The workshop will have two seminars. First seminar workshop in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, June 2009 (the business of being a commisioning editor analysed in detail; from the idea to the screen; based on case studies; with the participation of all the players involved in the genesis of a programme); second seminar workshop in Portugal, October 2009 (commissioning editor - what does the future hold?; from new production methods to new forms of broadcasting; meetings with the best experts in the field).

EURODOC was designed to provide European documentary producers with a specific training structure. Producing quality creative documentaries requires increasingly more funding, which is proving difficult to find at national levels regardless the size of the country. Things are moving fast, very fast. Constant training remains vital.

Eurodoc is a strong, influential and united network. This has been indispensable in enabling it to cope with the rapid changes in the documentary sector. Since the creation of the programme, its objectives have remained the same: to improve the trans-national circulation of documentary films and to strengthen the international development of small and medium-sized companies in the sector.

In 2009, EURODOC will start a long-term cooperation with three institutions, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Film Commission, the Slovenian Film Fund and the Croatian Audio-Visual Center, in order to welcome every year one producer from each of these three neighboring countries (Italy, Slovenia and Croatia). 

Categories: Official programme (international competition and special screenings), Bulgarian feature films, Balkan films showcase, European screen, World screen, Bulgarian shorts, Documentary programme, Retrospectives and tributes, Special events

Formats: Beta-SP, 16mm, 35mm

Awards: Grand Prize, Special Jury Award, Audience Award, FIPRESCI Award

Fees: None

The mission of the Sofia International Film Festival is to promote significant and innovative works in contemporary world cinema to the local audience, and regional (Bulgarian and Balkan) cinema to an international audience, as well as to encourage cooperation between local and international filmmakers. The main programme will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria with an additional week in Sofia, Bourgas and Plovdiv.

WebSite: http://www.efm-berlinale.de/en/service/registration/registration.php

The European Film Market (EFM) is primarily aimed at professionals such as sales agents and distributors, acquisition executives, producers, exhibitors, financiers, as well as representatives of the TV and home entertainment market. It runs for 9 days as part of one of the most important film festivals in the world, the Berlinale. As the first major film event of the year, it is a magnet for international industry professionals, and is seen as a barometer for the upcoming year in film.

The EFM is the business centre of the festival, taking place in the exhibition hall of the Martin-Gropius-Bau (MGB), and now in the official second location at the EFM Marriott Offices in the deluxe modern Marriott Hotel, both just minutes away from the festival headquarters at Potsdamer Platz in the heart of contemporary Berlin.

Each year, producers, distributors, buyers and sales agents converge at the EFM where both commercial art-house and specialized mainstream films are given star billing. The open and lively environment of MGB allows for ample opportunity to meet and network with a wide variety of industry colleagues.

Recognizing that new and emerging talent is one of the greatest resources, the EFM continues to promote discovery, facilitate collaborations and provide platforms for productions in development.

Under the auspices of the EFM, the Berlinale Co-Production Market is an intensive three-day event where international producers and financiers meet with the goal of finding partners for selected projects. Located at the Berlin House of Representatives, directly across from the MGB, moving from one event to the next is quick and easy.

Books at Berlinale is a collaboration with the Frankfurt Book Fair. Publishers and literary agents are represented under an umbrella stand at the EFM to promote contact and exchange between the book and film worlds.

Straight from Sundance is a co-operation with the Sundance Film Festival giving our international buyers first crack at new films from the American independent scene.

Works in Progress is a forum for young talented Latin American filmmakers offering buyers and sales agents a chance to pick up on new and interesting work in their early stages and help bring them to fruition.

German Cinema is a series culled from the best of the previous year's German cinema, presented for the international market.

Whether putting together deals, networking for new opportunities or catching up with colleagues, it’s all about relationships. And that’s what the EFM is here for.

A well-respected documentary film festival in Asia. Since its inception, the festival has aimed to explore new concepts in the field of documentary, which is building a niche for itself while converging with various media in our high-tech information society.

The festival is sponsored by the YIDFF Organizing Committee and the City of Yamagata.

