ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival 2018 Opens for Submissions

ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival (ShPFF) will return on June 9-17, 2018. We are very excited to bring the community together once again around LGBTQ films as we celebrate 10 years of ShanghaiPRIDE — and 10 years of sharing our stories.

The festival’s cinematic component has come a long way, evolving from a single film night to a full-blown festival that supports emerging Chinese filmmakers while also bringing cutting-edge international queer cinema to Shanghai.

In its early years, ShPFF worked with the Beijing Queer Film Festival to host film screenings and discussions. Since 2012, we’ve collaborated with foreign consulates in Shanghai to bring in foreign LGBTQ films. In 2014, ShPFF created an independent category for Chinese LGBTQ films.

In 2015, ShPFF relaunched with the first annual Chinese LGBTQ Short Film Competition, the winner of which gets to compete in the U.K.’s Iris Prize Festival. ShPFF also independently sourced new international films for the first time, with an appearance by famous actress Peipei Cheng. The same year, we co-founded the Asia-Pacific Queer Film Festival Alliance (APQFFA) alongside ten other LGBTQ film festivals from the region.

Furthering our relationships across Asia, ShPFF collaborated with AKS Pakistan in 2016. The director of “East Palace, West Palace,” Yuan Zhang, also joined us for a great session to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film, while esteemed actor Sir Ian McKellen sent his wishes to the festival. This year, ShPFF traveled to Sydney, Hong Kong, and Taipei to speak about Chinese LGBTQ films. We have also collaborated with BFI Flare and the Berlin Film Festival Teddy Award and invited winning films to screen at ShPFF.

ShPFF 2018 will once again offer an exciting array of events, as well as opportunities for filmmakers. The film competition submissions open today, and we would like to welcome Chinese and international LGBTQ films and filmmakers to join us on this amazing journey. There are two categories in this year’s competition:

Chinese Short Film Awards
The Chinese Short Film Awards invite filmmakers to submit works of fiction, documentary, experimental film, animation, and more that tell stories about LGBTQ Chinese characters. The film length is limited to 40 minutes. Filmmakers of all backgrounds and experience levels are eligible.

Our grand prize includes the chance to win funding for your next film through our partner, Iris Prize Festival. In 2017, the top Iris award was £30,000 (around RMB 300,000).

Click here to download the submission form and enter ShPFF Chinese Short Film Competition.

World Cinema
The World Cinema category invites filmmakers to submit works of fiction, documentary, experimental film, animation, and more that tell stories about LGBTQ characters. There is no limit to film length. Filmmakers of all backgrounds and experience levels are eligible.

Click here to enter the ShPFF World Cinema.

ShPFF Submission Requirements
1. Films must focus on LGBTQ subjects.
2. The filmmakers themselves do not need to identify as LGBTQ.
3. The submission period is December 26, 2017 to April 15, 2018.
4. Films can be in any language. Films not in Mandarin Chinese MUST include Mandarin Chinese subtitles. Films not in English MUST include English subtitles.
5. Films must have been produced after January 1, 2017, to be eligible.

Please direct any questions to films@shanghaipride.com.