Alternativa Takes Impact-Driven Cinema to Africa, Opens 2027 Submissions
Alternativa Film Festival (AFF), a non-profit movie initiative supported by inDrive, has opened submissions for its fourth version, with filmmakers invited to submit entries freed from cost from October 29, 2026, to March 1, 2027. The competition will supply a complete prize fund of $120,000 throughout seven award classes.
According to the competition’s organiser, the 2027 version marks the competition’s first outing in Africa, reflecting its continued dedication to discovering rising cinematic voices, increasing alternatives for filmmakers, and strengthening connections throughout the Global South.
The competition can be open to all genres, together with fiction, documentary, animation and hybrid movies, offered they had been accomplished after January 1, 2026.
Feature-length movies with a runtime of 40 minutes or longer are eligible from Africa, Asia and Latin America, whereas brief movies of as much as 40 minutes are completely open to African filmmakers.
The $120,000 prize fund can be distributed throughout seven awards, together with the Focus Award for a function movie and two Shorts Awards reserved for African filmmakers. Detailed eligibility standards, taking part nations and award classes can be found in the Rules & Regulations on the official competition web site.
Commenting on the opening of submissions, Head of Alternativa Liza Surganova said that the competition’s enlargement into Africa presents a possibility to find new views and construct stronger connections amongst filmmaking communities.
“As we prepare to bring the festival to Africa for the first time, we want to build on everything we’ve achieved so far, making this edition our biggest and boldest yet while introducing new initiatives for our community. 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. We invite filmmakers from across Africa, Asia, and Latin America to join us on this journey and share their visions with us,” she stated.
According to Arsen Tomsky, the Founder of the Alternativa Film Festival and CEO of inDrive, the distribution initiative was established to deal with inequalities in entry to worldwide audiences and to assist filmmakers deliver their work to a wider public.
“Exceptional filmmaking can come from anywhere, but access to international audiences remains a process hindered by a deeply unequal system. Alternativa Distribution was created to challenge that imbalance. This slate has been carefully curated and showcases the high quality and transformative power of filmmaking from the Global South, and the positive impact these films can have when they reach wider audiences,” Tomsky stated.
The competition has continued to increase its presence throughout the Global South, with earlier editions held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in 2023; Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2024; and Medellín, Colombia, in 2026. The Medellín version obtained 1,831 submissions from 55 nations, demonstrating the initiative’s rising worldwide attain.
Beyond the competition, its non-profit distribution label, Alternativa Distribution, launched in 2026, is extending the attain of impact-driven movies to worldwide audiences, with six movies from earlier editions at the moment in its catalogue.
The 2027 programme will function public screenings, discussions and different occasions designed to encourage conversations across the social points explored in chosen movies. It may even embrace Industry Days, a free skilled programme connecting filmmakers, producers, business consultants and social affect leaders. The programme is designed to facilitate information sharing, strengthen skilled networks, and encourage collaborations that assist the event and wider distribution of movies.
