Cinalfama is an association that promotes events that seek out and amplify emerging voices in world independent cinema. By doing so, we aim to revitalize one of Lisbon's oldest neighborhoods, Alfama, and recover its sense of community, which has been "numb" due to a profound transformation experienced in recent years.

The Seasonal Screenings and Awards are regular cinema competitions happening in January, April and October.

The winning films of each of the three editions (Jan, Apr, Oct), will be showcased in our annual outdoor cinema event, Cinalfama Lisbon International Film Festival, in July 2022.

We hold a second Open Call for the Festival, with different competitive categories: https://filmfreeway.com/CinalfamaLisbonInternationalFilmFestival

Awards & Prizes

Competition & Awards
Up-and-coming directors, screenwriters, music composers and filmmakers from all over the world submit their work ahead of our 3 seasonal events: January, April and October ,at which we present our jury’s final selection.

Categories
Best Medium or Feature Film
Best Short Film
Best Debut Film
Best Director
Best Actor/ Actress
Best Screenplay

We invite the winning directors, screenwriters and music supervisors or composers to present their work in the heart of Lisbon's old town, Alfama.

The selected, nominated and awarded films promotional material is shared on our website and on our social media platforms.

All winners will receive a laurel and a certificate.

Winning films will be promoted at our partner festivals.

Access to ECU Paris International Festival. Winners will have a privileged selection viewing at ÉCU. Several Cinalfama awarded films were selected and awarded at ÉCU as well.

The winners will have the opportunity to schedule a one-to-one mentor session with members of our renowned jury.

Rules & Terms

The person responsible for submitting the film certifies that he has all the rights and authorizations necessary to submit the film, including, but not limited to image rights, talent releases, soundtrack and/or source music releases; and assumes all responsibility for their material. Cinalfama Lisbon Screening and Awards accepts no responsibility, financial or otherwise, for any film submitted to the festival.

Every entry/submission will be judged based on its directing, acting, technical, and artistic merits, as related to the submission. All decisions made by the judge (s) are considered final and incontestable.

We reserve the right not to give all of the possible awards if we don't receive enough entries in a particular category or if none of the submissions meet our high judging standards.

​There can be, if the jury by its own quality so decides, two winners ex aequo in any of the categories.

The official selection is composed of 5 nominees, 1 winning film per category, as well as honorable mention recipients.

The Cinalfama Awards only accept online screeners. Please submit your film via one of the following online platforms: FilmFreeway; FilmFestivalLife; Click for Festivals, S Filmmaker, Festhome, or Movibeta. We do not accept discs or any downloadable files.

Entry fees are nonrefundable.

Multiple entries are allowed. You can submit more than one film in the same category.

All submitted films will be eligible for the next edition if they have not been awarded in previous editions.

Submissions in languages ​​other than English must be subtitled in English. English subtitles must be embedded in the film. No additional srt files will be accepted.

Only films released after 2015 will be accepted.

Short films with a length of up to 30 minutes and medium or long films with a length of more than 30 minutes will be considered.

Cinalfama reserves the right to disqualify any film whose submitter might be in any way linked to illicit or criminal acts, proven or otherwise.

Selected, nominated, and awarded films' promotional material will be announced and viewable on our website (http://www.cinalfama.com) and on our social media pages.

The awarded films rightful owners of the rights, in each category of every edition, hereby authorize the film's live screening at Cinalfama events and use of relevant content on our social media platforms. This authorization is an indispensable condition for the inclusion in the festival's official selection.
16 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Renato Coelho

    Foi ótimo participar do Cinalfama.

    July 2022
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  • Ishmael Annobil

    I love this festival for the intelligence and personal touch. It is very career affirming to have been recognised by this beautiful platform. Memorable.

    August 2021
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  • Davide Marino

    Lovely selection, amazing quality and outstanding communication. I am sure this festival will become one of the best in Portugal and surely a reference in Lisbon. Thanks so much for appreciating my film and being so kind with me.

    February 2021
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you! Great work Davide. We are very proud to have your film selected. Looking forward to the next one. See you soon!

  • Nico Weber

    It was a very nice experience and a very nice contact. Our film INSIDE PRORA was nominated in the category best long documentary. Unfortunately we did not win. The flood of films that hit the festival in Corona times increased the pressure of competition even more. All the nicer that we also received an explanation from João about the circumstances and such nice encouragement and praise from the festival team. Thank you. That is motivating.

    February 2021
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    Response from festival:

    Inside Prora is excellent Nico and it is highly regarded at Cinalfama. We surely want to follow your career. Thank you!

  • Maxime Demartin

    It was a blast to learn that our film "Fight Lie a Girl" was nominated for best Debut Film. Looking forward to further editions that will hopefully happen IRL.

    February 2021
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    Response from festival:

    It's a super encouraging first film. An excellent rock to build on. Bravo! Good luck and see you soon!