Vanessa Obioha
Alternativa Film Festival has opened submissions for its 2027 version, marking its first enlargement to Africa, with $120,000 in prize cash throughout seven award classes.
The announcement was made on Thursday at MIP Africa, because the pageant, based and supported by international mobility firm inDrive, invited filmmakers from Africa, Asia and Latin America to submit characteristic movies for the competitors.
Short movie submissions, nevertheless, are restricted to African filmmakers, reflecting the continent’s standing because the pageant’s focus area for 2027. All entries should have been accomplished after January 1, 2026.
Three of the seven awards are reserved for African filmmakers: the $20,000 Focus Award and two Short Film Awards value $10,000 every. African filmmakers are additionally eligible for the remaining classes.
Directors whose movies are chosen for the competitors will probably be invited to attend the pageant and awards ceremony, with journey and lodging lined by the organisers.
Scheduled for late 2027, the pageant’s host nation, metropolis and actual dates are but to be introduced. Submissions are free and shut on March 1, 2027.
Alternativa champions impact-driven cinema from the Global South, a area residence to roughly five-sixths of the world’s inhabitants however which stays underrepresented on display screen.
Its enlargement into Africa comes because the initiative broadens its efforts to enhance the attain of movies from the area. Earlier this yr, it launched Alternativa Distribution, a non-profit mannequin designed to reinvest in filmmakers and native movie industries.
The distribution arm provides upfront minimal ensures for non-theatrical rights, funds subtitling and dubbing, and shares income after recovering direct distribution prices.
“Exceptional filmmaking can come from anywhere, but access to international audiences is still hindered by a deeply unequal system,” mentioned Arsen Tomsky, founder and chief govt officer of inDrive. “Alternativa Distribution was created to challenge that imbalance.”
Its catalogue contains Nepal’s ‘Elephants in the Fog,’ the nation’s 2027 Oscar submission and winner of the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes in 2026; ‘No Good Men,’ Afghanistan’s co-production and the opening movie of the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival; Malaysia’s ‘Lost Land,’ which gained the Orizzonti Special Jury Prize on the 2025 Venice Film Festival; and Tunisia’s ‘Four Daughters,’ a 2024 Oscar nominee.
Films chosen for the 2027 pageant may be thought-about for inclusion within the distribution catalogue.
Alternativa started its pageant journey in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in 2023, earlier than transferring to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2024, and Medellín, Colombia, in 2026. The itinerant pageant strikes to a brand new area with every version.
The Medellín version acquired 1,831 submissions from 55 nations, attracting 11,000 attendees, 107 worldwide friends and greater than 60 companions, making it the pageant’s largest version to date.
“With each edition, Alternativa Film Festival grows,” mentioned Liza Surganova, head of Alternativa. “Not only in reach and scale, but also in the connections it creates and the opportunities it opens up for filmmakers.”
She mentioned the African version would construct on the pageant’s earlier achievements whereas introducing new initiatives for its group.
“Africa is home to an extraordinary diversity of cultures, perspectives, and cinematic voices, and we believe this new chapter will deepen our understanding of what transformative cinema can be and help us forge valuable new connections,” she added.
The 2027 programme will characteristic public screenings, discussions and different occasions exploring the social points addressed in chosen movies. An awards ceremony will recognise movies that mix inventive excellence with the potential to drive social change.
The pageant may also maintain Industry Days, an expert programme that connects filmmakers, producers, business consultants and social influence leaders from throughout the Global South.
Elise Shick, a Malaysian producer of ‘Lost Land,’ which gained the Nativa Award on the 2026 version, mentioned the pageant had helped foster worldwide collaboration.
“Here, we have already formed a co-production project involving nine countries. We hope to screen it as the opening film of the next Alternativa Film Festival in Africa,” she mentioned.
The pageant is open to fiction, documentary, animation and hybrid movies throughout all genres. Eligibility necessities, the listing of qualifying nations and particulars of the award classes can be found on the pageant’s official web site.
