Eastern Neighbours Film Festival

About

Eastern Neighbours Film Festival (ENFF) began in The Netherlands in 2008 with the idea to offer Dutch and international audiences a unique glimpse into the cinema of their neighbors from Eastern and Southern Europe. This annual event presents the most recent, exciting, and thought‐provoking films, from countries with small, but often powerful film industries, that mostly cannot be seen in The Netherlands. The film program includes feature films, documentaries, shorts, and animations; most of the selected films are Dutch premieres. Each year the film program is accompanied by numerous side events, designed to educate, engage and initiate new partnerships. The presence of prominent guests, directors, actors, producers, and their direct communication with the audience makes ENFF an inspiring event for every participant and cinema-goer. Through the screened films, thematic debates, masterclasses, and exciting encounters with our guests, the festival creates a cultural arena where people can come together, engage, discuss and enjoy high-quality cinema.

Our 13th edition will be held in November in The Hague, The Netherlands. The precise date, due to the COVID-19 circumstances, will be communicated later on.

Awards

• Audience Award (€1000)

Rules

Last year we introduced our first competitive section that supports emerging film talent. We were inspired and impressed by the quality of all the submitted work and we are looking forward to our second New Talents edition, this year.

We invite filmmakers with their debut film to compete for an Audience Award (€1000). This can be your first film after graduating or the film you developed while still at school - something you consider your first film! 

The films can be of any genre up to the length of 30 minutes, including credits. Films should be produced or co-produced in Eastern and Southeastern European countries. We also invite makers from The Netherlands, with roots in the above mentioned region. The films produced in The Netherlands should be narratively linked to the Eastern and Southeastern European countries. 

The submitted films must have been finished no earlier than August 2019.

Accepted screening formats: DCP, Quicktime

Submissions are open from 1st of May - 1st of August 2021.

Premiere Requirements

No premiere requirement