International Student Competition 2021

44th Drama International Short Film Festival

After a very successful introduction year at the 43rd Drama International Short Film Festival, the Student Int’l Competition comes back even stronger! We are very happy, as the clear goal of focusing on cinematic quality and treating the student film as a respectable piece of artistic work was recognized with the reception of 2000+ submissions (from 700 submissions in 2020) of student films from all over the world, making our job pleasantly difficult.

From them, emerged a tight, high quality program, for which we are extremely proud of! We count 22 films, from 17 counties and 21 schools, directed by 13 female and 11 male filmmakers. 3 Greek shorts have been selected for competition. Out of this program, 8 films will be screened as a World-International Premiere. Among them we find also films that have already had an important festival circuit (Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, etc.)

A very interesting point for us was that due to the young age of the participants, we got the chance to see a very original and innovative approach to issues that concern film production internationally (the position of women, diversity, etc.) through films of all genres (fiction, animation, documentary, experimental).

Finally, we noticed an important increase of remarkable films of Asian Cinema, also those signed by women directors and finally in confessional-films that narrate the personal stories of their creators. We are looking forward to watching together the beautiful and special films of our program at the “Olympia” cinema in Drama on September 15th, 16th & 17th, but also digitally through our platform of 44th Drama International Short Film Festival!

Thanasis Neofotistos
Head Programmer of Student Int’l Competition

The Jury consists of:

Nazli Elif Durlu 
Director, Turkey

Kyveli Short
Producer, Greece

Thodoris Dimitropoulos
Film Critic, Greece

  1. A Matter of Time by Yang- Liu – U.S.A. (Emerson College)
  2. Amayi by Subarna Das – India (Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute)
  3. Ante Nte by Ariadni Aggeliki Thyfronitou Litou – Greece (School of Film, Fine Arts, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
  4. Don’t Forget to Smile by Cai Ning – Portugal (DocNomads, LUCA & SZFE)
  5. Elevator Alone by Anastasia Papadopoulou – Greece (University of West Attica)
  6. FILIPIÑANA by Rafael Manuel – Philippines (London Film School NFTS)
  7. Heading South by Yuan Yuan – U.S.A. – NYU (Tisch School of the arts)
  8. Holding on to Water by Kiubon Kokko – U.S.A (Claremont McKenna College)
  9. Junko by Minsho Limbu – Nepal (Everest Film Academy)
  10. Maya by Martina Pavliková – Czech Republic (Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague)
  11. Mom’s Hair – Alexey Evstigne – Russian Federation (Russian State University of Cinematography)
  12. Moon Tides by Assil Khalife – Lebanon (Notre Dame University Louaize)
  13. Olote by Charles Lau – Mexico (Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, A.C.)
  14. One thousand and one attempts to be an Ocean by Wang Yuyan – France (Le Fresnoy film school)
  15. Saint Android by Lukas von Berg – Germany (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg)
  16. Solution for Sadness by Marc Martínez Jordán & Tuixén Benet – Spain (Calarts)
  17. Spirits and Rocks: an Azorean Myth by Aylin Gökmen – Switzerland (DocNomads)
  18. The New World: Variations on Stay-home Activities by Hong Ning & Zhao Xiaofeng – China (Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics)
  19. The Rooftop by Po-Cheng Teng – Taiwan (National Taiwan University of Arts)
  20. TolisLive or (Toronto) by Alexandros Rellos – Greece (School of Film, Fine Arts, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
  21. Vadiyar by Marjan Khosrav – Iran (Elmofarhang Tehran University)
  22. Versailles by Hyun Lories – Belgium (Rits School of arts)
International Student Competition

For the promotion of short films and the development of a spirit of friendship and co-operation among filmmakers from all over the world, the 44th Drama International Short film festival: International Student Competition (DISFF) will held from the 12th to the 18th of September 2021, in the city of Drama, in the district of Macedonia, Northern Greece.

