International Portrait FIlm Festival Open Call 2021

IPFF is on the path towards its second edition in 2021. Once again, we will celebrate short portrait cinema, independent filmmaking and art which explores, educates and transforms.

A portrait is an image heavy with meaning. Multilayered and multifaceted, it has a visual, psychological, material, emotional and spiritual dimension.

Unravelled in art, the painted, the literary, the photographic portrait is often perceived by the human mind as a still frozen in time. But, in fact, it has already undergone a transformation. From its true origin, through the consciousness that revives the brush, the quill and the lens, to the semblance that begins its life on the canvas and on the page. Imitation and repetition, but with endless potential for future metamorphoses.

The film portrait, too, is captured in time. It is not motionless - literally and metaphorically. The cinematographic portrait is a soul in the form of light encountering the canvas of the white screen. The portrait is a trace. And a sign. A secret. A reverie.

FOCUS

The portrait is the focus of the films that will be screened at IPFF. We are looking for portrait films that have already been completed, as well as such that will be created with the concrete idea of 'portrait'. Of a person. A group of people. An object. Something invisible, but substantial. Of the self. Or of something else.

AIM

IPFF aspires to bring together artists and viewers who sincerely long for enrichment with art, intellectual discussion and an experience of cinema through a new prism - that of the portrait film.

CHARACTER

IPFF is a hybrid event and platform. A symbiosis of intriguing live encounters and memorable virtual experiences. The interweaving of portrait cinema from around the world and debates, lectures and masterclasses.

SPIRIT

IPFF is for those profoundly needing art and excitement. And for the ones in search of their catharsis. For the unafraid to stare at the screen even when it is empty. For those hungry for experimental viewpoints. For those forever in love with cinema, caught in its loop.

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IPFF welcomes a wide spectre of films and filmmakers: students, professionals, from low budget to big-scale productions, alternative and independent films by individuals and by collectives or institutions.