The Kyiv International Short Film Festival was officially founded in 2011 and the first edition took place from April 20 to 22, 2012. The festival has been held every year since its inception despite financial and other problems. It is an independent, non-governmental, non-commercial and non-political organization whose main goal is to promote short films in Ukraine and to facilitate the integration of Ukrainian cinema into the international context.
Over the years, the Kyiv International Short Film Festival has become a major national and international platform for short films which facilitates the discovery and development of new forms and methods of filmmaking. The festival is designed for established film industry professionals, emerging filmmakers and cinema lovers. For established filmmakers, it’s a place where they can exchange ideas, find inspiration and meet their colleagues from different countries. Up-and-coming filmmakers come to Kyiv to present their work and learn from more experienced film directors. Finally, cinema goers get a chance to see the best short films from different countries.
As we’ve already mentioned, the main goal of the festival is to promote short films. Other tasks of the KYSFF are to discover new talents as well as to encourage innovation and creativity, showcase the latest works of talented filmmakers, promote quality and aesthetics in filmmaking, and integrate the most promising Ukrainian filmmakers and their short films into the world film festival community.
The program of the Kyiv International Short Film Festival includes an international short film competition, thematic non-competitive screenings and retrospectives, lectures, workshops and masterclasses, meetings and discussions, artistic projects, and more. The competitions is open to short films of all genres no longer than 30 minutes. The winners are determined by a professional jury that presents awards to the best film and best director as well as a number of special awards. There’s also an Audience Choice Award.
Photo: kisff.org
