Just received this new posting. As you know, this blog supports festivals like this that “will always be free for artists”.

Based on the feedback I get from festival directors, I would like to give a word of advice  (that I realize some of you already do): be sure to read the festival description before entering. If you send a project that doesn’t meet the description the festival organizer will need to spend extra time to weed out projects like this. This can be a huge (and unnecessary task) for the organizer. If you think about it, it doesn’t make sense to send a horizontal film to a vertical film festival, a film from outside the US to an Ohio filmmakers only screening, etc. I could go on, but you get the idea.

best of luck,
tracy

Tahoe Underground Film Festival 8/22/16
The Tahoe Underground Film Festival (TUFF) is a student-run, alternative film and media festival based in Incline Village, Nevada, on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe. TUFF seeks work that expands the boundaries of media. We are proudly hosted and organized by the students in the Sierra Nevada College Fine Arts Program. We’re looking for intersections between exhibition and production; between content and location; and site and performance. We specifically welcome contemporary film, video and installation work that exploits site-specific modes of production, highlights environmental concerns, and questions media itself. We hope to highlight the best in artistic, experimental, original, humorous, political and visionary film, video and the greater spectrum of the visual arts.
TUFF will always be free for artists. Festival fees only add to the concerns of an elite system of independent production, favoring those who have resources unrelated to their practice. TUFF seeks to be democratic in its call for entries, and will be committed to raising funds to support rewarding artists for their work.

SoDak Motion (Brookings, South Dakota) 8/15/16
The SoDak Motion Festival, much like its predecessor the SoDak Animation Festival, seeks to show some of the best new independent animation from around the world. The goal of SoDak Motion Festival is to better represent not only animation, but also independent video games. Juried prizes awarded in different categories.

Ohio Peace Short Film Festival 5/8/16
Open to Ohio filmmakers only*, free to submit, films will be screened at the Gateway Film Center, and there is $1000 in prizes split between the top three films. Deadline is May 8th. Informational Video

The following updates are being sent out as a newletter to email subscribers and will be published under May 2016.

best of luck,
tracy

WomenMakeWaves Film Festival (Taiwan) 5/1/16
Women Make Waves Film Festival aims to celebrate the achievements of outstanding female talents, to explore different aspects of women’s lives as well as to promote equality and rights of all genders. By covering a wide range of genres, issues, and representations of women, the Festival seeks to present and honor women’s survival wisdom and power as they are turned into films and gain mainstream recognition. Submission to the festival is open to feature films, short films, documentaries, animation, experimental films and innovative visual productions for digital media. (Subjects: Modern Witch-Hunt, Queer Flame, Women Home and Country, New Currents)

19th International Short Film Festival in Drama (Drama Greece) 5/10/16
Fiction, documentary and animation short films may participate. under 35 minutes.

La Jolla Fashion Film Festival (La Jolla, CA) 5/29/2016
Must have fashion element or film sponsorship. The world’s largest gathering of fashion film professionals has announced it has expanded its award categories to include all aspects of fashion film production.“From now on the brilliant work done by makeup artists, hairstylists, art directors, editors, musicians, wardrobe stylists, writers, and others will be nominated and have the opportunity to win awards. These awards are for the best in the world and cut across national boundaries and cultures. Thanks to the global reach of LJFFF everyone is included no matter where on earth they live or work.” stated Festival Producer Fred Sweet. All creators in the fashion film industry are welcome to submit.

PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival 5/29/16
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) again invite the world’s youth to submit original and creative videos focusing on PLURAL+ themes: migration, diversity and social inclusion. PLURAL+ is seeking for short videos, of up to 5 minutes. Entrants must be youth between the ages of 9-25. Preferably all videos should be submitted on DVDs, or through a file hosting website of choice (MediaFire, YouSendit,)

Ars Independent International Film Festival (Poland) 5/31/16
Ars Independent is the space devoted to dialogue between filmmakers and the audience, created with belief that cinema as a medium can influence reality. We are crossing geographical, social and political borders in order to disclose unknown cinema and discover both The Other and ourselves. Independent Feature Films and Short Animations.

P’tit Pain  6/1/16
This year Mondo Québec is celebrating 5 years of P’TIT PAIN, an evening of short animated films. Each years we present a colorful screening presenting what’s best in the animated world. Taking place outdoor in a park downtown Montreal, P’tit Pain  is THE summer celebration of animation ! Send us your film ! We are looking for amateur, student, semi-pro and professionnal productions. (the screening will be on august, 12 and will go on tour)
The short films must: Be less than 15 minutes, Be made after January 1st, 2014, Be either in french or subtitled, but not mandatory. Accepted formats : MPEG-2, MPEG-4, AVI, H.264. Send your film or a Vimeo/Youtube link at mondoquebec@gmail.com

Womanimation (Rhode Island) 5/30/16
What is Womanimation? As the name implies, it’s a festival showcasing acclaimed animated films created by women from around the world. From satire to drama, from the everyday to the surreal – in styles from traditional 2-d to stop-motion to computer animation – the festival features something for every taste. Films must be animated, directed by a woman, and narrative in structure (no music videos, trailers, non-narrative experimental pieces, etc.) First, click here to fill out a form. Then click here to send us your film with Hightail. You can also use your own FTP service such as WeTransfer, DropBox, etc. For submission format, we prefer 1080p H.264 (any frame rate).

