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[[Image:SIFF-logo.png|thumb|400px|''SIFF Logo'']]
'''Sofia International Film Festival''' ('''SIFF''') ([[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]]: ''Международен София Филм Фест, София Филм Фест''), also known as '''Sofia Film Fest''', is an annual [[film festival]] in [[Sofia]], capital city of [[Bulgaria]], taking place in March each year. It was established in 1997 and is the only film festival in Bulgaria recognised by [[FIPRESCI]].

==History==
The festival was established in 1997,<ref name=about24th>{{cite web | title=24-rd SOFIA International Film Festival | date=31 March 2020 | url=https://siff.bg/en/24-rd-sofia-international-film-festival | access-date=27 October 2020}}</ref> as a thematic music film festival.<ref>[http://www.sofia.bg/history.asp?lines=1476&nxt=1&update=all Mayor Cinema Events in the history of Sofia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706144254/http://www.sofia.bg/history.asp?lines=1476&nxt=1&update=all |date=2011-07-06 }}(in Bulgarian)</ref>

Since 2003, the festival has included an International Competition and has been included in the FIPRESCI calendar, and a regional and national competition for short films was introduced in the same year (the '''Jameson Short Film Award'''). In 2009 an international [[documentary film]] competition was added.<ref name=about24th/>

In 2010, SIFF was accredited by [[FIAPF]] as a competitive specialised feature film festival, becoming the only Bulgarian film festival to gain such recognition. It is also the only Bulgarian film festival recognised by FIPRESCI.<ref name=about24th/>

For its 10th anniversary as an international cinema event in the year 2010 named Year of Bulgarian Cinema,<ref>[http://admin.bnt.bg/bg/productions/62/edition/9676/pytuvashtoto_kino_na_ekran_predstavja_naj_hubavite_bylgarski_filmi_na_poslednoto_desetiletie 2010 - year of Bulgarian Cinema, BNT] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101118032858/http://admin.bnt.bg/bg/productions/62/edition/9676/pytuvashtoto_kino_na_ekran_predstavja_naj_hubavite_bylgarski_filmi_na_poslednoto_desetiletie |date=2010-11-18 }}(in Bulgarian)</ref><ref>[http://www.bnr.bg/sites/radiobulgaria/Culture/Screen/Pages/2010-BG_kino.aspx 2010 - year of Bulgarian Cinema, BNR] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706143328/http://bnr.bg/sites/radiobulgaria/Culture/Screen/Pages/2010-BG_kino.aspx |date=2011-07-06 }}(in Bulgarian)</ref><ref>[http://www.vesti.bg/?tid=40&oid=2700191 2010 - year of Bulgarian Cinema,vesti.bg](in Bulgarian)</ref> Sofia International Film Festival received as present the recognition from [[FIAPF]](International Federation of Film Producers Associations) - it was accredited <ref>[http://www.fiapf.org/intfilmfestivals_sites02.asp List of competitive specialised feature film festivals]</ref> as competitive festival specialized in first and second films. Since its creation the director of the festival has been Stefan Kitanov.<ref>[https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117992461?refCatId=3194 Stefan Kitanov]</ref><ref>[https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118000535?query=Stefan+Kitanov Funding shortfall can't stop Sofia fest]</ref>

The 2020 edition of the festival was postponed from its initial March dates and split into two parts, rolled out in June and September, because of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite web |title= FESTIVALS: Sofia Film Festival 2020 Announces Restart |date=17 June 2020 |url=https://www.filmneweurope.com/news/bulgaria-news/item/120141-festivals-sofia-film-festival-2020-announces-restart | access-date=8 March 2021}}</ref> Subsequently, the 2021 edition of the festival, which is also the 25th anniversary edition, will be held both online and offline in a hybrid format.<ref>{{cite web |title=25-th SOFIA International Film Festival |url=https://siff.bg/en/25-th-sofia-international-film-festival | access-date=8 March 2021}}</ref>

==Description==
Featured in ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Top 50 [[film festival]]s in 2007,<ref>{{cite web | title=50 unmissable film festivals | website=Variety | date=8 September 2007 | url=https://variety.com/2007/film/markets-festivals/50-unmissable-film-festivals-1117971644/ | access-date=27 October 2020}}</ref> the event presents Bulgaria to the world as the host one of the important [[film festivals in Europe]] and takes place annually in March. It brings contemporary world cinema to the domestic audience in Bulgaria and the latest in [[Cinema of Bulgaria|Bulgarian cinema]] to the rest of the world.

The festival is organised by Art Fest under the auspices of the [[Municipality of Sofia]] and in partnership with the [[Ministry of Culture (Bulgaria)|Bulgarian Ministry of Culture]], the [[National Palace of Culture]], the [[Bulgarian National Film Center]] and [[Bulgarian National Television]] with the support of the [[Media Plus|Creative Europe Media]], the [[LUX Film Prize]] and other corporate and institutional sponsors.<ref>{{cite web | title=Partners | url=https://siff.bg/en/partners | language=la | access-date=27 October 2020}}</ref>
==Past attendees==
[[File:John_Savage_-_Sofia,_Bulgaria.jpg|thumb|[[John Savage (actor)|John Savage]] discussing ''[[Hair (film)|Hair]]'' at Sofia International Film Festival, March 2017]]
Some of the filmmakers and other professionals who have attended the festival include [[Zlatko Topčić]] ([[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]), [[Wim Wenders]], [[Volker Schlöndorff]], [[Katja Riemann]] and [[Karl Baumgartner]] (Germany), [[Alan Parker]], [[Peter Greenaway]], [[Terry Jones]], [[Michael Palin]], [[Tony Palmer]] and [[David Mackenzie (director)|David Mackenzie]] (United Kingdom), [[Nikita Mikhalkov]], [[Andrei Konchalovsky]], [[Karen Shakhnazarov]] and [[Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov]] (Russia), [[Jiří Menzel]], [[Jan Svěrák]], [[Jan Hřebejk]] and [[Petr Zelenka]] (Czech Republic), [[Emir Kusturica]] (Yugoslavia), [[Krzysztof Zanussi]] (Poland), [[Otar Iosseliani]] (Georgia), [[Jean-Claude Carrière]], [[Agnès Varda]], [[Siegfried (composer)|Siegfried]] and [[Jacques Dorfmann]] (France), [[Assumpta Serna]] (Spain), [[Bent Hamer]] and [[Unni Straume]] (Norway), [[Jafar Panahi]] and [[Babak Payami]] (Iran), [[Jerry Schatzberg]], [[Michael Wadleigh]] and [[Lech Kowalski]] (USA), [[Jos Stelling]] (the Netherlands), [[Mika Kaurismäki]] (Finland), the director of [[499 (film)|''499'']], Rodrigo Reyes (Mexico), [[Friðrik Þór Friðriksson]] (Iceland), [[Lone Scherfig]] (Denmark), [[Kornél Mundruczó]] (Hungary), [[Goran Marković (film director)|Goran Markovic]], [[Goran Paskaljević]], [[Radivoje Andric]], [[Dusan Milic]], [[Srđan Karanović]] and [[Srđan Dragojević]] (Serbia) and many others.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{official|https://siff.bg/}}

[[Category:Film festivals in Bulgaria| ]]
[[Category:Annual events in Sofia]]
[[Category:Film festivals established in 1997]]

Sofia International Film Festival - Revision history

Flying Bee: Created page with "{{use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} ''SIFF Logo'' '''Sofia International Film Festival''' ('''SIFF''') (Bulgarian: '..."