Sofia International Film Festival
Sofia International Film Festival is the leading film event in Bulgaria and one of the most high-profile festivals in Central East Europe. It is accredited by FIAPF as competitive festival for first and second films. The SIFF familiarizes the local audiences with the best recent works of the world cinema and presents new Bulgarian and regional films to international audiences.Since 2004 significant part of the festival is the Sofia Meetings coproduction market (pitching for feature film projects and showcasing Bulgarian and regional films).
Venue place and date: Sofia, March 2012; Submission deadline: mid November
The official site of SIFF is available at: http://www.siff.bg/In the Palace Festival
In the Palace Fest is an International festival dedicated to short films under 45 minutes in length. It is held annualy in the late June in the Black Sea town of Balchik. Established in 2003, the festival had grown from a competitive forum for student films into the largest and most prestigious short film festival in Bulgaria and the region.
The Festival’s core are the International and National competitive programmes, accompanied by various special screenings. The educational section Filmer Forge offers perfect ground for obtaining knowledge, experience and professional contacts with its training programmes, seminars, lectures and master classes. Continuing its activities in project development, film promotion and distribution, the In the Palace Fest features a qualified Market for short films and projects.
In the Palace Fest is organized by Format SFF Foundation and Community Centre Veshtina in partnership and with support of Balchik Municipality, the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, the Bulgarian National Film Centre and the State Cultural Institute – Cultural Centre “The Palace”, Balchik, and is the first and only short film festival in Bulgaria, funded by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union.
Venue place and date: Balchik, June 2012; Submission deadline: March
The official site of In the Palace is available at: http://www.inthepalace.comLove is Folly International Film Festival
Love Is folly is a competitive international film festival. It is held on a yearly basis in the coastal city of Varna. In terms of its genre, the Festival is oriented towards dramas and comedies, melodramas and romances.Venue place and date: Varna, August 1012; Submission deadline: early June
Filmini
FILMINI International Short Film Festival is a competitive festival of short films. It aims to contribute to the promotion and production of arthouse short films, and to develop a spirit of friendship and cooperation among filmmakers from all over the world.The festival program includes several competitions of short films as well as non-competitive film programs, retrospections.
Venue place and date: Sofia, October 2012; Submission deadline: late July
The Cinemania World Film Panorama
The Cinemania started in 1987 as a World Film Panorama. The main program presents leading European cinemas. Part of the program includes the most interesting events in the field of the independent American cinema. Significant film titles of national cinematographies that are less popular in Bulgaria prevail. The Cinemania presents also retrospections (of Yasudjiro Ozu, Milos Forman, Miroslav Ondricek, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Jacques Demy, etc.), portraits of celebrities of the present and the past (Sven Nykvist, Robert Altman, Carlos Saura, Mormarev Bros., prominent Bulgarian scriptwriters). On the sidelines of the fest, other events are held, such as premieres of books by popular filmmakers, round-table-talks and seminars.The main purpose of the fest is rendered obvious in the very phrasing of the event: Cinemania International Film Panorama. The accent is put on the selection and geography of the offered films. The idea is the Bulgarian spectators to get familairised in a fortnight with the most essential of the films that have been made in the last 2 or 3 years, winners at European and world film festivals.Venue place and date:
Sofia, November – December 2012; Submission deadline: non competitive
The official site of Cinemania is available at: http://kinomania.bg/Golden Rose
The Golden Rose Festival of Bulgarian Feature Films is held at the Festival and Congress Centre in the coastal city of Varna, in October. The Festival is a competitive one for Bulgarian features and shorts films. The event is organized by the Bulgarian National Film Center and the Bulgarian National Television with the support of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Varna.
Venue place and date: Varna, October 2012; Submission deadline: mid-August
Golden Rhyton
The Golden Rhyton is a biennial national film festival, hosted by the Novotel-Plovdiv in the city of Plovdiv, in December. It is a competitive documentary and animation film festival, organised by the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Bulgarian National Television with the support of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Plovdiv.Venue place and date: Plovdiv, December 2012; Submission deadline: mid-October
Festival of European Co-productions
A non-competitive international film festival, organised by the Bulgarian National Film Center, held on a yearly basis both in Sofia, at the National Palace of Culture and in one another city, which is different each year. The festival promotes new works made by at least two countries of which one is necessarily a EU member state.Venue place and date: Sofia; Submission deadline: mid-April