The Grand Prize : The Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize 3,000,000 yen

Categories: Competition for Full-Length Feature, Full-Length Documentary and Short Films

Formats: 35 mm, 16 mm, Beta SP, DVD

Awards: Best Fiction, Best Documentary, Best Short, Invisible Boarders Award

Fees: None

2009 Festival International de Films de Femmes de Créteil program guideline will be political and it will be articulated on a parallel between the United States of Europe and the United States of America with a 30 film program coming from both continents and a large brainstorming forum on the impact of cultural diversity throughout cinema made by women. This section will feature images of rich intercultural communities on both continents in order to point out new borders and explore new film styles.

A special night of genre films will bring together police, fantastic and science fiction, erotic films and even vampire horror movies made by women.

Categories: Asia, Africa, Latin America (except the USA, Canada, the European countries, Australia and New Zealand completed after 1 January 2008)

Formats: 35mm, 16mm, video, DVD, Beta SP

Awards: Camera Novo Award (8000 Euro), Young Jury Award, Audience Award

Fees: None

The festival encompasses three continents: Africa, Asia and Latin America. The main purpose is to confront western audiences with cultural expressions from far away countries and thus to enhance the understanding and the appreciation of these cultures.
The festival wants to present the film directors from the three continents as skilled world artists, to offer them a platform for their artistic expression and, in its own modest way, to contribute to the introduction and the promotion of films from Africa, Asia and Latin America in Belgian film distribution.

Categories: International Competition, Horizons (with films from Africa, Asia, Latin America, countries of the Near and Middle East and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Must be produced in 2008, and at least 52 minutes in length.

Formats: 35mm, 16mm, Beta SP

Awards: The Documentary Film Award (10,000 €), The Outstanding Documentary Film (EUR 2,500 €), The Horizons Award (3,000 €)

Fees: None

The International Munich Documentary Film Festival was founded in 1985 by the Munich documentary filmmakers association (AG Dok). The declared goal was to be a "festival of the festivals" for the Munich audience, with an emphasis on the promotion of creative documentary films, which at the time played only a marginal role in movie theatres in West-Germany.

Under Gudrun Geyer's influence and direction, a large, internationally recognized festival arose in the mid-nineties, comparable only to the festivals in Amsterdam, Nyon, Yamagata or Leipzig. Almost all internationally renowned documentary filmmakers have visited Munich in the past two decades. The retrospectives on Indian, Cuban, Russian and Arabian documentary cinema, as well as the tributes to Alexandr Sokurov, Louis Malle, Raymond Depardon, Jean Rouch, Robert Kramer, Molly Dineen, Nurith Aviv, Gisela Tuchtenhagen and Gudrun Geyers last retrospective in 2001 on "100 years of animal films" are legendary.

Modern DOK.FEST is a still primarily a festival for Munich cinema goers as well as for film professionals, and still conceived as a "best-of"-festival, presenting many of the highlights of the international documentary film production. Special attention is given to creative documentaries and personal filmmaking.

Launched in 1987, the Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) is an annual film event which screens about 300 films from over 45 countries. Besides screening award winning and critically acclaimed films, it also organize workshops, seminars and exhibitions on filmmaking for the film students and the film industry.

To encourage excellence amongst Asian filmmakers, the Festival introduced the Silver Screen Awards Competition in 1991. The Awards have become regionally recognized and Asian filmmakers vie to have their films entered in-competition to gain exposure in world markets.

SIFF is pleased to introduce the Singapore Film Awards, a new category under the Silver Screen Awards banner. The nominations for 2009 is open for all Singapore films made and screened within the period of January-December 2008. The Singapore Film Awards was created to recognise excellence in Singapore cinema and welcomes submissions from all Singaporefilms that are 60 minutes and above, and of all genres.

