Film Festivals Worldwide
Important note: Festival dates, locations, and times are subject to potential change due to covid-19 restrictions.
Festivals celebrating the genre of archaeological film are held regularly in a variety of countries. These festivals provide a showcase for film and video makers and a venue for distributors and the public to examine their work. We at Archaeological Legacy Institute are pleased to post festival information here for those who might like to attend a festival or submit film and video productions for screening.
Croatia
International Archaeology Film Festival (MFAF)
Date: November 10-12, 2022
Theme: On archaeology, cultural heritage, monument protection, and anthropology films
Location: Split, Croatia
Description
The International documentary film festival about archaeology, cultural and historic heritage, monument protection and anthropology – MFAF was first held in 2010. This biennial festival was launched with the aim of presenting cultural heritage and archaeology topics within European and World heritage, and of raising awareness of the wider audience for our own cultural heritage. Not only does it promote topics and sites beyond our national borders, but a special emphasis is put on UNESCO sites in Croatia.
It is also a great opportunity for promoting Croatian documentary (archaeology) film production beyond national borders on the way towards European archaeology film festivals. The existence of such a festival and its ever increasing audience justify the need for filming archaeological research and study, and serve as an incentive for turning interesting discoveries into film productions.
Entry Deadline: May 1, 2022
Late Deadline: June 1, 2022
Website: https://mfaf.hr/en/
Contact:
Lada Laura
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International Archaeology Film FestivalMuseum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments
S. Gunjace 3
21000 Split, Croatia
General contact info:
Phone: +385 (0)21 323 905
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Cyprus
A.E.I. Festival: Archaeological, Ethnographic and Historical Documentary Film Festival
Date: July 17-23, 2023
Location: Lefkosia, Cyprus
Description
The non profit organisation Α.Ε.Ι. AUDIOVISUAL FORUM (www.aei-audiovisualforum.org) organizes the 6th edition of the Cyprus Archaeological, Ethnographic and Historical Documentary Film Festival (AEI Film Festival) that will take place from the 17th until the 23rd of July 2023 at the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Center open air amphitheater, located at the heart of the historic center of Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus. At the same time, the virtual edition of the Festival will be available through our festival platform for the duration of one month from the start of the physical event. The AEI Film Festival aims to raise awareness about the importance of heritage conservation, promote inter-cultural understanding and encourage sustainable tourism by introducing the public to important examples of archaeological and cultural heritage from Cyprus and around the world through documentary films. The AEI Film Festival focuses on community, inclusivity and (of course) good times.
Entry Deadline: May 20, 2023
Website: https://aei-filmfestival.org/
Contact:
AEI Organisation
95, Kerynia Avenue, apt. 201 Aglanjia 2113 Nicosia-CYPRUSEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: +357 22337433 or +357 99694407
France
ICRONOS: International Festival of Archaeological Film, Bordeaux
Date: TBA
Theme: Make the public sensitive to archaeology and to promote archaeology films
Location: Bordeaux, France
Description
Every two years since 1988, the International Archeology Film Festival of Bordeaux- ICRONOS has presented a recent selection of the best films focusing on the study of material vestiges of the past. In late October, the Athénée Municipal de Bordeaux hosts the screening of about thirty documentary films selected by a committee made up of professionals.
At the end of the festival, an international jury nominate the winners of the different awards, including the "Festival Grand Prix" and the "Special Jury Award". The audience is also solicited and rewards their favorite movie with the "Audience Award". The scientific community and the local authorities of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine accompany and support this event that is an interface between the archaeological community and the general public. The festival is also a crossroads of meetings between the various actors of the world of the archaeological film.
In 17 editions, more than 50,000 spectators have had free access to a varied and high-quality program.
