WHO WE ARE

The Short Encounters International Film Festival (SEIFF) is an awarding body dedicated to groundbreaking, independent cinema, from all around the world. SEIFF opens its doors to the future of cinema by welcoming emerging filmmakers, actors, cinematographers, editors and producers to present their films and to be recognized for their talent, their unique vision and have their films seen globally.
We seek new voices that transcend stereotypes and norms, suggesting new meanings about our world and its era. We seek authenticity; short films with great stories and strong characters, creators honest and sincere to their art, that move beyond the slippery slope of self-display, breaking the safety boundaries of conventional methods, and through their work can evoke universals.
As the film production has moved beyond the control of the studio system and indie cinema can work outside the mainstream, a new age has emerged for indie filmmakers, that leaves room for experimentation, artistic growth, and for gaining the necessary confidence to take it to the next level; to make a feature. I feel you’ll agree with me when I'm saying that for the majority of short film creators, a short film is considered a stepping stone to making a feature film. But, in order to do that, your work needs help to reach the right audience, be recognized and celebrated for its value. Our AIM is to do all in our power to get your work seen and your talent appreciated because we know, as well as you do, that “getting your work seen is the precursor to getting your abilities valued” (M. Rabiger).
We are not impressed with technological competency but with aesthetic essence. We are impressed with meaning. Technical evolution did not make us more talented. It just opened a door to talent. The access to state of the art hardware or the mastery of it did not make us inspiring and “cool” directors. It just made it easier for us. I mean, let's face it. Learning Spanish however fluently, will not grant you the ability to write “One Hundred Years of Solitude”.
As Scorsese tells us “the key thing is that the technology does not dictate the Art; the Art dictates the technology. The Art comes first”. In Short Encounters IFF, WE LOOK FOR ART.
All films competing should have the opportunity to participate with other independent movies and with world-class talents in an equal competition, regardless of budget constraints. Therefore, we don’t let production limitations overshadow your creativity and originality. Our goal is to be a platform for valuable, clever and unique independent films that tend to create unique narratives and explore social, political and/or psychological themes and topics. Unfortunately, there are cases that production weak spots cannot be overlooked. And while some works exceed in dramatic depth and resourcefulness, nevertheless they fail to produce a convincing and completed result. In order to honour these works, we introduce the Short Encounters Award. This is a seperate from the main categories award, given to shorts produced on a no/low budget and/or minimal crew, aiming to reward the merits of what could otherwise be fabulous projects, but due to a reduced overall production design they lack in authenticity, cohesiveness etc. An Award that aims to reward potential!
(More information regarding the SE Award can be found on the “HOW IT WORKS” section).
We are not here to state that our festival is better than any other.
There are a lot of wonderful festivals out there, with huge respect for creators and their works, worthy of the submission fee.
We say that we are one of them and that we are here to write our own wonderful history.
If you want to be part of this history feel free to join our journey!