Festival Data:

• Established: 2000
• Genre: General
• Attendance: 37400

• Competitive
• Retrospective
• Has Panels
• Has Seminars
• Workshops

Festival Website:

Festival Description:

Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF) is one of the largest and most interesting film festivals in Norway, screening a great mix of new feature and documentary films from all over the world. typo3/alt_main.php

The festival program, consisting of roughly 100 titles, is varied. The main program is the International Competition, where 15 feature films which have not yet been screened to Norway compete for the Jury Award. BIFF also has a big international Documentary section with films dealing with contemporary issues with panel discussions organized alongside. BIFF also has sneak previews of coming cinema releases, animation films, fantasy and science fiction, gay and lesbian films – and a Norwegian short film competition. Several filmmakers are festival guests.

BIFF gathers some media and industry delegates, but is first and foremost an audience festival. BIFF organizes workshops with industry experts, panel discussions, and seminars.  BIFF also arranges several projects for local schools and film production companies.

Awards given include:

Norwegian Film Institute's Import award
Cinema Extraordinaire – Competition: In the International Competition programme we screen 13 films that should be distributed theatrically in Norway. The jury will decide on a worthy winner of the prize of NOK 100.000, given by the Norwegian film Institute (NFI). The prize goes to the marketing of the winner film in theatrical distribution.

Documentary Award
Of the 60 films in the documentary section, 13 are in the international competition. The Documentary Award of NOK 50.000 will secure Norwegian DVD distribution. This award is decided on by a jury of filmmakers and industry professionals.

Norwegian Short Film Award
14 films have been selected to compete for the award for best Norwegian short. The winning film will be awarded a cash prize of NOK 25.000, which will go to the director. The winning film is also secured Norwegian DVD distribution. This award is decided on by a jury of filmmakers and industry professionals.

Sparebanken Vest Audience Award
The award is a prize with a value of NOK 25.000.

Youth Documentary Award
A jury of school pupils selects the best documentary, chosen from a selection of films presented at school screenings during the festival. The award consists of a cash prize of NOK 25.000, which goes to the director of the film. The Award is given by Sparebanken Vest/Visjon Vest.

Sparebanken Vest Award for Young Talent
The award is a cash prize of NOK20.000 and goes to a young and promising talent or organization in the film sector in Western Norway.

Festival director and head of programming is Tor Fosse. He came from the film society movement, and was key person in establishing and running the theatrical distribution company Arthaus and Tromsø International Film Festival. He also runs the theatrical distribution company Tour de Force.

Film Submissions:

• Accepts direct submissions