The 13th edition of FEST – New Directors | New Films Festival, announced it is accepting entries for this year’s competition, which will take place between the 19th and the 26th of June in the Portuguese seaside town of Espinho.
Known as the film festival for emerging filmmakers, the weeklong event focuses on new faces on the international film scene, with a complete and widespread competition program that will be giving out 10 awards in total.
The organizers are currently accepting feature films, fiction and documentary, from directors who are on their first or second production, regardless of age. They are also accepting short and medium length films (of up to 54 minutes) for the fiction, documentary, animation and experimental sections, which are open for directors up to the age of 30.
Running parallel to the filmfest are educational events like Industry Meetings (for one on one meeting with film producers), Training Ground (a high level film training program) and Pitching Forum, which connects filmmakers with producers and financiers.
Established in 2003, FEST is considered as one of the most important cultural events in Portugal, it serves as a great opportunity and an excellent forum for the new filmmakers who wish to establish themselves in this industry by providing them a venue to show and promote their work, develop their skills, offer new opportunities, and develop new public for independent cinema.
After a record-breaking number of submitted entries, the organizers of the event decided to expand the submission alternatives. Thus, alongside online submissions via www.fest.pt and the traditional physical submission process, applicants can also use partner platforms: Film Festival Life (http://www.filmfestivallife.com/FEST-New-DirectorsNew-Films-Festival),
Film Freeway ( https://filmfreeway.com/festival/FestNewDirectorsNewFilmsFestival),
Click for Festivals (http://www.clickforfestivals.com/fest-new-directors-new-films-festival)
Festhome (https://festhome.com/f/1524).
The deadline for submission of entries is on Feb. 28. The fee for submission is €4 for short films and € for feature films.
Fees are not applicable for national films.
Visit www.fest.pt. for further details.