Tirana International Film Festival

GENERAL INFORMATION

TIRANA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is the first international film festival created in 2003 as one of the most important cinematic events in Europe.

We are thrilled and honored to be approved as an official Academy Awards® and European Film Awards qualifying festival, it’s truly a tremendous opportunity for our filmmakers and future Best Short Film Award winners also for Student Academy Awards (SAA).

TIFF aims to create in Albania, as well as in the region, a cultural center of worldwide alternative and independent cinema. Albania is a solar, enthusiastic and friendly country and besides the “strong competition” TIFF aims at the same time to be a meeting point of cultures, where people of Tirana, the guests and all those who love films will have a cinema-language-communication week.

TIFF aims to create a friendly space for film artists and cinema enthusiasts from Albania, Europe and the entire world to come together and share their linked passion and knowledge of the motion picture art form. The intention of TIFF is to bring filmmakers, producers and distributors from all around the world to Tirana, in hopes of fostering future co-operation in this interesting scenic area.  By bringing together these distinct voices and their work, TIFF commits itself to introducing audiences to alternative visions of extraordinary diversity.  “Think Different, Watch Alike” is the slogan and motto of TIFF.

TIFF aims to demonstrate strong efficiency in audience development (especially toward young audience) by implementing activities before, during and after the event, including year-long activities and traveling to other cities with various smaller partner and smaller festivals in the country. Partnering with small organizations and youth centers around the country in order to use the existing facilities in each city will not only give to TIFF a large national impact, but will enhance on the other side the increase of values of small events in each respective city in which TIFF will be present.

The festival gets thousands of submissions a year from over 120 countries around the world that of submitted online through online platforms, which are then considered for selection. TIFF is an international cinema event whose main objective is to enlarge the number of venues and time of screening of European and non-European films of all genres and durations in Albania as well as it is considered to be an event to develop new audiences around the country, combining film screenings with public debates and thematic debates approaching new and an increased Film Audience and focusing also on Film Literacy.

The daily program of TIFF combines more than 200 premieres of feature and short films in competition in all formats and genres: fiction, documentary, animation, experimental and video art.  Open to any filmmaker from around the world, TIFF showcases new cinematic work by established directors with international reputations as well as movies by talented students and young artists.

COMPETITION PROGRAM

1. FULL LENGTH FILMS

• Feature films
• PerspecTIFF (debut feature films)
• Documentary
• Made In ALBANIAn

2. SHORT FILMS

• Fiction/Live Action (Oscar® & European Film Awards qualifying)
• Animation             (Oscar® & European Film Awards qualifying)
• Documentary (European Film Awards qualifying)
• Video Art & Experimental (European Film Awards qualifying)
• Student films (all genres) (Academy Awards® qualifying)
• Balkan Films (all genres)
• In Albanian (all genres)

3. PANORAMA has some thematic sections dedicated to the most sensitive social topics and problematic social groups as for children, women, immigration, integration of persons with disabilities, LGBT, etc. with those sections:

• KIDs
• GENERATIONs
• NEW WORLD
• DIVERGENT MINDS
• PARADE

4. SCREENPLAY ContesTIFF

Consists in the application of original live-action and animated short film scripts and other short form scripts of all genres (max. 20 pages).

The said competition did not aim to evaluate only the best script, but to evaluate from our partners, producers and distributors, the best and possible script to be produced by them and with the greatest chances to be successfully distributed in the most popular international festivals for short films.

SPECIAL PROGRAM & SCREENINGS

Besides the competition program TIFF reserves a large space to the special programs and screenings.

1. FOCUS is a special program, which is based on tribute or homage to the cinema author and/or the filmography of a given country.
2. RetrospecTIFF and TIFF Classics brings to the new audience the most prominent national or international authors of the film history.
3. PICTURE YOUR LIFE, CREATE THE FUTURE
   TIFF will continue to have a large space to the special program KIDs, an exclusive program for children from 5-15 age average. This initiative comes as a long-term investment to raise and educate future cinematic audiences with artistic films through acquired projects in Creative Europe for the distribution and promotion of European films.
4. REFLECTING ALBANIA is the oldest program of the festival, dedicated to the foreign filmmakers who have produced their films in Albania or in Albanian speaking territory.
5. Oscar® Nominated Short Films & European Film Awards Shorts Tour
6. FesTIFFal is a special program with selected films by festival partners.

NEW FEATURES – PARALLEL SCREENINGS

TIRANA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL has the pleasure to announce four major services available for the applicants. Since its inception in 2003, TIFF received over 40,000 short and feature films from over 120 countries around the world. Out of all these applications more than 200 films can be chosen each year for the competition program. With these four new services, TIFF offers the opportunity to many films to be shown in alternative ways (TV, online, market, special programs) in a wider audience and experts.

The applicants must optionally apply clearly for each one of these new services.

• TV Competition

With our media TV partners we offer the possibility to directors screening their films (selected for the official competitive program or not) to the Albanian audience and win the TV juries and audience awards.

• TIFF on Tour

TIFF will act as ambassador for the submitted films and will travel with a selection to other Albanian cities during the year. TIFF will also propose special screenings to other regional festivals in accordance to a specific subject or theme of each collaborative festival.

• TIFF Online Library

TIFF offer the online presentation of each film, in a dedicated page, as a part of a film library, with all related information and with the possibility to receive comments from the international internet audience and industry.  The screening of films is open to anyone without charges. The films will be available for viewing in the film library as long as director/producer wishes.

• TIFF Market Corner

TIFF will create a market corner, where potential buyers can watch all films and make their selection. TIFF will also act as a festival promoter and distributor. In case of financial contract with a distributor, TIFF will receive a fee of 5%.

JURY | AWARDS

On the occasion of this 21st edition of TIFF, five international juries comprised of leading film writers, directors, producers, distributors and critics will evaluate and then select the best films and scripts with awards presented on the closing night ceremony.

Awards will be presented in the following categories:

• FULL LENGTH FILMS

Best Feature Film
Best PerspecTIFF
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Documentary
Best Made In ALBANIAn

• SHORT FILMS

Best Short Film – Nominee for 96th Academy Awards® & European Film Awards 2023
Best Short LIVE ACTION
Best Short ANIMATION
Best Short DOCUMENTARY
Best VIDEO ART & EXPERIMENTAL

• STUDENT FILMS

Best Student FICTION
Best Student ANIMATION
Best Student DOCUMENTARY
Best Student EXPERIMENTAL

• Best BALKAN Film
• Best Short Film In ALBANIAn
• Best DEBUT Film “Ron Holloway”
• Best Screenplay ContesTIFF – Distribution Awards

• PANORAMA

Best KIDs
Best GENERATIONs
Best NEW WORLD
Best DIVERGENT MINDs
Best PARADE

• AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD
• KIDs AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD

Official awards consist of an Owl Trophy statue or Plaque Trophy and a Certificate. The cash prize is determined by the available budget. Special awards can be given by organizers, Festival director, sponsors and partners, professional organizations, NGOs, media, etc.

 Recipients of the Tirana International Film Festival Best Short Film will be eligible for consideration in the Animated Short Film/ Live Action Short Film category of the Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy Rules.

Eligible students can submit one film to the Student Academy Awards if that film meets all other eligibility criteria and has been selected for screening in competition at three film festivals recognized by the SAAs over the last two years.