Welcome to the Through Women's Eyes International Film Festival in beautiful Sarasota, Florida! Our next festival will be held March 5, 6, and 7, 2021. Now in our 22nd year, we are a mission-driven festival, dedicated to showcasing women filmmakers and selecting films which address issues inadequately represented in mainstream media. We pride ourselves on our international character and routinely accept films from all over the world.

We actively seek films that reflect the LGBTQ experience, films that showcase important social themes and current events (from any country), and films reflecting the full diversity of global women.

We seek films which are:

- made by female filmmakers; or
- focus on issues of particular interest to women (by any filmmaker); or
- focus on women's stories, and lives (by any filmmaker).

We strongly encourage selected filmmakers to attend TWE; it is a great opportunity to publicize the film, answer questions from the audience, and participate in our receptions and panel discussions with other filmmakers. We have a very engaged base of supporters who host filmmakers and appreciate the entire weekend.

TWE is all-volunteer production of the non-profit Gulf Coast Chapter of UN Women USA; all net proceeds support the work of UN Women, the premier agency working for gender equality and women's empowerment in over 90 countries.

Awards & Prizes

Awards will be selected for:

Best Narrative Feature
Best Documentary Feature
Best Narrative Short
Best Documentary Short
Best Emerging Filmmaker
Honourable Mention Emerging Filmmaker
Best of Festival Award
Audience Choice Awards

(Awards subject to change based on submissions.)

Rules & Terms

1. All film submissions will be reviewed 2 - 3 screeners; high-scoring films will then be reviewed by our advisory panel and referred to a final selection committee.

2. All films must be in English OR contain English subtitles. All subtitles must be clearly within the visible frame.

3. All film genres are accepted.

4. Our Festival includes an Emerging Filmmaker showcase; student submissions are encouraged. NOTE: Emerging FIlmmakers must be enrolled in an accredited film school OR be under age 30 at the time of submission. Documentation demonstrating the above will be expected.

5. Films must have been completed AFTER January 1, 2019.

6. If selected, TWE has the right to use stills, posters, titles, or any information from the submission for promotional purposes.

7. No film submitted to TWE may have been viewed publicly, either in theatrical release or through electronic or digital media or DVD sales, prior to March 6, 2020. Showing in a recognized film festival before TWE is permitted; there are NO OTHER EXCEPTIONS.

8. EXHIBITION COPY OF ALL FILMS ACCEPTED BY TWE MUST BE IN DCP FORMAT ONLY. DCPs are accepted ONLY by upload to our digital partner (at the filmmaker's fee of approximately $35) OR by physical delivery (mail). THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS EXHIBITION FORMAT. Filmmakers needing a professionally encoded DCP will receive discounted rates through our media partner. All details will be provided to accepted filmmakers.

14 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Mary Sewell

    We were so very grateful to be included in the TWEIFF 2020 line up.
    On arrival, we were introduced to like minded filmmakers, all with passionate stories and compelling messages.

    Hats off to the committee and their hardworking group of upbeat volunteers who brought great energy to the festival.

    Nga mihi

    Mary Sewell LYSB

    May 2020
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  • Waleska Santiago

    Great festival, great people and hosts! Thank you!

    April 2020
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  • Jillie Simon

    We were honored to be a part of the Through Women's Eyes Int'l. Film Fest with our film "A Chance". The communication was excellent, the team was lovely, they had packed full audiences and their mission can't be beat ( & the fact that money raised goes to the US National Committee for UN Women (USNC), which works in over 90 countries in support of gender equality and women's empowerment is a fantastic bonus!) --The quality of the films we saw was excellent, there were interviews with local tv and great opening and closing receptions for the filmmakers to mingle at - all this in a 3 day festival. Bravo to Debbie Vale, Scott Osborne and all their wonderful team! -I highly recommend this festival to all filmmakers who have films that meet the criteria.

    March 2020
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  • Catherine Murphy

    We love love love the TWE festival! While sadly unable to attend in person this year because of Coronavirus-related concerns, we were delighted and honored that our short film was selected for this festival this year, and enjoyed all aspects of planning & communicating with the organizers. Hope to attend in 2021 with a new film or just as part of the audience!

    March 2020
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  • Lynn Cunningham

    I really enjoyed this festival. The audiences were great, diverse, different ages, and very enthusiastic. The staff is friendly. The fact that its a relatively small festival makes it easy to get to know other film makers as well as festival goers. We got a number of great contacts and offers for future screenings. Highly recommended.

    March 2020
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