Antalya Film Festival hosts Clermont-Ferrand Festival director Roger Gonin

The 53rd Antalya Film Festival has shown a particular interest in short films this year. In addition to short film screenings before the feature films, short film workshops are also being held as part of the festival.

Hosting Roger Gonin, the director of Clermont-Ferrand Festival on Wednesday at Glass Pyramid's Attalia Hall, the Short Film Workshop offered a chance to the audience and short film enthusiasts to get to the know the said festival and short film industry better.

The Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, the world's most prominent cinema event dedicated to short films, is the second largest film festival in France after Cannes regarding the attending audience and professionals. Holding a panel as part of the workshop, Gonin informed the attendees about Clermont-Ferrand and the growing short film industry in both France and around the world.

Gonin said with 23 permanent staff and over 300 volunteers, Clermont-Ferrand provides an international platform for short filmmakers to present their films and show their talents in national and international competition categories. Suggesting that Clermont-Ferrand paves the way for filmmakers to come together with the sector professionals, Gonin said by making online applications through the shortfilmdepot.com website established as part of the festival, filmmakers can easily submit their films to over 60 film festivals, without paying any fees.

Recalling that nearly 40 percent of the short film industry consists of female filmmakers, Gonin said the industry has been growing gradually by improving and drawing a great deal of interest from young filmmakers each year.

Pointing out that diversity is one of the main objectives of the festival, Gonin said they try to select one film from each country for each program in order to preserve diversity and open doors to new experiences. Comparing the Clermont-Ferrand to other film festivals, Gonin said while other festivals such as Cannes require a first screening, Clermont-Ferrand do not ask for a premiere condition for the short films, meaning that they might have been previously screened at other festivals or gatherings before participating in the said platform, and it also provides a distribution opportunity for the short filmmakers.

Suggesting that festivals should aim to make contributions to the revival of the short film industry, Gonin said the growing interest in short filmmaking proves the support the industry needs from the authorities.

Short Film Workshops aim to contribute to the development of the Turkish short film industry by bringing together movie-buffs with different guests and topics throughout the film festival.