⁣⁣⁣The Chicago film industry was a central hub for motion picture production and exhibition before Hollywood became the undisputed capital of filmmaking. In the early 1900s, Chicago boasted the most significant number of production companies and filmmakers. This situation was partially preserved until 1920, when the Chicago film industry met decline for a combination of reasons, including the impact of the Great Depression. Not until the 1980s and early 21st century has Chicago experienced a film production revival. Movie production again entered Chicago in the 1980s, with the state of Illinois becoming a leader in money spent on film production. Blockbusters, such as Blues Brothers, Sixteen Candles, and The Dark Knight, have rejuvenated the Chicago film scene.
Inspired by this tradition, the mission of the Chicago Filmmaker Awards, aka Cifawards, is to recognize and reward independent filmmakers that are currently missing in mainstream Hollywood. Whether your talent is in front of the camera or behind it, we have a category for you. We are waiting to watch your films.
We are interested in professionally made independent works. Submissions are open for shorts, feature narratives, documentaries and animation, and even experimental films and music videos.
This will be a seasonal Awards event with yearly live screening. Each season, we will select the best-known movies and promote the winners through social media and the official website. Few of the winners of each season will be selected for our online event.

⁣⁣Palm Springs Shorts is a bi-monthly online awards event. The festival will welcome any independent project from all genres. The Festival is looking for independent projects from all genres, particularly low or no-budget ones and all countries. The selection process has two parts. First, the submitted projects are judged through private screenings by our internal programming team, and they will select the Finalist films of each edition. Then the Festival's jurors, who are a random team of invited experts mainly from the film industry, will privately review the films and award the best projects. All of the winners will receive the official laurel and an achievement certificate and can request an online screening. Winner's announcements will be released through our social media to help promote the films.

⁣New York International Women Festival is a seasonal competitive Festival dedicated to Film style, and female gaze in cinema.
First of all, it a festival that valorizes the work of women filmmakers. We are looking for a unique and innovative perspective from female filmmakers to introduce them and promote them. We also accept projects directed by non-female directors who have something important to say about womanhood.
Secondly, it is a festival to valorize the style and fashion in a film. Regardless of filmmaker gender, we aim to focus on the stylistic features of cinema to see what elements have made a film significant, to see how camera movements or set designs have been able to create a unique environment for the movie to be set in and to see how make-up artists, production designers and costume designers have been able to add their unique vision to these works of art. If you think you have a film with good taste, this is your festival and don't hesitate to submit your work.
The festival has a seasonal structure. First, the judges will privately review the submitted materials, and subsequently, they will announce the winners. The winner's projects will then be introduced to our social media.

⁣⁣Brussels World Film Festival is a seasonal GOLD FilmFreeway competition to be celebrated at the Brussels city.
We are committed to promote new filmmakers projects and showcase their films to international audiences. Our mission is to screen independent films of all genres from all around the world.

⁣⁣The Chicago film industry was a central hub for motion picture production and exhibition before Hollywood became the undisputed capital of filmmaking. In the early 1900s, Chicago boasted the most significant number of production companies and filmmakers. This situation was partially preserved until 1920, when the Chicago film industry met decline for a combination of reasons, including the impact of the Great Depression. Not until the 1980s and early 21st century has Chicago experienced a film production revival. Movie production again entered Chicago in the 1980s, with the state of Illinois becoming a leader in money spent on film production. Blockbusters, such as Blues Brothers, Sixteen Candles, and The Dark Knight, have rejuvenated the Chicago film scene.
Inspired by this tradition, the mission of the Chicago Filmmaker Awards, aka Cifawards, is to recognize and reward independent filmmakers that are currently missing in mainstream Hollywood. Whether your talent is in front of the camera or behind it, we have a category for you. We are waiting to watch your films.
We are interested in professionally made independent works. Submissions are open for shorts, feature narratives, documentaries and animation, and even experimental films and music videos.
This will be a seasonal Awards event with yearly live screening. Each season, we will select the best-known movies and promote the winners through social media and the official website. Few of the winners of each season will be selected for our online event.

⁣We are a dedicated team of filmmakers and cinephiles wishing to create a forum for quality short-length cinematic works from all around the world.
On the one hand, short-form filmmaking is an often sidelined art form. Delivering concise and meaningful storytelling in a small package requires creativity and determination. On the other hand , independent is the key word for the festvial as it is founded by independent film professionals and focuses on independent artists in cinema, from all over the world. The festvial aims at recognizing, showcasing and spreading-out the most professional, most innovative, and most interesting fresh short international films, while always prioritizing independent short films.
These are also our guiding principles. We wish to celebrate creativity and determination in short-length filmmaking. So send us your ambitious and original short projects and let us help you reach an even wider audience.
The festvial is a seasonal competition. All the seasonal award winners can be further selected for the annual online festvial. The winners of each year can also request for promotion and screening of films.
Films do not have to screen in our seasonal edition for the public and are screened privately through programmers and members of the jury who will select the best of each category every season. This allows the filmmakers to compete without losing their premier status in other festivals. However, all the official selections have the option to promote and screen films through our Channel.

⁣⁣Dubai Indie Film Festival is an online based bi-monthly festival. DIFF is looking for independent projects from all genres, particularly low or no-budget ones, as well as from all countries, especially from those traditionally underrepresented in the global film industry. The submitted projects are judged through private screenings by a random team of invited experts from academia and film industry from the region. From the pool of official selection, which has a very competitive acceptance rate, DIFF chose the nominees and award winners of the edition.

⁣Madrid Arthouse film festival is an IMDb qualified bi-monthly online festival based in Madrid. The festival aims to provide a platform for short and long feature filmmakers to be seen and heard as best as possible.
The festival is very competitive: Each season, our jury selects each category's winners through private screenings (there will be no physical screening). The winners of each month may be then considered for the yearly online competition. If this happens, they will be shown and compete with other films-winners at the annual online event.

⁣Tokyo shorts is an online award-based monthly festival. The mission of the festival is to bring international independent short film to the widest possible audience in Japan and beyond. The Festival aims to provide a cultural alternative to the commercial film experience, to support independent filmmakers, and promote the art of filmmaking and its related disciplines. The Tokyo Shorts was established to utilise the power of film to further the goal of inter-cultural understanding among nations and to assist in the building of a shared artistic experience. During each edition, our jury selects the winners of each category through private screenings. The winners of each edition may be then considered for the yearly online screening. If this happens, they will be shown online and compete with other films-winners at the yearly event.

⁣The IMDb qualified festvial of San Francisco Indie Short Festival is happy to welcome filmmakers from all over the world and short films of all genres. Our main goal is to showcase their brilliant projects in the beautiful city of San Francisco for a diverse audience of cinephiles. It is a world-class event committed to present the best of this beautiful art called 'Cinema' and dedicated to all generations of filmmakers. The festival has a monthly and yearly structure. First of all, through "private" screenings, a team of professional screeners will evaluate all the submitted short films during each month. All the highest scored films will be reviewed by at least three judges who will decide through "private" screenings the best of each season. All the seasonal winners will receive the Official Laurels and the winning-category certificate for each season. We will announce the winners of each month through our social media. In the second stage, we will hold an annual event. Here, the internal committee selects the candidates for the yearly event from each month's winners. The selected films will compete for the annual awards.