Scandanavian International Film Festival

I was able to chat to Ghatfan Ghanoom, the Director of the Scandanavian International Film Festival that will be hosting their first annual festival this year in Helsinki. Here's what he had to say:

Facebook - Scandinavian International FILM Festival

When we think of film festivals we mostly think of the big names like – Cannes, Tribeca or Sundance – while these are all great festivals we tend to forget about the lesser known ones. Some unknown festivals are paving the way forward for indie filmmakers and with new festivals coming up so often it’s good to know about them so that every filmmaker gets to attend and submit to have greater chances of having your film shown to wider audiences.
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​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.  

http://www.sciff.fi/

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!

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