Karachi: inDrive-backed Alternativa Film Festival (AFF), a nomadic festival dedicated to showcasing impact-driven cinema from the Global South, has announced the opening of submissions for its fourth edition. Scheduled to take place in Africa in late 2027, the festival is accepting feature-length films from Pakistan, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The festival offers a total prize fund of $120,000, with submissions open until March 1, 2027.
According to inDrive, the festival is part of Alternativa, a non-profit film initiative founded by Arsen Tomsky, Founder and CEO of inDrive. This initiative aims to challenge global cinematic imbalances by providing filmmakers from underrepresented regions with a platform to reach international audiences. Arsen Tomsky emphasized the importance of addressing systemic inequities in global film distribution, noting that the Alternativa slate is designed to highlight the transformative power of storytelling from the Global South.
Liza Surganova, Head of Alternativa, remarked on the festival's growth in reach and scale with each edition. She highlighted the increasing opportunities it provides for filmmakers to connect and share their narratives with a broader audience. Surganova extended an invitation to filmmakers to participate, emphasizing the festival's role in fostering a global filmmaking community.
For filmmakers in Pakistan, the festival presents a unique opportunity to present their work on an international stage, engage with industry professionals, and expand their audience reach. Interested filmmakers can find detailed submission guidelines and eligibility criteria on the festival's website.
The 2027 festival edition will include fiction, documentary, animation, and hybrid films completed after January 1, 2026, with a minimum runtime of 40 minutes. The event will conclude with an awards ceremony, and directors of selected films will receive invitations to attend, with travel and accommodation expenses covered by the festival organizers.
Additionally, the 2027 edition will feature opportunities through Alternativa Distribution, a label launched in 2026 to distribute impactful films from the Global South globally. The previous edition in Medellín, Colombia, witnessed significant participation, with 1,831 submissions from 55 countries, underscoring the growing appeal and diversity of stories from these regions.