Categories: Competition, Out of Competition and Special Programmes, Features and documentaries, special focus on films coming from Central and Eastern Europe, Homage, Signature. Student Films … 

Formats: 35mm (features, minimum length of 80 minutes), 16mm, Beta SP, video (only documentaries and shorts)

Awards: Golden Lily International Jury Award (10,000 Euro), Documentary Award (10,000 Euro), Best Direction (7,500 Euro), Best Student Film Award, Audience Award

Fees: None

The goEast film festival, established in 2001, is organized by the Deutsches Filminstitut - DIF, and offers more than 150 films from Central and Eastern European countries every year during a week in April. The program includes not only the film presentations, but also a supporting program with special events, Symposium, podium discussions, readings ... The goEast film festival aims to initiate authentic cultural dialog and exchange – with the festival promoting communication between filmmakers and film-goers in general, with a Students’ Film Competition targeted specifically at communicative exchange between young directors from East and West.

Attendance figures continued to rise over the years, accompanied by increasing media coverage. goEast now plays host to some 150 guests annually, among them such renowned directors and stars as Krzysztof Zanussi, Jiří Menzel, István Szabó, Hanna Schygulla, Béla Tarr, Jerzy Stuhr, Kira Muratova ...

Categories: International and National short and full-length documentary films, documentary reporting (produced in 2008 and unreleased in Spain)

Formats: 35mm, 16mm, Beta SP

Awards: International Full-length Competition (10,000 €), Short Competition (5,000 €), National Competition (8,000 €), Reporting Competition (10,000 €), Filmotech.com Award

Fees: None

Documenta Madrid is an international film festival dedicated exclusively to documentary film. It was born for the purpose of strengthening and disseminating the documentary genre, in so far as it understood to be a reflection of the social, cultural, economic, artistic, environmental, and other realities that exist in the world. From the selection of films, which is done exclusively using qualitative criteria and respect for any and all critical viewpoints of our surroundings, Documenta seeks to provide an annual meeting place for professionals, creators, and the public for whom the work is aimed.

Documenta aspires to improve as a showcase for the best in international documentary film, one which brings us closer to both the classics as well as the latest offerings in the genre. For this reason, the festival dedicates its attention equally to three general blocks of activities: screenings (in both public and private screening rooms, and conserving the original language and formats), parallel activities (publications, exhibitions, presentations, gatherings, round tables, DVD releases, etc), and training activities (conferences, instructional classes, workshops, etc).

It is organized by the City of Madrid and is presently the city's most widely attended festival.

Deadline: December 31st 2008

Requirements:  for the Asian Short Film & Video Competition, short length of films & videos regardless of genre directed by one or more Asian women and completed after January 2005.
Awards: First prize and People’s Choice


Since its inception in 1997, the annual IWFFIS has showcased films made by and about women. The event has garnered wide-spread media coverage for being an important networking opportunity for women and one of the major international women's film festivals. In addition to feature-lenght films, the IWFFIS will hold a competition for the best Asian short films and videos fo the year.

Categories: Documentary, Fiction, Experimental, Music Videos.
Formats: Super 8
Awards: International Jury Prize, Best UK Film, Development Prize, Audience Prize
Fees: None

The Cambridge Super 8 Group is gearing up for the third Cambridge International Super 8 Festival. Last year, nearly 200 films were submitted to the festival. Next year's event is again expected to be very exciting with workshops, film screenings and networking sessions. The Cambridge International Super 8 Festival aims to be a networking festival for the Super 8 community and film lovers. It accepts only films originally shot on the Super 8 film format. An international panel of Super 8 artists will judge the competition, and prizes will be given to help the winning directors in their next Super 8 project.

The festival is also looking for amateur Super 8 Films shot in Cambridge in the 60s, 70s and 80s for a very special programme.

Categories: European competition, European Panorama, Night Sights, Specials, Tributes, Local Artists, feature-length (over 50min for documentary), Fiction, Documentary, Animation, Video (OK Artist in Residence)

Formats: 35mm, 16mm, Beta SP

Awards: European competition (10,000€), Local Artists, Ray Magazine Audience Award

Fees: None

The goal of Crossing Europe is to give various perspectives on contemporary European cinema. The programme focuses on innovative European films that reflect current political and social realities of Europe‘s changing societies. The festival wants to trace a cinema that speaks of regional peculiarities and the differing conditions for living on this continent. It aims to open up new cinematic territories, which are under-represented in everyday movie business.

According to Crossing Europe’s regulations a film is considered European, if either director or producer or the story are based in one of the states of the continent. An addition, the film should be made in the language of one of these regions.

