1)    The St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival – Canada (October)

Founded in 1989, SJIWFF is an independent, world-renowned film festival in St. John’s, Newfoundland and one of the longest-running women’s film festivals in the world. SJIWFF is screening women-directed, written or produced features, shorts, docs, and everything in between. The 23rd Annual Festival runs October 16-20, 2012.

In addition to their annual film festival, SJIWFF hosts a cross-province tour of the best films of the festival, called Film On The Go, each summer. They also organize intensive filmmaking camps, called the FRAMED Film Education Series, which provide high school and post-secondary students with high-quality, hands-on filmmaking training. For more information read their unofficial blog at www.signalblog.ca

Website: www.womensfilmfestival.com
Email: info@womensfilmfestival.com
SJIWFF Facebook
SJIWFF Twitter

2)  UnderWire Film Festival – UK  (November)

UnderWire was founded in 2010 with the belief that women working in the UK film industry needed more encouragement and a bigger platform for their work. The fact remains that women still make up a small proportion of film creatives, and UnderWire looks to recognise the best short work made by women across a range of crafts – from director to cinematographer; screenwriter to editor. UnderWire believes that a more gender balanced industry will benefit everyone by creating a diversity of perspectives, stories and experiences for audiences.

The festival usually takes places between 20-24 of  November and in 2012  Underwire Networking events will be held throughout the UK.

Website: www.underwirefestival.com
Email: underwire@underwirefestival.com
UnderWire Facebook
UnderWire Twitter

3)    Birds Eye View Film Festival – UK 

No longer running but they still run their social media.

Website: www.birds-eye-view.co.uk
Email: mail@birds-eye-view.co.uk
Birds Eye View Facebook
Birds Eye View Twitter

4)    World of Women (WOW) Film Festival – Australia (March)

Presented by Women in Film and Television NSW ( WIFT NSW ), WOW takes place in Sydney, between 6-16 of March. It is a short film festival that promotes and awards the talents of women directors, producers, writers, editors and cinematographers in the Australian film industry and internationally.
Women in Film and Television NSW ( WIFT NSW ) is committed to improving the status of women, both on and off the screen, by supporting and advancing women working in the film, television and related screen industries, offering emerging and established filmmakers the opportunity to screen short works giving a thematic perspective of … “seeing the world through the eyes of women”.

Website:www.wift.org/wow/index.htm
Email: info@nsw.wift.org.au or wowfilmfestival@wiftnsw.org.au
WOW Facebook
WOW Twitter

5)  Tricky Women International Festival of Animated Film –  Austria (March)

Tricky Women is the first and only international festival of animated film that is dedicated exclusively to animation by women. Since 2001 it has been held annually in Vienna between 14-18^th of March.  Screening animated films by women from all over the world and with focus themes such as the 2012 show entitled work and nature, the festival proves that animation lends itself very well to addressing complex issues. In 2012 the Best Practice day at the Austrian Film Museum offered a highly informative glimpse behind the scenes with master classes on “The Serious Side of Funny” and “The Sound of Animation” as well as the “Eye Candy Show”, a program specially put together for Tricky Women by Shelley Page, the specialist for sourcing new talent at DreamWorks Animation. The festival also gives out a number of awards: Tricky Women Award of the City of Vienna worth 4,000 Euro, Synchro Film & Video Material Prize worth 1,500 Euro, 3-month scholarship in the artist-in-residence programme of quartier 21/MQ, Hubert Sielecki Award worth 750 Euro (for Austrian animation).

The call for the 2013 festival  is open until Oct 19^th and the topic  of choice is “distributive justice”.

Website: www.trickywomen.at
Email: office@trickywomen.at
Tricky Women on Facebook  

 6)  The Créteil International Women’s Film Festival – France (March)

FIFF, the acronym for Festival International de Films de femmes, is an annual event in Créteil, Paris, that takes place between 22-31 of March. It was founded in 1978 to showcase the directing talents of female filmmakers who, at the time, had difficulty getting their films adequately distributed.

Located southeast of the centre of the city of Paris, today the festival is held over 10 non-stop days premiering 50 or more new films directed by one or more women. The festival also offers film classes, thematic forums and debates. The competition is open to women from around the world who have made a feature-length documentary, a short length fiction or a documentary film. Their work is judged by a jury of six cinema professionals.

