Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People

Festival Description: The International Film Festival for Children and Young People is unique in Greece. It was created in 1997 as the result of the collaboration between the Local Authorities of Ilia, and Youth Plan, a not-for-profit organization. It is supported and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and the General Secretariat of Youth. It holds a creative collaboration with all the big municipalities of the Ilia District as well as with the Greek Film Center, the Audiovisual Institute, the Media Desk Hellas, and the National Institute of Youth. The main goals of the Olympia Festival are the following: To inform Greek audiences about current film productions for children and youth, to contribute to the development of audiovisual programs for children and young people in Greece, and to encourage the film creation and the development of films for children and youth.

2024 Call for Entries (Archive)

The 27th Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People will be held in the cities of Pyrgos and Amaliada from November 30th to December 7th, 2024, while other special programs will be held in other cities of Western Greece and Athens.

Eligibility criteria:

• OIFF is specialized in Children and Youth audiences. It has four competition sections: feature fiction films, short fiction live-action films, short animation films, and documentaries (all durations).
• The festival accepts films completed during 2023 and 2024. Films up to 50 minutes are considered medium/short. Films 51 minutes long and longer are considered features.

Awards and Prizes:

The International Juries, consisting of professionals in the field of Children's Films, Education, and Filmmaking, awards the following Prizes:

• Best Feature Film
• Best Short Fiction Film
• Best Short Animation Film
• Best Feature Documentary
• Best Short/Medium Length Documentary

The Juries may also decide on additional special mentions and distinctions.

The Children and Youth Juries (National and International) also award prizes for the best films in each category and each age group (8 awards in total).

The Festival also holds three European Children’s Film Association (ECFA) awards: Feature fiction film, Short fiction/animation film, and Documentary film. The winning films are nominated for the overall ECFA yearly awards, which are voted by film professionals, and members of the ECFA.

Other independent Awards:

• CIFEJ Prize for a Feature Film
• The Hellenic Parliament “Human Values Award”
• Greek Film Critics Association
• Greek Film Clubs’ Association

The main event consists of three audience and one professional pillar:

1. An International Film Festival with a strong European flavor: 4 Competition sections and various tributes, around 200 film screenings in total in each edition.

2. The “School Cinema” film literacy activities: around 80 physical, digital or hybrid workshops and seminars for children, youth, and educators each year.

3. “Camera Zizanio” - European Meeting of Young People’s Audiovisual Creation: a film competition consisting of a selection of around 250 films in each edition, made by children and youth in European schools and independently.

4. Industry Events and Facilities: Olympia “Creative Ideas” Pitching Lab, Screening Room, professional meetings, etc.

• Submissions via FilmFreeway
• Deadline: 12 July 2024 

NB: 2025 Festival Dates are tentative