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Alternativa.

Open call

June, 17 — August, 18

If you’re experiencing troubles while submitting your film or you don’t have an access to FilmFreeway.com, please contact us at info@alternativa.film, and we’ll be happy to assist you by sending a separate application form.

Total Prize Fund

$100 000

Focus Region for 2024

South East Asia

Alternativa Film awards

ALTERNATIVA FILM AWARDS 2024

2024 2023

The Alternativa Film Awards is an alternative system for recognizing professionals from developing film industries, and it aims to make them more visible on a global scale. It honors both the artistic merits and potential social impact of cinema, the films that can bring change to the world and society, while appealing to a broad audience.

Rules & Regulations Privacy Policy Alternativa Impact Form

Open call

June, 17 — August, 18

If you’re experiencing troubles while submitting your film or you don’t have an access to FilmFreeway.com, please contact us at info@alternativa.film, and we’ll be happy to assist you by sending a separate application form.

Submit

Total Prize Fund

$100 000

Focus Region for 2024

South East Asia

  • To strengthen the ties between cinema and social change.
  • To find brave new voices and amplify them on a global scale.
  • To support filmmakers who need it most by providing resources and networking within the international community.
  • Courage: We dare people to follow a path of their own.
  • Empowerment: We support local communities by giving them a voice in the film industry.
  • Cooperation: We foster respectful dialogue and collaboration within the industry and among different cultures.
  • Openness and transparency: We are transparent about our work and encourage others to do the same.
  • Inclusiveness: We provide equal opportunities and strive to eliminate discrimination.
  • Social impact: We promote positive social change through the films and filmmakers we support.
  • Involvement: We look for engaged cinema that aims to speak to a wide audience worldwide.
The Alternativa Film Awards celebrate films that excel artistically and have the potential to make a significant societal impact. By impact, we mean the positive changes that have occurred or may occur as a result of the film’s distribution or distribution strategy. These changes can affect individuals, local communities, public opinion, and societies both in the region of film production and beyond.

Our goal is to bring these films and their creators to global attention and help them to reach a wider audience.
Fiction films, documentaries, animation, and hybrid films made by directors from Asia and completed after January 1, 2023, are eligible. This year, we accept short films of any genre only from Southeast Asia.

Please refer to the Rules and Regulations for a full list of eligible countries and detailed film requirements.
Applications can only be submitted in English.
A shortlist of Alternativa Film Awards nominees will be drawn up by our Selection Committee consisting of film critics and journalists, curators, and artistic and programming directors of film festivals, as well as of impact producers from Southeast Asia and other regions.

The Alternativa Film Awards winners will be chosen by our International Jury, comprising film directors and producers from Asia and other regions, as well as community leaders and NGO representatives. The International Jury changes every year. The list of this year's Jury members will be announced on this website.
As an international initiative, the Alternativa Film Awards aim to strengthen cultural ties between regions. In 2023, our focus region was Central Asia. Having chosen Southeast Asia as our focus region this year, we hope to introduce more filmmakers from all Asian countries to our initiative and invite them to participate in the awards.

Given the project’s focus region, in 2024 the Shorts Award is exclusively dedicated to short films from Southeast Asia. The core of the Selection Committee and the International Jury will consist of film industry professionals from this region.
The Alternativa Film Festival marks an evolution of the project, showcasing the awards nominees to a wide audience. It will present free public screenings of all the nominated titles in the lead up to the awards ceremony in November.

NOMINATIONS

The Alternativa Film Awards are presented in five categories with a total prize fund of $100,000. We also present a special Resonance award, which does not come with a monetary prize.

FUTURE VOICE

This award is given to a filmmaker who has the potential to contribute to change, both in the film industry and in society in general. The award aims to support new talent and is given for a first or second feature.

SPOTLIGHT

This award recognizes a film highlighting a topic or story that would have otherwise remained below the public’s radar. It emphasises the importance of bringing overlooked social issues to the forefront on screen.

ALTER

This award recognizes a film that encourages social change. The award is given to a film that addresses critical issues (human rights, migration, environment, etc.) and has the potential to impact society.

NATIVA

This award goes to a film that touches on national or cultural identity topics. The award is given for representing a country or a region and putting that place or community on the map.

