In the current fragility of our realities, where we are surrounded by contradiction, social and economic instability, continuous displacement, the need to see and understand the multifaceted ways in which the human condition is manifested, is mandatory. Within this framework, the 14th edition of Ethnofest returns the coming winter to provide once more a platform of visibility and representation as well as a medium for connection and expression.
The 14th edition of Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival will take place from the 30th of November to the 10th of December 2023.
The Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival, held annually each November, is an international film festival showcasing humane and insightful socially minded documentary films from around the globe. Alongside the main programme (Student Films, Panorama, Filmic Experiments), the festival includes special screenings, thematic sections, retrospectives, and has a particular interest for films that employ an ethnographic approach and sensibility.
The festival, which was established in 2010 and has grown to be one of the most important and original film festivals in Europe, constitutes a significant international meeting place for documentary and ethnographic filmmakers. Each year, through numerous timely and lively parallel events, such as seminars, workshops, masterclasses, Q&A’s and exhibitions, the festival constitutes a major intervention in the city’s cultural and social life, as well as contributes to international contemporary debates about the present and future of documentary film.
Eligible are films completed as of 2021 and the festival accepts submissions in one of the four open sections:
Panorama
Films that widen our perspectives and challenge our certainties about the lived social realities across the planet. In this section we invite, explore and showcase the forefront in socially-minded documentary filmmaking from around the world, created by established filmmakers as well as by outstanding and engaged newcomers.
Filmic Experiments in Ethnography
Daring films that experiment with the cinematic medium and narrative techniques within the practice of documentary and ethnographic filmmaking. This section showcases the avant-garde of experimental documentary, hosting films that often have the dynamic to both create stunning visual and sensorial experiences and to provide novel pathways to seeing and understanding social realities.
Initiations: International Student films
Student documentary films can be innovative, daring and uncompromising. In this section we showcase a selection of the finest documentary films focusing on social issues that are made in the context of educational programmes across the globe. We have an outlook for films made at social sciences departments (such as visual anthropology and visual sociology), but we are also keen to screen films from other film and media departments that employ an ethnographic approach and sensibility.
Initiations: Greek Student films
In recent years in Greece there is a significant increase in the production of student documentaries that explore lived social realities. This section showcases the latest outstanding student documentary films that are produced at various film, media and social sciences departments in Greece – always with an outlook for ethnographic perspectives and socially minded documentaries.
The submission deadline is May 31st, 2023 (early bird) and 31st of July (regular deadline). Submit your film at: Film Free Way