Ananse Cinema International Film Festival comes at a time when it is most important to take the storytelling experience to a new level of reckoning and celebration. But above all it presents a prime opportunity for the voice of the large community of content consumers in Africa to be heard.
Ananse Cinema International Film Festival is an event founded by filmmakers for filmmakers.
We aim to create a festival where independent short films and feature films of all genres and countries of origin get the recognition they deserve, where filmmakers can come together and celebrate each other's work, at a fully sold-out cinema, filled with cinephiles.
The winners will be announced at the festival, after the screening, and online the next day. The evening will be closed with a networking party.

Each Category will have ONE winner selected for BEST OF:

SHORT FILMS
ANIMATION FILMS
FEATURE FILMS
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
STUDENT FILMS
FAITH BASED FILMS
EPISODIC
MUSIC VIDEO
EXPERIMENTAL

Each winner selected will receive the following awards:

+ Official Certificate
+ Commemorative Medal presented at the festival in 2023
+ Distribution of project via VOD digital platforms we are partnered with. 2023 partnerships announced prior to festival.

Rules & Terms
Let's get down to the facts. ​​

1 | Dates and Venue
The Anciff Film Festival will take place virtually in December 2023. The absolute final submission deadline is as dictated on FilmFreeway. The venue will be announced closer to the Festival.

​2 | Competition
The Festival reserves the right to place entries into alternative categories if they feel it is to the benefit of the title. Each submission must be entered separately. All submitted films must have been completed between November 30, 2017 to present. Entries will be assessed and successful submissions will be programmed for screening and enter the Festival competition. Failure to submit an exhibition copy four weeks prior to the festival will rule out eligibility to screen. If your project is selected we reserve the right to show your film at a time and date of our choosing.
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3 | Subtitles
Any foreign language films must have english subtitles.
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4 | Formats
For the selection process a digital screener must be submitted. Successful submissions that are granted a screening must submit a DCP.
*Please note we do not accept films shot in 4:3 unless the filmmaker has reformatted it to 16:9.

​5 | Selection
The festival directors reserve the right to invite films for the competition and program. The screening schedule will be announced after the final submission deadline. The final award winning entries will be selected by a festival jury and audience votes. Award winners will be notified within 14 days of the festival screenings.
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6 | Entry Returns
DCPs supplied with self-addressed envelopes will be returned via post, otherwise filmmakers may pick them up from the venue after the event has concluded. Any DCPs not collected within 6 weeks of the event date will be destroyed as part of our data protection protocol.

​7 | Screenings
It is the responsibility of the entrant to ensure that films for screening are deposited with the festival organizers at least 28 days before any scheduled screening.

8 | Publicity
We reserve the right to use extracts from submissions for festival publicity and marketing purposes. Press kits are not required, but are useful, so please feel free to send these with your submissions.

​​9 | Categories
SHORT FILMS
ANIMATION FILMS
FEATURE FILMS
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
STUDENT FILMS
FAITH BASED FILMS
EPISODIC
MUSIC VIDEO
EXPERIMENTAL

10 | Awards
The festival have awards in forms of ANCIFF Commemorative Medal, certificate and SVOD distribution opportunity with partnering companies.


11 | Submission and Selection for Screening
The administrators' decision is final for all submissions and films selected to screen.
​​General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
By submitting to our festival, we will utilize any personal data that you submit to us as part of the details of your submission, to evaluate your submission for the purposes of the festival. We will store your data to contact you about future festivals and events that you may be interested in from either ourselves or third parties.
We will also use your data as part of our internal surveys to assess the number of submissions for the festival and where submissions came from and from what category.
You are in control of your data and should you wish to delete your data, you may request us to do this at anytime.
Asking us to delete your data before the end of the festival, will delete your submission from the festival and no refunds will be given.
To withdraw consent to use your data and delete it from our systems, please email us with your request.

Data Consent.
The only way to enter our film festival is by submission. It is not possible to enter the festival without a submission. Therefore by submitting to our festival you are giving us consent to utilize your data.
It is impossible for our festival to manage your submission and your involvement in our festival without using your data.
If you do not consent to this and would like us to delete your data entirely after the festival, please contact us. By making a submission to our festival you are giving your consent for us to use your data in the ways listed in point 12 of our rules and conditions. By making a submission to our festival you are allowing us to use your data and agreeing to abide by our festival rules, terms and conditions.
Third Parties that we may share your data with are other film festivals, competitions and/or film festival submission websites.
​Freedom Of Information
Under the Freedom of Information Act all client information kept by us is available to claim. This can include personal data, any saved emails, course attendance or mail.
A request must be filed by the person in question in an email. This must include the full name and address and any details of what kinds of information would be kept (eg: if there are emails – and to who they would have been addressed) so as to assist full investigation of the claim.
We will also charge a $10 administrative fee payable by PayPal. Any further claims will subsequently be charged $10 at every instance. In the cases where data contain private information concerning other clients or staff, such instances exempt from FOI claims, we may refuse to deliver such data alternatively explaining why this would not be available.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • I was chuffed that my short doc was selected, but never heard from the festival. I tried contacting them, but to no avail. I searched for information about the edition online, but found nothing. Either Ananse Cinema IFF is one of those fake festivals, or they didn’t manage to get it together.

    January 2024
  • Clayton Allis

    This festival never happened. We were accepted and then never heard a word.

    January 2024
  • Tassos Rigopoulos

    We had a wonderful experience with the Ananse Cinema International Festival. My colleagues and I were honored to be chosen for an award. The communication with the festival's co-director, Parker Jesse Chase was excellent. We also received a physical certificate as well as a commemorative medal free of charge. Thank you again!

    August 2023
  • jocelyn catan

    thank you for selecting my film

    June 2023