SHORTS AWARD

This award goes to two short films produced in the focus region. The award aims to support filmmakers who boldly forge their own paths by creating films that have a clear impact vision.

RESONANCE

A special award for a film that has achieved outstanding success with the audience.

*This prize is not part of the open call, and does not carry a monetary reward.

SELECTION COMMITTEE

A team of professionals, including festival and cultural center curators, film critics, directors, producers, and cultural journalists from Southeast Asia and other regions. Together, they review submissions and create the shortlist of nominees.

Adrian Jonathan PASARIBU

Indonesia

Yuki ADITYA

Indonesia

Martin HORYNA

Czechia

Gulnara ABIKEYEVA

Kazakhstan

Philip CHEAH

Singapore

Sharofat ARABOVA

Tajikistan

Chong Lee YOW

Malaysia

HÀ Lệ Diễm

Vietnam

Marcus Mạnh Cường Vũ

Vietnam

TRƯƠNG Quế Chi

Vietnam

Rajan KATHET

Nepal

John Badalu

Indonesia

Alternativa Film Awards 2023 Winners

“For us not only to get nominated but to win something, it's totally unprecedented.”

Sunir Pandey and Rajan Kathet, Nepal

No Winter Holidays — Nativa Award 2023

“This is one hundred percent a step forward for our country. Many thanks to the organizers. It was at a high level, such awesome energy, everything was done genuinely, with a lot of soul and a cool approach.”

Askhat Kuchinchirekov, Kazakhstan

Bauryna Salu — Future Voice Award 2023

“I am glad that the documentary received this attention. This is very important for me and for my colleagues.”

Katerina Suvorova, Kazakhstan

Qoryqpa — Alter Award 2023

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Adrian Jonathan PASARIBU

Indonesia

Adrian Jonathan Pasaribu is the co-founder of Cinema Poetica — a collective of film critics, activists, and researchers in Indonesia. Having earned a Master’s degree in Film Studies from the Universiteit van Amsterdam in 2023, Adrian nowadays works as a curator for Jakarta Film Week and as a researcher for Arts Equator’s Southeast Asian Arts Censorship Database.

Yuki ADITYA

Indonesia

Yuki Aditya (b. Jakarta) graduated from the University of Indonesia majoring in Fiscal Administration. He is now the Artistic Director of ARKIPEL International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival which has been held since 2013, and also acted as a producer of films produced by Forum Lenteng; Golden Memories: Petite histoire of Indonesian Cinema (2018), Om Pius…This is My Home, Come the Sleeping (2019), Dolo (2021). Along with I Gde Mika, was a co-creator of the film The Myriad of Faces of Future Challengers (2022). At Forum Lenteng, he is part of the routine screening program team curating world cinema with Indonesian subtitles for the cinema literacy program. He has participated as a jury member in several film festivals, such as Kasseler Dokfest (Germany), Festival Film Dokumenter (Indonesia), and Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival.

Martin HORYNA

Czechia

Martin Horyna is a freelance story consultant, curator, festival programmer, and occasional film critic. He has been working for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) since 2011, initially as a programmer, currently he advises KVIFF on Asian cinema and experimental films. He serves as the acting president of FIPRESCI's Czech national section and is a member of EFA and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund's expert committee. In 2019, Screen International listed him among the "Future Leaders" of film programming and curation.

Gulnara ABIKEYEVA

Kazakhstan

Gulnara Abikeeva is a film scholar, Doctor of Art History, President of the Association of Film Critics of Kazakhstan, and a board member of the Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (NETPAC). She is also a recipient of the French l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
She regularly participates as a jury member at Berlinale and other prestigious film festivals, and served as the artistic director of the Eurasia International Film Festival in Almaty in 2005-2013, 2022. Among her books on Central Asian cinema are Cinema in Central Asia: Rewriting Cultural Histories, published in the United Kingdom, and The Unknown New Wave of Central Asian Cinema, published in South Korea.