The festival offers a number of prizes including several Audience awards and the “Grand Jury Prize.” There is a festival archive containing more than 10,000 films by women.

Website: www.filmsdefemmes.com/?lang=en
Email: filmsfemmes@wanadoo.fr
FIFF Facebook 
FIFF Twitter

7)   Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival 
 California (March)

Taking place between 22-28 of March in Los Angeles, Alliance of Women Filmmakers was established eight years ago with a goal to increase opportunities for women filmmakers to create powerful screen roles for women.   The festival presents narratives, documentaries, animations and student short films alongside a variety of industry panels, workshops and seminars to provide resources as well as give filmmakers direct access to studio executives.

Website: http://www.lawomensfest.com
Email: dmeans25@yahoo.com
LAWIFF Facebook
LAWIFF Twitter

8)    The International Women’s Film Festival – Germany (April)

The International Women’s Film Festival Dortmund|Cologne takes place annually, between 17-22 of April, alternating between Dortmund and Cologne. The IWFF provides a perfect platform for the presentation of the latest film developments and trends as they relate to women working in all areas of film production, from women film directors to women cinematographers, film-music composers, screenwriters etc. In addition, IWFF sees itself as a forum for networking activities, sharing experience and training opportunities. Questions bearing on production conditions, rights of use, the role of international women’s film networks, copyright issues and innovative channels of distribution regularly come under the spotlight. Also permanently on the agenda: workshops about film theory and composition of image.

The festival also hands out some very generous prizes such as: International Feature Film Award: 25 000 Euro; Dortmund Documentary Film Award (Lifetime Achievement Award): 10 000 Euro; Audience Award: 1 000 Euro; International Debut Fiction Feature Film Award: 10 000 Euro; National Directors of Photography Award: category of fictional films: 5 000 Euro,  category of documetary films: 2 500 Euro; Audience Award: 1 000 Euro.

Website: www.frauenfilmfestival.eu
Email:info@frauenfilmfestival.eu
IWFF Facebook
IWFF Twitter

9)   Ankara Flying Broom Women’s Film Festival – Turkey (May)

Flying Broom Women’s Film Festival is the only women’s film festival in the world to give out the prestigious Fipresci Award.Taking place between 10-17 of May and screening feature films, short films and documentaries, the festival has been organised every year since 1998 with the goal of using the narrative of cinema to raise public awareness about gender issues. Short film competitions as well as short film screenplay competitions are being held as well. The Young Witch Award is being granted since 2009 in order to encourage young actresses and to acknowledge their efforts in cinema.

Website: www.ucansupurge.org/english/index.php
Email: festival@ucansupurge.org
Flying Broom on Facebook
Flying Broom on Twitter (for Turkish-speaking tweeters)
Flying Broom onVimeo

10)  Aichi International Women’s Film Festival –  Japan (September)

2012 marks the 17th edition of Aichi International Women’s Film Festival (AIWFF). AIWFF has supported the advancement of women in society and promoted international exchange between women since its launch in 1996. Taking place between 1-9 of September, the festival screens films directed by female directors, invite world-famous female directors and rising female directors, and hold guest talks and symposiums that provide the participants with opportunities to exchange their views and ideas in order to promote the realization of a gender-equal society.

Website: www.aiwff.com/2012/en/
Email: eiga@will.pref.aichi.jp
AIWFF Twitter (for Japanese-speaking tweeters only!)

OTHER INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVALS

International London Feminist Film Festival – UK (November)
http://londonfeministfilmfestival.com/

Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival-USA (November)
https://rmwfilmfest.org/

The Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival-USA (March)
Website:http://www.powfest.com/

Women’s Voices from the Muslim World: A Short-Film Festival – Los Angeles (March)
Website: http://womensvoicesnow.org/

Images of Black Women (IBW) Film Festival – UK (April)
Website: http://www.imagesofblackwomen.com/

San Francisco International Women’s Film Festival – USA (April)
Website: http://womensfilminstitute.squarespace.com/sf-womens-film-festival/

The International Women’s Film Festival – Seoul, South Korea (April)
Website: http://www.wffis.or.kr

 The International Women’s Film Festival of Barcelona – Spain (June)
Website: www.mostrafilmsdones.cat

Corto di Donne – Women’s Short Film Festival – Italy
Website: http://www.acortodidonne.it