International Festival of Amateur Historical Films Shumen 2026 (23)

Festival start: 10 April 2026      Festival end: 28 June 2026

INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR HISTORICAL FILMS FESTIVAL

The festival was first organized on December 5, back in 1970. Since then, over 1,000 films have participated in twenty editions of the festival. Since 2003, the festival has grown into an international one with the participation, so far, of 123 foreign authors with 201 films. The festivals are juried by: Prof. Dr. Bozhidar Manov, N.A. Zahari Zhandov, Prof. Nedelcho Milev, Prof. Dr. Totyu Totev, director Gencho Genchev, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alexander Donev and many other prominent filmmakers.

The festival is held under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria and the international association UNICA


OBJECTIVES:

Development and promotion of amateur cinema through the exchange of film production and meetings of film enthusiasts.

Promoting international cultural cooperation through the creation of films that stimulate interest in history and patriotic education.

The festival is part of the cultural calendar of the Shumen municipality and contributes to the promotion of Shumen and the region as an attractive destination for cultural tourism.

Nearby are the old capitals Pliska and Veliki Preslav, as well as the national symbol of Bulgaria - the Madara Horseman.

• The jury awards the following prizes:

- UNICA Medal

- Best Film Award – first, second and third prizes

- Gencho Genchev Award for a short film up to 5 minutes

- Award for a film by a young author /up to 30 years old/

- Award for a film on the theme of Shumen

- Award for screenplay

- Award for directing
- Award for cinematography
- Award for editing
- Award for sound design

The film festival is held every two years, every even year.

Feature, documentary and animated films on the theme of the festival (history), which have not been presented in previous editions of the festival, are eligible for participation.

Films made by individual authors or by non-professional author collectives are eligible for participation.

Films with pornographic, xenophobic and degrading human dignity content are not eligible.

The festival will be held at the end of June 2026 /June 26 - 28/.


Applications for Participation
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Applications and films are sent to Shumen by 10.06.2026.

Films and applications received after this date are not allowed to participate.

Films /on discs/ and applications for participation can be sent by mail to the following address: Shumen, 9700, Vazrazhdane Sq. № 4, National Community Center "Dobri Voynikov-1856" /for the festival/.

Films or their links together with applications for participation can be sent electronically via: Festhome. For information: +359 889 606 645.

The jury will evaluate the films submitted by 11.06.2026. until 17.06.2026

Requirements for Applications
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A separate application is sent for each film.
Information about the film – film title, duration and format. A short annotation about the content of the film is entered in the applications /for foreign films in English or Russian/.

Information about the author of the film – country, city, club, names, age, does he work in electronic media, postal address, telephone and e-mail address.

In the application, the author of the film declares the following:

– the photo, video and audio materials used by him do not violate copyright rules.

– gives consent for the film to be used by the organizers to promote amateur cinema in electronic media – television and the Internet.

Participants indicate the days of presence at the festival.

Duration of one film - up to 20 minutes.

Films must be in DVD, MPG-2, MPG-4 and other high-resolution formats.

Films must be accompanied by a short annotation in Bulgarian, English or Russian.

It is desirable that films have subtitles in English or Russian.
Organization
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The preliminary time schedule of the festival includes:
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26.06.2026 / Friday / - Opening of the festival.

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27.06.2026 / Saturday / - Film screening, discussion with the jury of all presented films. Round table "100 years of amateur film movement" and amateur film evening.

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28.06.2026 / Sunday / - awarding and closing of the festival.

Depending on the duration of the screenings, the operational bureau may change the preliminary order.

The operational bureau makes reservations for overnight stays according to preliminary requests.

The expenses of the participants in the festival are at the expense of the institutions that send them.

The operational bureau ensures the stay during the days of the festival for foreign participants - one representative of each awarded film.

In case the authors of awarded films are not present at the festival, the operational bureau undertakes to send the awards by mail to the address specified in the application.