The following updates are being sent out as a newletter to email subscribers and will be published under May and June 2016.

best of luck,
tracy

TUFF- Toronto Urban Film Festival (ON) 05/15/2016* free submission ends at midnight
Starting April 15, we will be accepting submissions for TUFF 2016, screening silent 60-second film, video and animation to an urban public. Call for submissions is open to international filmmakers, accepting all genres of silent, 1 minute film, video, and animation of interest to an urban audience.  TUFF, North America’s largest commuter film festival returns to Pattison Onestop subway platform screens across Toronto, screens at 10-minute intervals on over 290 platform screens in 63 stations across the Toronto subway system, and non-stop at designated “Film Zones” located at key downtown stations.

MIX Copenhagen 5/23/16
Oldest running film festival in Denmark and one of the oldest LGBT film festivals in the world. Submit by email with link to film.

Animatou (Geneva, Switzerland) 5/23/16
Animatou is a festival dedicated to bringing the best of Swiss and international animation to spectators of all ages and promoting an awareness of art films rarely screened in commercial cinemas. The festival has four competitive programs: international, young, swiss and experimental.

Marda Loop Justice Film Festival 6/1/16
The MLJFF is Canada’s premiere human rights, environmental, and social issues documentary film festival. The festival hosts an annual mid-November festival, a Calgary film series, and a traveling Canadian film series. Submit through WAB. (no fee, though)

Sedicicorto International Film Festival Forti (Forli, Italy) 6/5/16
The Film Festival is divided into 3 competitive sections and accepts submissions of any short film produced after 1st January 2011. The maximum running time allowed is 35 minutes (including credits). MOVIE – International Fiction Films, Documentary Films, ANI&LAB – International Animation & Experimental Films, CORTITALIA – National Films of any genre.

Anima Mundi 6/08/16
Our intention is to highlight the best animated films made with multiplatform characteristics: interactive pieces, videogame intros, teasers, animation series episodes or pilots and (why not ?) traditional animation shorts are just a few examples of pieces that may participate in this wide open competition. The important thing is that the piece is able to convey, with the animation language, a communication that is consistent and attractive in every type of media. The contest is open to animated works that may be new or previously made, produced by professional or amateur animators. Works may have a length of 30 seconds minimum and 10 minutes maximum.

Regent Park Film Festival (Canada) 6/10/16
Regent Park Film Festival is Toronto’s only free-of-charge, multi-cultural, film festival dedicated to bringing the best local and international film and video works to the communities living in and around the neighbourhood of Regent Park in Toronto, Canada.

2-Minute Film Festival (Pittsburgh, PA) 6/13/16
Carnegie Museum of Art is pleased to announce a new partnership with Pittsburgh’s Row House Cinema for this year’s edition of its popular 2-Minute Film Festival series. Row House Cinema is a single-screen, state-of-the-art theater in the historic Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Filmmakers: submit your finest—and shortest—video to Carnegie Museum of Art, and your work could be featured in the sixth installment of CMOA’s 2-Minute Film Festival, to be held at Pittsburgh’s Row House Cinema July 15–20, 2016, and at CMOA on July 21, 2016.

(FICMA) The International Environmental Film Festival (Barcelona, Spain) 6/20/16
FICMA is the longest running environmental film festival in the world. It is the only environmental film festival to hold competitions which do not accept productions that are more than a year old.

MESSAGE TO MAN (Saint Petersburg) 06/20/16
* note fee charged for international category
The International Documentary, Short, and Animated Film Festival. National Competition (no entry fee) Documentaries up to 120 minutes in length, directed by Russian filmmakers or/and produced (co-produced) by Russian producers, completed after 1 January 2015. Experimental Short Film Competition In Silico (no entry fee)
Short experimental films (no longer than 15 minutes) in any genre, which are technically suitable for screening in a regular cinema, completed after 1 January 2014.

CutOutFest (Mexico): 06/30/16
Short Narrative, Music Video and Experimental Animations- Must use a frame by frame technique.

The following updates are being sent out as a newletter to email subscribers and will be published under June 2016.

best of luck,
tracy

WNDX (Winnipeg) 06/01/2016
seeks new Canadian and international films and videos. WNDX pays special attention to the most innovative and ground-breaking works created by moving image artists. Submission by DVD or weblink.

