
FFL partner festivals have many big deadlines this month, including HollyShorts Film Festival. The short film festival is showcasing the best short films from around the globe, the festival, as you’ve probably guessed, has Hollywood as its home. Where else?! Edmonton International Film Festival’s call for entries is also coming to an end this month. We spoke […]
How To Be Fantastic with TOHorror
La Dolce Vita – or in the case of TOHorror, it’s less about the good life, and more about the supernatural life. Indeed, the Turin-based festival is focused on the fantastic genre, the old literary genre defined by an ambiguous presence of supernatural forces. It’s a genre which is constantly posing questions – most notably what’s real, and what’s not. […]
Deadlines on FilmFestivalLife – April 2015
Springtime usually heralds a spot of cleaning but instead maybe it’s time to get submitting? Big this month includes the renowned Bosnia and Herzegovina festival International Film Festival Kratkofil Plus. We had a chat with Program Director Vladan Petkovic last year about the festival, which pioneered bringing short films to Bosnia & Herzegovina and why festivals are important […]
The Progression of LGBT Cinema and Challenging the Mainstream – Pushing Boundaries with Queer Lisboa
As the only film festival dedicated exclusively to Queer Cinema in the country, the 19th Queer Lisboa – International Queer Film Festival is undoubtedly a gateway for Portuguese audiences to discover more. Queer Cinema encompasses all gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and transsexual themed films, but Queer Lisboa doesn’t stop here: „we search for films that […]
Deadlines on FilmFestivalLife – March 2015
Happy March, filmmakers! FEST – New Directors|New Films Festival has a big deadline coming up first of all. It’s a great chance to submit to a festival that’s more than a festival, a training ground for new filmmakers based on the Portuguese coast. We had a chat with them last year which you should definitely check […]
Australia has a strong culture of cinema going’ Sydney Film Festival on Australian cinema, Documentary Filmmaking and the Importance of Festivals
With the Dendy Award and the Yoram Gross Animation Award, the 62th Sydney Film Festival has two awards that can bring your short film to the Oscar party. As an Academy-qualifying festival with an 156,000-strong audience, the Australian festival is a FFL partner festival you shouldn’t miss out on. Last year we met Festival Director […]
The Women Kick Ass Project: Artemis Women In Action Film Festival
Watch out ladies; The first film festival devoted exclusively to female action films is rolling out this year. The Artemis Women In Action Film Festival aims to celebrating action films and furthering social change through showing off images of empowered women. From female superheroes to super stuntwomen, the festival in Los Angeles wants to spotlight women in film […]