Entries Open: TBA
Entry deadline: TBA
Website: http://www.icronos.net/
Contact:
Adrien Berthou
Icronos-AFIFA207 Pelleport Street
33800, Bordeaux,
France
Phone: 33 - 5 56 94 22 20
Fax: 33 - 5 56 94 27 87
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ICRONOS: International Archeology Film Festival of Bordeaux, France
Date: November 9-10, 2023
Theme: Archaeological heritage in danger in troubled geopolitical contexts.
Location: Bordeaux, France
Description: Icronos is organizing a thematic festival at the Aquitaine Museum in Bordeaux, France, on archaeological heritage in danger in troubled geopolitical contexts. 4 screenings and 4 communications will discuss current threats to heritage mainly in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria as well as the major issues of destruction, pillaging and trafficking of archaeological heritage.
Website: https://www.icronos.net
Contact:
Icronos-AFIFA
207 Pelleport Street33800, Bordeaux,
France
Phone: 33 (0)5 56 92 75 73
Fax: 33 - 5 56 94 27 87
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Amiens Festival of Archaeological Film
Date: November 11-19, 2022
Theme: Anniversary edition aiming not to provide a sense of nostalgia, but instead to pay tribute to the work done and the film makers involved.
Location: Amiens, France
Description
Amiens presents the Archaeology Film Festival every two years. In 1990 the Festival took place for the first time. Amiens, with its large number of cinemas, offers this important manifestation a huge possibility to sensitize a large audience to archaeological research. There are also lectures and animated discussions with exceptional personalities of the scientific world. The Festival takes place at different theaters to facilitate the attendance to schools and cultural institutions of the region.
Entry deadline:
Website: http://www.fifam.fr/
Contact:
Amiens International Film FestivalJCA - Place Léon Gontier
80000 Amiens, France
Phone: +33 (0) 3 22 71 35 70
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Archaeological Meetings of Narbonne
Date: October 31-November 5, 2023
Theme: The aim of the Meetings is to promote and enhance archaeology through audiovisual works in order to heighten public awareness of these issues.
Location: Narbonne, France
Description
The Narbonnaise Archeology Meetings are an event which above all promotes archeology in all its forms. The program is made up of screenings, conferences, exhibitions, meetings, an archeology book and comic fair, school events and professional meetings.
Entry Deadline: Closed
Website: https://ran-archeo.com/
Contact:
https://ran-archeo.com/contact/
Phone: 09 80 61 81 12
Germany
ARTEFACTA: International Archaeology Film and Art Festival, Dusseldorf
Date: May 19-21, 2022
Location: Dusseldorf, Germany
Description:
ARTEFACTA, formerly CINARCHEA, focuses on audio-visual representations of archaeology, cultural history and art. It is the oldest and largest German archaeological film festival. The Festival is a competition with a diversity of cinematic formats, including documentary, animation and feature films.
Entry Deadline: Already passed
Website: http://www.cinarchea.com http://www.artefacta-festival.de/
Contact: Benjamin Irkens
Dusseldorfer Strasse 144 40545 DusseldorfE-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Greece
AGON International Archaeological Film Festival
Date: May 20-26, 2024
Location: Athens, Greece
Theme:
The theme of the 12th AGON- International archaeological Film Festival is archaeology in the broadest sense of the word: Antiquity; the Middle Ages; folk arts and traditions; industrial archaeology; cultural heritage; the creation of new cultures through migration and multiracialism from antiquity to the present; the recording of a world that is inevitably lost; the present becoming the archaeology of tomorrow.
Entry Deadline: December 17, 2023
Website: www.agonfestival.com
Contact:
AGON Festival
5 Anagnostopouloustr., Athens 106 73Phone: ++0030 210 3312990
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Italy
The Festival of Communication and Archaeological Cinema at Licodia Eubea
Date: October 11-15, 2023
Theme: The screening of documentaries, feature films, medium-length films and short films with a subject and animation that have as their subject the field of archaeological, historical, paleontological, naturalistic, anthropological research and/or the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage.
