​Firstly congratulations on the film festival, as a first time film festival what are you expecting to achieve and showcase? 
 
Ghatfan: We – as a festival organization – aim to arrange the opportunity for independent filmmakers to express their viewpoints about special cases in the world. Nowadays we are facing a lot of changes in our societies. Crises have set a lot of challenges even about clear issues such as democracy and equality. We want to remind the audience – through cinema- that the world still needs a lot of love, care and civilization to face the crises and to defend the social values. 

​Your objectives are to highlight Racism, Radicalism and Human crises - is this to be the theme for this year and years to come and why has this been chosen? 
 
Ghatfan: For this year these are the main themes, we will observe the world situation to choose the right cases to be focus on. We do not close the festival only for these cases; all human cinematic works are welcome for submission also. We are looking for unique human projects to be screened, something that spreads love and creativity.

​As a filmmaker yourself how do you hope to see the film industry grow? Any advice for African filmmakers? 
 
Ghatfan: For me I see that the independent cinema will have a huge opportunity in the future, especially when now days the technology is easy and somehow affordable. Many will find cinema as a door for expression and creativity. My advice for African filmmakers is to highlight cases that are deeply close to the African society. That will give the world a unique opportunity to see closed and special cases in the African society through African cinema.  

Submissions to the festival can be done via FilmFreeway, DVD or online. Films should have been completed between 2012 and 2016 and can be of any genre. English subtitles are required for films that use any language other than English. Submission fees range from 25 € to 35 € depending on whether you are submitting a short or feature length film. For more in-depth information please visit their website at http://www.sciff.fi/ and also keep checking their Facebook page for updates - Scandinavian International FILM Festival.
 
As an upcoming filmmaker I truly appreciate the opportunities that film festivals present us with and have made it a goal to take advantage of it. It gives us the chance to meet filmmakers and fellow creatives from every part of the globe, expand our visions and develop new and innovative stories.
 
Be sure to get your films in by 01/08/2016!

If you’re trying to get to grips with writing a short film here are a few tips that can help you with your struggles.

• It has to be less than 40 minutes to be considered a short film

This can vary as some film festivals consider a short under 60 minutes but the general rule of thumb is 40 minutes. There are plenty of competitions and festivals dedicated to the short and even ones that are specific about their duration, take Filminute for example, it runs a competition for films that are a minute long.

• Have very few characters and locations
  

If you’re working on your first short it would probably be advisable to keep your characters to less than five. This gives you the chance to narrow your story down and have character driven stories. Writing a short film means you will need to get to the story sooner and introduce your characters in a short space of time. Locations are also best kept to a minimum as with most short films there comes a finance constraint so moving your crew and cast takes time and could cost you an extra day of shooting which your producer may not be happy with.

• Less dialogue

When writing you feel compelled to spell everything out to your audience but you should never underestimate a viewer. Your characters don’t need to voice out whatever can be shown in a visual, film is after all a visual medium and we did start out with just silent films. So the rule should be, don’t tell what can be seen.

• Keep it simple

Because of the duration of your film being much shorter than a feature length you will want your story to be clear and simple. Yes you can add conflict but they are less convoluted. The shorter your film the better it is to stick to a clear plot. It may help to have a single theme or subject and stick to that in order to ensure clarity, not just to you as a writer but also to the audience who will eventually be watching your story play out in a film.

• Last but not least, be passionate
  

Passion for what you are writing cannot be valued enough. It would be recommended to start with something you love and are familiar with. That being said, don’t be afraid to go into uncharted territory, it will require you to research and get to know the subject better but its something you are passionate about and that’s what matters most. Love what you are writing, love even the bad guys you write about.