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The festival will take place from the 26th of June to the 3rd of July 2011, in Espinho, Portugal and is organized by FEST-Associação Cultural, a registered NGO focused on audiovisual education and promotion.

FEST - International Film Festival, is now one of the most important cultural events in Portugal, and one of the biggest International film festivals when revealing new directors,

FEST is a film and an educational event divided in different activities and dimensions. This includes the official film competition, the academic experience of Training Ground and all the parallel activities associated with the event such as Open Air Cinema, Gala Dinners, Filmmakers Corner, and many others.

The official competition is focused on the work of filmmakers under the age of 30, making FEST a privileged space where audiences can have access to the future of film.

The films are selected without any discrimination regarding duration or genre.

The award categories are:
Best Short Fiction
Best Short Documentary
Best Short Animation
Best Short Experimental Work
Best Short Academic Work.
There is also a Special Prize destined to Portuguese productions.

CALL-FOR-ENTRY deadline: 2011/04/07
Free submission!
Visit our website for more information & application form.

Finally, the major competition is the Castelo de Prata (Silver Castle) award, dedicated exclusively to features from directors who are on their first or second long features. The selection process for this part of the competition is done by direct invitation of the programmers, made during international festivals around Europe. This section has brought to Portugal some of the best pieces produced in the last few years, promoting filmmakers that in a very short period of time have made their mark on the world stage, gaining major international awards in the process. The opening and closing galas are also a high point of the event, screening films that will bring something extra to the program.

Parallel to the festival we host one of the largest educational events of its kind. FEST - Training Ground consists of a series of lectures, master classes, workshops and debates where new and up and coming filmmakers from all over the world gather for one week to attend a unique training opportunity.

The program includes over 20 sessions lectured and organized by some of the film industry`s top experts. The program is designed to approach all the key issues of film making, from a theoretical and technical perspective. We cover themes such as scriptwriting, sound, editing, photography, acting, casting, actors direction, book adaptation, lighting, filmmaking with low resources, pitching ideas, funding, distribution, production, among many other subjects. Alongside these areas we also include a series of debates on the impact of film in everyday society. These classes are open to everyone, from film students, to professionals or mere film enthusiasts.

In the past we have had many prestigious lectures such as Larry Smith (Eyes wide Shut`s director of photography), Tom Stern ( cinematographer of American Beauty and Gran Torino), Alex Rodriguez (Editor of Children of Men and Y Tu mama Tambien), Hervé Schneid (editor of Amelie and Alien:Resurection), Nancy Bishop (Casting director of Hanibal Rising and The Ilusionist), the 3 times Oscar winner David Macmillan (Sound expert on Twilight and Natural Born Killers), Christian Frei (famous documentarist and director of The War Photographer), Antonio Pedro Vasconcelos (Portuguese director of Call Girl) among many others. For 2011 we are aiming not only at maintain this high level of guest but actually take it up to the next level, bringing even more experienced professionals to Training Ground.

Altogether the festival has an unquestionable thirst for new visions and perspectives of cinema, concentrating on the creators of tomorrow, with an important direct connection with the past. Exploiting this approach FEST is not only a launch board for new filmmakers but also to new audiences.

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