Location: Licodia Eubea, Sicily
Description:
The Festival of Communication and Archaeological Cinema is a film festival dedicated to the dissemination of the Ancient through the visual arts. It takes place every year in October in Licodia Eubea, a small village in the heart of the Iblei. The main objective of the Review is to sensitize civil society to the great themes of archaeology and its protagonists, but also to make the study of the ancient world more captivating and understandable.
Entries Open: January 25, 2023
Entry deadline: May 31, 2023
Website: https://www.rassegnalicodia.it/
Contact: Mario Di Benedetto
Archeovisiva Cultural AssociationCorso Umberto I, 23295040 Licodia Eubea (CT)Phone: +39 3404740609
+39 3491504378
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Firenze Archeofilm: International Film Festival of Archaeology and Environmental Art
Date: March 6-10, 2024
Theme: Documentary film on archaeological, historical, ethnographic, artistic, and environmental themes.
Location: Florence, Italy
Description:
The sixth edition of the Firenze Archeofilm – Festival Internazionale del Cinema di Archeologia Arte Ambiente, is organized by Archeologia Viva – Giunti Editore S.p.A.
Entry deadline: December 29, 2023
Website: http://www.firenzearcheofilm.it/en/home-en/
Contact: Archeologia Viva
Via Camillo Cavour, 50/R, 50121 Firenze FI, ItalyPhone: +39 055 5062303
Fax: + 39 055 5062929
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Roverto Archeologia Memorie (RAM) Film Festival
Date: October 4-8, 2023
Theme: "Perspectives on the Climate Change Challenge"
Location: Rovereto, Italy. Also online.
Description:
Since 1990 the Civic Museum Foundation has been organizing a Film Festival, from 2021 called RAM - Rovereto Archeologia Memorie, dedicated to archaeology and tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The RAM format includes screenings, informal meetings, exhibitions, masterclasses, guided tours to discover the archaeological and historic sites in the area, in an experience between knowledge, emotion, information.
The festival takes place every year in early autumn, and features the most recent and spectacular documentaries, docu-fiction and animated shorts on archaeological research and on tangible and intangible cultural heritage - distant sites, monuments, peoples, cultures and traditions - to raise public awareness of the beauty and fragility of the treasures of our past and present days through the experiential perspective of cinema.
Entry deadline: Closed
Website: https://www.ramfilmfestival.it/rica_home.jsp
Contact: Valentina Bisoffi
Rassegna Internationale del Cinema Archeologicc/o Fondazione Museo Civico di RoveretoBorgo Santa Caterina 4138068 Rovereto ItalyPhone: (39.0464) 452829
Fax: (39.0464) 439487
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Serbia
The Archaeology Film Festival - National Museum Belgrade
Date: TBA
Theme: Archaeological Film
Location: National Museum in Belgrade, Serbia
Description:
The National Museum has been hosting the Archaeology Film Festival since 1998. At the time the Festival was organized in cooperation with Rovereto Festival organizers, Аrcheologia Viva magazine, and the Italian Institute of Culture in Belgrade. It was the first time that such an event took place in Serbia. The non-competitive festival has been conceptualized as a presentation of the most recent documentaries. Belgrade is among very few European cities whose public has the opportunity to see the latest films in the field of archaeology and other related scientific disciplines. Apart from an attractive approach to cultural heritage, all the films shown take pride in high scientific quality. Therefore, not only experts but everyone interested in ancient civilizations are able to find out more about significant and valuable world monuments. Besides news and coverage, educational films depicting important findings and remarkable past accomplishments which belong to various periods of civilization are also shown. The audience is able to discover new facts regarding archaeological research in Serbia and abroad in an amusing and thought-provoking way.
Entry Deadline: TBA
Website: http://www.narodnimuzej.rs/manifestations/the-archaeology-film-festival/?lang=en
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Spain
Archaeological Film Festival of Castille and Leon
Date: TBA
Theme: Archaeology and Heritage short film and documentary competition.
