European Short Film Network (ESFN)
The European Short Film Network (ESFN), founded in 2018 by the four European short film festivals Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen (DE), Go Short Festival in Nijmegen (NL), Short Waves Festival in Poznan (PL) and Vienna Shorts (AT), welcomes two new members: The renowned IndieLisboa International Film Festival (PT) and Uppsala Kortfilmfestival (SE) have joined the network.
The ESFN was formed to support and promote European short films. The network is now active in six European countries, following a collaborative and truly European vision to strengthen the European film and festival landscape. These activities include online, analog and live projects. The ESFN is one of only a dozen European festival networks funded by the EU MEDIA program and has received funding until 2024.
THIS IS SHORT: The place to go for European short films
The joint VOD project THIS IS SHORT will be re-launched in October 2023 as a year-round streaming service for audiences and the industry, bundling and displaying the amazing wealth and variety of European short film production.
THIS IS SHORT, one of the network’s core initiatives, was successfully launched in 2021 as a three month online platform jointly curated by the member festivals and saw its second three-month round in 2022. The expansion will be coordinated by German project manager and curator Jens Geiger-Kiran, who is known, among other things, for the cinema VOD network CinemaLovers.
Analog film programs & sustainability as joint focus activities
In addition to the streaming platform, the network will develop on-site film programs to be presented throughout the year at the six member festivals. The focus will be on analog formats, launching in 2023 with two film programs from the Friedl Kubelka School for Independent Film in Vienna. Curated by director Philipp Fleischmann, who heads the school’s film department, the programs will travel through Europe between April and November.
Another focus is on sustainable festival organisation, which all participating festivals have been committed to for several years. Together all members of the ESFN have therefore pledged to observe the Code of Sustainability which was developed by the network in 2021 and which can be downloaded here: https://www.kurzfilmtage.de/en/about-us/#c4246
For updates about the ESFN’s activities follow us via
https://www.facebook.com/uppsalakortfilmfestival
and join THIS IS SHORT on Facebook and Instagram:
Facebook: @thisisshortcom
Instagram: @this_is_short
THE ESFN is supported by the Creative Europe Program – MEDIA of the European Union.