Alternativa Film Festival 2027 opens submissions for $120,000 prize fund

Alternativa Film Festival 2027 has opened free submissions for feature-length films from Pakistan and across the Global South, with the fourth edition scheduled to take place in Africa in late 2027 and a total prize fund of $120,000. Filmmakers can submit their work until March 1, 2027.

Backed by global mobility company inDrive, the nomadic festival champions impact-driven cinema and aims to expand international opportunities for filmmakers from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Alternativa is a non-profit film initiative founded by inDrive Founder and CEO Arsen Tomsky. Commenting on the opportunities for filmmakers, Tomsky said: “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.”

Liza Surganova, Head of Alternativa, said: “With each edition, Alternativa Film Festival grows, not only in reach and scale, but also in the connections it creates and the opportunities it opens up for filmmakers. As we prepare for our fourth edition, we look forward to welcoming compelling stories from across the Global South. We invite filmmakers to share their work and become part of a growing international filmmaking community.”

The 2027 edition accepts fiction, documentary, animation and hybrid films across all genres, provided they were completed after January 1, 2026. Eligible feature-length films must run for at least 40 minutes. Directors of films selected for the Competition will be invited to attend the festival and awards ceremony, with travel and accommodation covered by the organisers.

The festival also offers access to Alternativa Distribution, a non-profit label launched in summer 2026 to bring cinema from the Global South to international audiences.

At its previous edition in Medellín, Colombia, the festival received 1,831 submissions from 55 countries across Asia and Latin America.

Submission guidelines, eligibility criteria and award categories are available at www.alternativa.film.