Blog: Film festivals

L’arco Film Festival is a celebration of independent cinema and emerging visual arts, designed to showcase new voices in the audiovisual landscape. Our inaugural edition will take place in Madrid in September 2025, featuring:

1. Screenings of short films and video art: Selected for their narrative, technical, and visual innovation.

2.Exhibition of experimental photography: A space to explore new artistic perspectives.

3.Workshops and talks: Activities led by industry professionals to inspire and connect attendees.
The festival serves as an inclusive platform for artists and filmmakers challenging conventional storytelling.

Our mission is to create a space where creativity and innovation take center stage, connecting creators with audiences and fostering cultural dialogue.

Curta Roteiros - 1st Short Film Screenplay Contest is a cultural contest created with the goal of awarding unpublished scripts for short films written in Portuguese and designed for independent cinema.

The contest is held by Jordana Filmes in partnership with the 1st Curta Cine Sumaré

This contest is not linked to any other company and does not receive sponsorship of any kind, whether public or private money.

Instagram of the contest: https://www.instagram.com/curtacinesumare/
Instagram of the production company: https://www.instagram.com/jordanafilmes/
Instagram of the partner festival: https://www.instagram.com/curtacinesumare/

Only for Argentinean filmmakers.

O VIII Curta Lages Festival Internacional de Cinema promove uma ampla programação, plural e de dimensão internacional, realizando mostras competitivas e não competitivas de filmes de curta e longa-metragem de todos os formatos e gêneros.

The FENAVID International Film Festival is held annually in the city of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Organized by the Audiovisual Foundation (FUNDAV), the Festival has become the most important film event in Bolivia and one of the most relevant in Latin America.

Since its first version, carried out in 2001, more than 10,000 audiovisual works from 30 countries have been presented at this meeting, which has transcended the borders of Bolivia and America.

In each version, FENAVID offers the public more than 150 screenings of feature films, short films, music videos and a series of audiovisual works that are exhibited free of charge for the public.

FENAVID always has first-rate guests. The event was attended by internationally renowned figures such as Celso Franco, protagonist of "7 boxes", Marisol Correa, Colombian actress, Alexandre Rodrigues and Leandro Firmino de Hora (protagonists of the acclaimed Brazilian film "Ciudad de Dios"), the Argentine producer Vanessa Ragone (winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2010), Bolivian directors Marcos Loayza and Rodrigo Bellot and Argentine actress Aymará Rovera, to name a few.

Beyond glamor and film screenings, FENAVID is a macro meeting where producers, directors, actors, specialists and a whole multitude of people passionate about cinema converge.

During the days of its realization, the Festival has a series of parallel activities, such as children's film shows, video clip competition, workshops, talks, colloquia and debates.

One of the most anticipated events of FENAVID is the Santa Cruz 100X100 Film Production Meeting. It consists of bringing together 25 emerging film talents in Latin America. The chosen ones travel to Santa Cruz de la Sierra and, during the development of the festival, have the mission of producing a short film in 100 hours.

COSTA BRAVA Film Festival 2025.

Presentations of the films and short films in the cinema room of the La Devesa de Tor club. IN-PERSON AWARDS CEREMONY on Saturday 12 July in l'ESCALA (Costa Brava). Promotion in S'AGARÓ, PLATJA D'ARO and L'ESCALA

ENGLISH: SHORTS MÉXICO 20TH EDITION

CALL FOR ENTRIES – SUBMIT YOUR FILM

SHORTS MEXICO has become the largest International short film festival in Latin America. Do not miss the chance to be part of its 20th celebration.

FILM SUBMISSION REGULATIONS

SHORTS MEXICO - Mexico International Short Film Festival call for entries begins February 17th through May 31st, 2025 at 23:59 (CST) Mexico City. We are open to receive Short Films from all over the world inviting all production genres.

SHORTS MEXICO is recognized as the biggest International short film festival in Iberoamerica. An international exhibition platform specialized in short films. It promotes cinema creative expressions, diverse voices, distinctive and innovative visions, bold quality films from filmmakers from all over the world. At SHORTS MEXICO we encourage the growth and development of short films as well as the filmmakers.

The 20th Edition of SHORTS MEXICO will be held from September 1st through the 30th 2025 in Mexico City. The National Cinematheque of Mexico is the main venue of the festival, and the most prestigious cinema venue in the country. The festival amounts other important venues as CINEMEX Theaters, one of the largest cinema chains in the world, famous Vasconcelo´s Library, Centro Cultural Universitario de la UNAM, CDMX´s Cultural Centers, etc. The festival amounts over 70 venues in Mexico, and holds exhibitions in every one of the 32 States of the Mexican Republic, so the event truly occurs throughout the entire country of Mexico. Since the pandemic, SHORTS MÉXICO is presented in a hybrid format, holding virtual and televised exhibitions as well, having over 1 million spectators per edition.