Philip CHEAH

Singapore

Philip Cheah is a film critic and programme consultant and advisor to film festivals in Shanghai (China), Jogjakarta (Indonesia), Alternativa Film Awards (Central Asia) and Hanoi (Vietnam).
He co-founded the South-east Asian Film Festival and is Patron of the SEA (South-east Asia) Screen Academy in Makassar, Indonesia. He is also Spiritual Advisor to the Bakunawa Young Cinema Film Festival (Philippines).
He is co-editor of the books, Garin Nugroho: And the Moon Dances; Noel Vera: Critic After Dark: a Review of Philippine Cinema and Ngo Phuong Lan: Modernity and Nationality in Vietnamese Cinema. He is also editor of the book, When East Meets East: The Emerging Asian Film Co-Production Landscape.

Sharofat ARABOVA

Tajikistan

Sharofat Arabova is a film director, screenwriter, expert in Asian cinema, and author of monographs on Tajik cinema, as well as a PhD in historical sciences. She is also a member of the Filmmakers’ Union of Tajikistan and the Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (NETPAC). She regularly serves on the juries of Asian and European film festivals.

Chong Lee YOW

Malaysia

Chong Lee Yow is a film lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. Apart from teaching, researching, and making films, he curates and directs the longest-running short film festival in Malaysia, the Mini Film Festival.

HÀ Lệ Diễm

Vietnam

Ha Le Diem is a Vietnamese director and artist. In 2016 she organized filmmaking classes for Hmong children. One of the participants became the main character of “Children of the Mist,” Diem’s first feature. The film premiered at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam in 2021, where Diem won the Best Directing award.
During its festival run, the film was invited to around 150 events and garnered 36 awards. It was also shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature at the 95th Oscars. Diem is now making her second film, “Long Way North," in northwestern Vietnam.

Marcus Mạnh Cường Vũ

Vietnam

Marcus Manh Cuong Vu is a Vietnamese filmmaker. His debut feature MEMENTO MORI: EARTH (2022), for which he wrote, directed, and co-produced had its world premiere in the New Currents section of the 27th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). The film won the NETPAC Award at the 1st Danang Asian Film Festival 2023. Marcus has regularly taught scriptwriting techniques in basic and advanced workshops since 2020. He joined the S-Express network in 2016 and is responsible for Vietnamese short films. He also curated films for SeaShorts, the Asian Film Symposium, Alternativa.

TRƯƠNG Quế Chi

Vietnam

Truong Que Chi is a Hanoi-based artist and curator working in the domains of cinema, visual arts, and performing arts. In 2022 she was a co-curator “Echoes, Embers – A Story of Vietnamese and French cinema” at the Asian Film Archive, Singapore. She also served as a curator for Như Trăng Trong Đêm (Like the Moon in the Night Sky) project. This series of events, based in Hanoi, focuses on Vietnamese cinema across different genres and periods.
Que Chi has collaborated with various art spaces such as District Berlin, Germany (2023), Kings Artists Run Gallery, Australia (2020), A+ Works of Art Gallery, Malaysia (2019), Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film, Singapore (2017) in showcasing moving image works from Vietnam.
Since 2015, she has been a board member of the Hanoi-based artist initiative Nhà Sàn Collective and a film lecturer at the Hanoi University of Theatre and Cinema.

Rajan KATHET

Nepal

Rajan is a filmmaker based in Kathmandu, working in both fiction and documentary films. He is an alumnus of the European Masters DOCNOMADS program (2014-2016), Berlinale Talents (2017, 2024), and the Global Media Makers LA Residency (2021/22). Rajan's first feature documentary, No Winter Holidays, won the NATIVA Award at the Alternativa Film Awards 2023 in Kazakhstan and is also a recipient of the DMZ Docs Industry Fund, the HAF/WIP Documentary, and the HAF Goes to Cannes Award.
Rajan recently served as a juror for the IDA Documentary Awards 2023 and is both a board member and a selection committee member at the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival. Rajan is a tutor in local film schools and filmmaking workshops. Additionally, he collaborates with national and international filmmakers through his production company, Salpa Films.

John Badalu

Indonesia

John Badalu has been working in the film industry for more than 20 years. He has worked for festivals like Berlinale, the Shanghai International Film Festival, and BiFan (Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival) as a film delegate and scout. He is also the co-founder of a queer and human rights-focused Q! Film Festival in Indonesia (2002-2016). He is an Ashoka Fellow. As an independent producer, he has produced several award-winning films that premiered in Cannes, Berlin, Sundance, Locarno and Rotterdam.