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The NAFA (Nordic Anthropological Film Association (NAFA) International Ethnographic Film Festival (https://nafafilm.org/?q=festival, see also https://nafanetwork.org) is the oldest of its kind in Europe, the first was held at the Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm in 1979. Until 2001 it was held every year in one of the Nordic countries, usually organised by one of the around 20 member institutions. The first festival outside the Nordic countries was held in Cagliari in Sardinia in 2001 and the festival has since been held in either a Nordic country or another European country, being one of the only such festivals with shifting venues and locations.

The NAFA festival is known for its cosy and intimate atmosphere. It believes small may actually be beautiful, no matter whether it is held in a big city, such as Copenhagen in 2023 or Lisbon in 2021, or in a tiny village such as Csehétfalva in Transylvania in 2022. Together with local organisers we do all we can to get the makers of the selected films to the festival, believing that their presence is crucial for stimulating and intellectually satisfying discussions about ethnographic films and documentary films linked in one way or the other to anthropology and cross-cultural understanding.

Sometimes the festival proper has side events such as workshops or academic symposia around a special topic but there are always general festival screenings of films selected by our international film selection committee.

Awards & Prizes

NAFA has deliberately refrained from introducing awards or prizes, our experience being that these may negatively affect the atmosphere of our festival, undermining the intimacy and friendly feeling we aim for. Over the years it has increasingly become clear that, due to the high quality of our selected films, it is in itself an honour to be selected, and we have a reputation for only selecting the best of the best, although often prioritising anthropological relevance and good story-telling over slick technical competence. Selected films are invited to become part of NAFA's online collection (https://nafafilm.org/?q=home) or encouraged to submission for JAF, our Journal of Anthropological Films (https://boap.uib.no/index.php/jaf/index).

Rules & Terms

We quite simply have almost no rules or terms. Contrary to most festivals, for example, we have no rules re year of release. The most important rule is that films that have previously been submitted are not eligible. As to terms, since we are a non-commercial festival/association, we do not pay screening fees.

To qualify for a student submission fee or the waiving of a fee we will need some kind of documentation. Waiving of the fee is normally only given to filmmakers from low-income countries. We are aware that some filmmakers in for example Iran have difficulties transferring money but this in itself does not qualify for a waiver. Individual members of NAFA are exempt from paying the fee. You can become a member of NAFA here: https://nafafilm.org/?q=membership

Submission fees are non-refundable.