Throughout the year the festival features previews, exhibitions, retrospectives and master classes. The Shorts Mexico Tour includes cities, towns and villages of Mexico, as well as exhibitions in various countries around the world. Shorts Mexico Academy, consists in master classes and conferences, an academic offer aimed at developing professionalization in various specialized areas of filmmaking. The festival will also present Shorts México Pitching Competition, Work In Progress Contest, and its Screenplay Short Film Competition, with the goal of encouraging and promoting the creation and production of quality films.

FESTIVAL SECTIONS

COMPETITIVE SECTIONS
INTERNATIONAL Competition (Live Action, Animation and Documentary)
IBEROAMERICAN Competition (Live Action, Animation and Documentary)
MEXICAN Competition (Live Action, Animation, Documentary, NeoMex)

Once your short film is registered, you are eligible to participate in all the festival sections, either competitive, showcase, or special programes.

SHORTS MEXICO’S SHOWCASE - FESTIVAL´S FAVORITES / OUT OF COMPETITION

International - Iberoamerican
- World Cinema
- Queer Shorts (LGBTTTQ+)
- Fantascorto (Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Horror)
- Ecoshorts (Environmental Conservation)
- Kids
- Indigenous Peoples
- Afro Shorts (African diaspora and culture)
- Fun Shorts (Comedy)
- Experimental
- International (Live Action, Animation, Documentary, Experimental)
- AI Shorts (Artificial Intelligence)

Mexican
- Mexican (Live Action, Documentary)
- Pueblos Indígenas y Originarios
- Infantil – Kids
- Mujeres Mexicanas en el Cine
- Queer Shorts (LGBTTTQ+)
- Afro Shorts (Cultura y Diáspora Africana)
- Fantascorto (Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Horror)
- Experimental
- Ecoshorts (conservación ambiental)
- Funshorts (Cine de Comedia)
- AI Shorts (Inteligencia Artificial)

The Palencia International Films Festival is organised by the Association Friends of the film and the Popular University of Palencia.

This edition is number 34, and during all these years, our philosphy has been considering cinema a tool of development and social cohesion.

Our festival colaborates with the Spanish Cinema Academy, and its a qualifyer festival for the GOYA shortfilm Awards.

In addition, the short film awarded the first prize by the jury at the MCIP (the Milagros Alcalde Award) will go directly to the Short List finalist of the FUGAZ Awards, making up the short list of films that will then be evaluated for nomination by the commission that awards these prizes each year.

Only for spain films.

Krew! Is the first film Festidrag in the world. It will take place during the month of November 2025, in the city of Monterrey Nuevo León, Mexico at the Cineteca Nuevo León.

General Information:

Krew! Is an International Drag Film Festival with stories starring Drags artists, which brings together audiovisual material from all over the world to exhibit it in movie theaters and reward the best productions with an awards ceremony night.

The origin of the name:

“Krew!” backwards is “Werk!” and this is an expression used by the Drag and LGBTTTIQ+ community that means "To get going, work or execute something so well and with so much swaying, using all possible skills and tools to transmit something with such precision and security that no one would be able to criticize you, shade you, decipher you or read you.” In addition, the word Krew! directly resembles the word Crew, which refers to the team that makes up the production of a film or a Festidrag.

SANFICI is a space to generate meetings at different levels, with an overcoming and innovative will. First of all, it is a space for the relationship between spectators, filmmakers and theorists around cinema and all border and heterodox manifestations. Secondly, it is a special and temporary meeting point.

SANFICI wants to become, year after year, the place of convergence for world independent cinema. But it also wants to be the space where the past and the future dialogue. The place where the most diverse film traditions are embraced with their riskiest proposals.

CINE NO VISTO

International low-budget independent film festival

PRESENTATION

Festival de Cine no Visto has the main objective of giving visibility to those independent and low or no budget productions which, for different reasons, don’t reach the major public and whose only option for a greater recognition is found in festivals.

The organization of the Festival de Cine no Visto is aware of the great effort that producers have to endure in order to carry out a project with very limited means. Technical aspects are for us just another element in the process, so the main reasons to be selected will not depend on the means used. We are much more interested in what is told and the symbolism in each shot.
We are undoubtedly going to consider all and each of the aspects: performance, editing, cinematography, music, screenplay, to sum up, everything necessary in the production of an audiovisual project.