Categories: Five Competitions, featuring some 140 new films and videos from all around the world competition; fiction, documentary, animation, experimental, video

Formats: 35mm, 16mm, digital

Awards: International Competition (7,500 €), ARTE Award for a European short film (2,500 €), German Competition (5,000 €), 3sat Promotional Award (2,500€)

Fees: None

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen is one of the oldest and most renowned film festivals in the world. Over the course of more than five decades, it has become one of the world's most respected film events - a place where filmmakers and artists such as Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Roman Polanski, Alexander Kluge and Werner Herzog, and more recently Ulrike Ottinger, Romuald Karmakar, Pipilotti Rist, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and François Ozon have presented their first films.

The Festival continues its tradition of launching up and coming filmmakers and setting trends - whether it's the early recognition of short videos, the support of music videos, the exploration of new digital formats or its openness for the interaction between art and the short form.

Due to its unconventional view of the short film, the Festival has always been successful in resisting being pinned down to a certain image. It has nevertheless managed to instigate various political and aesthetical developments, an example being the Oberhausener Manifest, perhaps the most important group document in the history of German film. Careful programming and a pioneering choice of subjects has helped the Festival to build up its exclusive position in an increasingly unpredictable market.

Categories: Feature (International Competition for best first or second film fiction or documentary), Shorts (competition, includes animation), Focuses, Observatory, Emerging Cinema, Selection of National Films (competition), IndieMusic, IndieJunior

Formats: 35mm, 16mm, video

Awards: Best Feature and Short Film Prize, FIPRESCI, Distribution Award

Fees: None

IndieLisboa has established itself as a platform for world independent cinema. The International Competition section is devoted to young filmmakers with one or two feature-length (either fiction or documentary) films under their belts, while the National Competition presents a selection of new Portuguese films. In addition to this, the festival showcases the most significant contemporary works in auteur cinema to its home audiences (Observatory, Laboratory, Director's Cut) and pays special focus to the work of "Independent Heroes".

IndieLisboa also exhibits a rich selection of shorts that compete for the International and National Award, presents a regular program on children's films (IndieJunior), and gives special attention to music documentaries (the annual IndieMusic section) as well.

Despite its young age (sixth edition in 2009), the festival has gained a reputation as the most important annual cinema event in Portugal. At the same time its international reputation has been built as an well-curated festival where less exposed films with fresh, sometimes quite radical ideas and intriguing personal styles are brought to consideration.

Categories: International Competition (Sweet, Salty, Sour, Bitter, Umami), Tributes and Master Classes, Special Presentations

Formats: 35mm only, maximum length of 15 minutes

Awards: Kodak Award

Fee: None

The Munich International Short Film Festival has announced the call for entries for next year’s edition, which takes place directly prior to the Munich Film Fest. Starting on June 18 through June 24, 2009, the festival will showcase the world’s best contemporary short films each night at the tradition-steeped Gloria Filmpalast in the heart of the Bavarian capitol.

Submissions are open to non-German language films of all genres (fiction, animation, documentary, experimental, music video or other) from any nation of the world. Films must not have been shown in Bavaria at a festival, in a theatre or on television before, and must not exceed a length of 15 minutes. All non-English films must have English subtitles. The festival only screens 35mm prints. The deadline for submissions is February 28, 2009, but filmmakers are kindly asked to send their films in as soon as possible. To submit a film, filmmakers can register at Reelport.com – after registering, they will be guided through the necessary steps, from the filling of simple data requests to the automatic upload of a video file. DVD preview copies must also be sent to the address mentioned on the Reelport website (http://www.reelport.com/index.php?id=537). Preview copies should not be sent directly to the festival.

The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) is a competitive event whose aim is to serve as a platform for international film exchange, promote better understanding between peoples and cultures, and encourage young filmmakers around the world.

Categories: Shorts, Features and Documentaries. Competition for Asian digital films
Requirements: entries should have been produced within the last 24 months
Fee: US$ 40 to 70

Except for the Hong Kong films, new films must not have been shown in Hong Kong prior to the Festival screenings.
English subtitles are required for non-English speaking films.