Josiah Media Festival 6/01/16
Talented, young filmmakers, 21 years of age or under, can now submit their films for competition in this year’s Josiah Media Festival. Almost $2,000 in prizes will be awarded to winning filmmakers. Films should be no longer than 20 minutes trt and can be about anything you wish (no theme required). We accept films in the categories of narrative, animation, documentary, and experimental, which covers just about everything. DVD or thumb drive.

Split Film Festival (Croatia) 06/01/2016
DVD/CD. The program is outstanding, eclectic, high-quality, original and unique. Films are made during workshops as well.

Princeton Student Film and Video Festival 06/01/16
The Princeton Student Film & Video Festival is sponsored by the Princeton Public Library. The mission of the festival is to encourage and support the work of youth filmmakers in a range of genres and styles, with the opportunity and a venue for the filmmakers to show their work to a broad audience. The festival is open to high school and college students and home-schooled, unschooled or not in school youth ages 14-25 from Princeton and all points beyond, both near and far.

Portobello Film Festival (London, UK) 06/01/2016
UK’s biggest independent film competition.

CineEco (Portugal) 6/1/16
The Festival is open to the registration of fiction movies, long or short film documentaries for the various sections – competitive and non-competitive, according to the environment theme. Cine’Eco intends to continue to be a space to show the best films and videos from around the world, focusing on environmental issues, with the intention to create awareness, provide discussion, enhancing knowledge and deepen the need for urgent changes in the behavior of people, governments and companies, in order to preserve the planet.

World Festival of Animated Film (Bulgaria) 06/06/2016
Upload to festival site or DVD submission.

Doclisboa 6/15/16
A festival dedicated to documentary and to the new possible paths that are being opened for the genre. We are particularly interested on the new modes of relation between the cinematographic and the real, and we are looking for proposals that suppose an implication on the world, facing cinema as a political and artistic practice. We are looking for films with cinematographic qualities bringing forth, as a whole, the point of view of their authors.

Oslo Skeive Filmer Film Festival 6/15/16
Since 1990, Norway’s only film festival focusing on stories of diversity, regardless of identity, gender, sexuality, race, personal expressions, and lgbtq/human rights. We present a high quality program of international narrative, documentary and short films, and we also organize exhibitions, lectures, seminars and panel discussions. online or by post.

gender reel 6/20/16
We are seeking all kinds of films and performance art pieces created by and/or about gender non-conforming and transgender people, experiences and images and/or work that challenges gender conforming attitudes, ideas or concepts. Non-trans people are also welcome to submit work to Gender Reel provided this work is reflective of our mission. Rolling submissions as well.

Anim’est International Animated Film Festival (Romania) 06/20/2016
The anim’est International Animation Film Festival, established in 2006, has become Bucharest’s most loved film festival and a recognized event on the international animation scene. The presentations, workshops, master-classes and round tables provide the perfect opportunity to get in touch with the latest creations and make contacts.

Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival 6/30/16
Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival is the largest festival of creative documentary films in Central and Eastern Europe. We also consider animated documentaries, online documentary projects or any of the cross-genre TV formats (docudrama, docusoap, reality show or mockumentary). The length of the film is not important, we accept submissions of both feature and short-length documentaries.

Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival (Lausanne, Switzerland) 6/30/16
LUFF opens the call for entries to anybody who desires submitting his/her creation. The festival is dedicated to promoting and discovering innovative films and musicians who  don’t benefit from traditional distribution channels. Offering a program of exceptional films and music, the LUFF is a cultural event without comparison in the Swiss cultural landscape. The international competition is composed of the following sections: Short fiction, Short experimental, Short animation, Feature Films. Submit your darkest or most radiant film, the most daring or the most personal film, the film you have never shown to anyone or that has provoked such radical reactions that you have never again dared showing it to anyone.

Cinema City International Film Festival 5/5/16
Cinema City International Film Festival invites filmmakers from all across the globe to apply for the Up to 10,000 Bucks selection. This selection is one of the most appealing festival programs which presents films made with no budget or with a budget of less than USD 10,000. Thanks to this authentic program, every year festival goers have a beautiful chance to enjoy unique low-budget auteur films from all over the world. For the last eight years, the Up to 10,000 Bucks program has been offering a creative mosaic of diverse ideas, forms and cultures marked by the contemporaneity and its challenges. The program presents feature films, documentaries, animated films, student and experimental films, all bound by the courageous venture of talented artists who are capable of creating a magnificent piece of art in spite of the lack of the financial assets.

ULTRA WATER FLOW 4/20/16
The PhotoPhore, proud screening partner of the Microwave 2016 festival, opens its call for artists “ULTRA WATER FLOW”. We are searching for video-art works, short movies, digital and animation films, to include in our official selection for the Microwave International New Media Arts Festival 2016 in Hong Kong.  More