Location: Zamora, Spain
Description: Archaeological Film Festival of Castilla y León is one of the great projects of Protohistoric Zamora. It seeks to bring together the largest possible number of archaeological-themed short films and documentaries produced annually both nationally and internationally. In this way, another means of dissemination is sought for the public, who will be able to learn about different projects and perspectives of the rich world of archeology, in the different processes that carry it out.
This festival features short films (30 minutes or less) in any film genre within the theme. More information can be found at their website below...
Entry deadline: TBA
Website: https://ficacyl.com/festival-en
Contact:
Protohistoric Zamora Association:
Calle Villalpando, 7, portal 8, ground floorLos Almendros Urbanization, 49005
Zamora, Spain
Oscar Rodriguez-Monterrubio
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International Archaeological Film Festival of Bidasoa
Date:November 13-19, 2023
Theme: To present archaeology to the general public, through the diffusion of audio-visual material resulting from the work made by archaeologists, assuring the promotion and the spreading of these films.
Location: Irun, Spain
Description: The aim of the Festival is to present archaeology to the general public, through the diffusion of audio-visual material resulting from the work made by archaeologists, assuring the promotion and the spreading of these films.
Entry deadline: July 15, 2023
Website: http://www.ficab.org
Contact:
Aizpea Goenaga
Festival Internacional de Cine Arqueológico del BidasoaMuseo Romano Oiasso
C/ Escuelas, 1
E-20302 Irun (Gipuzkoa)
Spain
Phone: ++ 34 943 63 93 53
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Switzerland
International Film Festival of Archaeology Nyon
Date: March 21-25, 2023
Theme: To present archaeology to the general public
Location: Nyon, Switzerland
Description
The biennial International Festival of Archeology Films in Nyon has been organized since 1999 by the Roman Museum. It is the first Swiss festival of its kind dedicated to celebrating the people and films of archaeology, and aims to offer the public an opportunity to discover new insights and visions into this dynamic field of science. This year the festival will be held at the Usine à Gaz in Nyon
Entry deadline: October 31, 2022
Website: http://www.mrn.ch/en/festival/
Contact:
Christophe Goumand
Museé RomainPlace du Château 5
CH - 1260 Nyon 1
Switzerland
Phone: ++ 41 (022) 3400 488
Fax: ++ 41 (022) 3638 359
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United States
The Archaeology Channel International Film and Video Festival
Date: May 15-19, 2024
Theme: Cultural heritage worldwide and through time
Location: Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Description
Begun in 2003, this is the only juried film competition in this genre in the Western Hemisphere. We organized it to exhibit for our audience the wonderful diversity of human cultures past and present in the exploration of our place in history and in our world. Through this Festival we wish to promote the genre and the makers of film and video productions about archaeology and indigenous peoples.
Entry deadline: October 15, 2023
Extended deadline: November 15, 2023
Website: https://archaeologychannel.org/festival
Contact:
Richard Pettigrew, Executive Director
Archaeological Legacy Institute4147 E. Amazon Drive
Eugene, Oregon 97405
USA
Phone: +01-541-345-5538
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Arkhaios Cultural Heritage and Archaeology Film Festival
Date: Virtual Festival; Oct 9-15, 2023, South Carolina Festival; Oct 12, 2023, Pittsburgh, PA Festival; October 13-15
Theme: Education about history and culture
Location: Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Description
Beginning in 2013, Arkhaios has hosted its annual film festival with the intent to showcase the discovery of past cultures gained from archaeological research. It also hopes to provide desperately needed exposure to up-and-coming film makers and actors for this genre. Finally, the Festival hopes to encourage artists to use their talents to show the state’s history.
Entry Opening Date: February 15, 2023
Entry Deadline: June 15, 2023
Website: http://www.arkhaiosfilmfestival.org
Contact:
Gambrell Hall
University of South Carolina CampusPedestrian MallColumbia, SC 29201Phone: (843) 298-1638
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