Rules and Regulations

  • a) Eligible are training & graduation Fiction, Documentary, Experimental and Animation Short Films completed from 2020 & 2021.
  • b) Each institution may submit a maximum of 70 minutes of footage. Individual submissions can also be accepted this year.
  • c) Each film must not exceed 20 minutes of runtime. DISFF reserves the right to accept longer films in exceptional cases.
  • d) Only one (1) film per director is accepted.
  • e) Only Greek Premieres are accepted.
  • f) Production must have been completed after January 01, 2020.
  • g) The final screening file must be available in DCP, Apple ProRes 422, h264 or MPEG4.
  • h) The film must have English subtitles.

a) The film should be submitted via https://filmfreeway.com/Dramafilmfestival
b) Submissions are free for Student Short Films.
c) Necessary Material of the submission:

  • The entry form duly filled.
  • A preview screener uploaded through FilmFreeway’s online submission.
  • One HD photo-still of the film.
  • Optional: a Synopsis, Photo of Director, Credits.

d) Deadline of submission is the 15th June 2021.
e) The submission of the film implies unconditional acceptance of the full festival’s regulations.
f) The DISFF reserves the right to invite short films out of the above procedure in special cases.
g) As the Greek Premiere is required, no public screening in cinema, festival, TV Channel, or online public platforms in Greece is allowed before the end of the festival.
h) The film screener that will be submitted to the DISFF along with the entry form will remain with the archives of the Festival and will be available in its Market.

Prizes are awarded to promote young talent. International festival jury consists of at least 3 members and will decide on the prizes to be awarded:

  • GRAND PRIX STUDENT: “Almost Famous”
  • SPECIAL JURY AWARD: “Rising Star”
  • SPECIAL AWARD FOR THE BEST NEWCOMER DIRECTOR: “Dinos Katsouridis”.
  • AUDIENCE AWARD

a) The Jury may also award other honorary distinctions for specific artistic achievements.
b) Each prize is awarded to a single film and cannot be awarded ex aequo.

ai) The deadline for the shipment of the selected screening copies is the 20st of August 2021.
aii) The deadline for the shipment of the English Dialogue list and Catalogue materials (Stills, Posters, Trailer, etc.) is the 5th of July 2021.
b) A screening copy, subtitled in English, in one of the following accepted formats:
DCP, Apple ProRes 422, h264 or MPEG4.
c) A technical data sheet with all the necessary projection info.
d) Any film that will not meet this deadline will be excluded from the competition. Only high quality standard prints will be accepted.
e) The screening copies of the selected films should be sent digitally to the email: info@dramafilmfestival.gr

a) The Artistic Director of DISFF reserves the right to compile the Festival’s program and implement changes wherever necessary.
b) The submitter is responsible for clearing rights and permissions concerning each submission. The festival holds no liability.
c) The pre-selection of the films is made by a group of experts on cinema and the arts who are suggested to the Administrative Board by the Artistic Director, who also supervises their work.
d) The Final selection, programming and any change in them is proposed by the Artistic Director.
e) The film screener remains with the Festival’s Film Market.
f) The Festival reserves the right to digitize the submitted films for the needs of the Film Market and its Archive.
g) Film excerpts that might be broadcast on television or the internet should not exceed the duration of 3 minutes or 10% of the total running time of the film.
h) The Festival reserves the right to publish film information, including the contact info of the director and the producer.
i) Hospitality: The festival aims to invite one director or representative of each film in competition. Hotel accommodation and daily meals are provided. These provisions are subject to change without prior notice, due to budget controls. Personalized information will be provided upon selection.
j) Transportation costs for preview material and prints submitted to the competition program shall be covered by the applicant. The Festival will undertake the costs of returning and securing the films as long as they are in the possession of the Festival.
k) In case of loss or damage under the Festival’s liability, the Festival undertakes the cost of making a new copy of that film.
l) Films that have participated and/or rejected by the Committee before, may not be submitted again.
m) Any dispute concerning the present regulations will be judged and settled by the President of the Festival.
n) Any legal disputes can only be settled by the local Legal Courts of Drama.
o) The languages of the festival are English and Greek.
p) *”Greek Premiere” means: prior public performance, screening, internet, broadcasting or rebroadcasting of works-films to the public by radio and television by any means to the public in Greece or on-demand access in any way before or during the days of the Festival is not allowed. The presentation of the film shall be deemed to be public when the film becomes accessible to a circle of persons wider than the narrow circle of the family and the immediate social circle of the author, regardless of whether the persons of this wider circle are at the same or at different locations.

Download here in PDF the full text of the regulations and the terms of participation for the International Student Competition program of the 44th International Drama Short Film Festival – 2021. Click on the icon.