CATEGORIES

⦁ Best feature film
⦁ Best Foreign short film
⦁ Best Andalusian short film
⦁ Best Spanish short film

*AWARDS

⦁ Best feature film (International and Andalusian)
⦁ Best short film (within each category)
⦁ Best actor (feature film)
⦁ Best director (feature film)
⦁ Best cinematographer (feature film)
⦁ Best film editing (feature film)
⦁ Best screenplay (feature film)
• Best sound
• Best music
⦁ Best film from Jaén (feature or short)

* If your film has been awarded but nobody from your team can attend to the awards ceremony, you won´t receive a physical prize.

** Some categories can be declared void if the jury considers that appropriate.

Small festival of independent short filmS. It is intended to publicize independent proposals, without large institutional grants or large producers behind them. Therefore, the idea and the illusion are prioritized over the big budgets or the professionalism of the team.

AMUA Musikako Filme laburren jaialdia

XVIª MUESTRA DE CORTOS CINE BARDEM

NOIA is a university festival that was born in a Brazilian public university, as an initiative of students who wanted to produce their films and find exhibition spaces. It all started in 2002, and both Culture and Education in Brazil were in a very different moment than they are now. The event has accompanied this transformation: it has succeeded, failed, learned, deepened reflections and continues a trajectory marked by growth and the construction of relevance.

In this 23rd edition of NOIA, we are beginning a new stage that reveals a little of this transformation: in addition to the new visual identity in honor of social minorities, we will strengthen our relationship with national and international universities.

We value the dialogues we have always had, but our history is built on Brazilian soil.

The 23rd edition of the NOIA Festival is held by PROPONO Consultoria Executiva and the Ministry of Culture via the Rouanet Law. It is promoted by Canal FDR, Jornal O Povo, Fundação Demócrito Rocha, Fundação Roberto Marinho and Canal Futura.

Complete your registration by sending a Proof of Enrollment and the Declaration of Participation in the NOIA Festival to the email: noia@propono.com.br.

Resolve your questions on the website: www.festivalnoia.com.br

Thank you for your registration and good luck!

The "Aniwow" is the core activity of China (Beijing) International Student Animation Festival, which aims to encourage young animators to adhere to their artistic ideals, discover and cultivate new animators, cartoonists and new media artists with creative passion, original spirit and good artistic cultivation. The festival builds a bridge for students from different countries who love animation to exchange ideas, discuss academics and pass on friendship on a larger scale and at a higher level, and creates a new platform for international animation academic exchange with multiple interactions.

Estranhos Encontros is a festival that brings independent cinema to São Paulo, with the mission of promoting and discussing works that rarely find space within the Brazilian film circuit. With a diverse program — including international feature and medium-length films, as well as short films from Latin America and Portuguese-speaking countries — the festival also honors a filmmaker through a retrospective. The event establishes a meeting point for strengthening networks, exchanging experiences, and debating contemporary practices of independent filmmaking.

AI Film Festival Japan (AI-FJ) is Japan’s first international film festival dedicated to the creative collaboration between human storytellers and artificial intelligence.

Taking place on November 21, 2025, in the heart of Tokyo at Tokyo Innovation Base, AI-FJ brings together pioneering filmmakers, technologists, researchers, and audiences from around the world to explore the evolving possibilities of AI-driven cinema.

The festival features a curated selection of long and short films, animations, documentaries, experimental works, and student films that leverage artificial intelligence in their creative process—whether through writing, visual generation, sound design, or thematic exploration.

With screenings, artist talks, panel discussions, accessibility programs, and an awards ceremony, AI-FJ is more than a showcase—it’s a global platform where the future of storytelling begins.

We champion diversity, equity, and inclusion, and actively encourage submissions from underrepresented creators, women, and emerging artists from around the world.

AIFFI® – International Festival for AI-Generated Short Films

The inaugural edition of AIFFI® will take place on November 15–16, 2025, on the Caribbean island of Roatán, Honduras, marking the first international film festival in Central America exclusively dedicated to cinema created with artificial intelligence.

Conceived as a hybrid cinematic experience, AIFFI® merges physical screenings with global digital access. The festival is a celebration of the evolving language of cinema in the era of emerging technologies—bringing together filmmakers, technologists, visual artists, and visionary creators who explore storytelling through generative tools and AI-enhanced workflows.

From Central America to the world, AIFFI® positions the region as a growing epicenter of artificial cinema. With a forward-looking mission to collaborate with global film and tech leaders, the festival becomes a launchpad for groundbreaking creators and bold experimentation at the intersection of art, code, and narrative.

The curated program will include official competition selections, industry roundtables, immersive showcases, and open dialogues between artists, developers, and cultural institutions. Framed by the vibrant identity and natural beauty of Roatán, AIFFI® offers an inclusive, decentralized space to reimagine the future of filmmaking.

Over $10,000 USD in awards will be granted across the official categories, celebrating artistic merit, technological innovation, and narrative excellence in AI-powered short films.

For full details, visit: www.aiffi.org