The Alternativa Film Festival is an alternative system for recognizing filmmakers from the film industries of the Global South, enabling their work to reach broad and diverse audiences and build bridges across regions. We honor films that bring positive change to the world and society.
Our Festival is nomadic and moves to a new focus region with each edition. We launched in Central Asia (Kazakhstan) in 2023 and expanded to Southeast Asia (Indonesia) in 2024. In 2026, we are heading to Latin America, furthering our mission to spotlight unique voices in Global South cinema.
IndiaSpotlightWinner 24
Coming of age story of a 12 year old girl with albinism.
VietnamFuture VoiceWinner 24
A woman tries to cling onto dimming links to her past after inheriting a pygmy slow loris from her long-estranged husband. Meanwhile, her niece prepares for marriage as the young couple ponders their gloomy future together. The present and the complex echoes of Vietnamese history are entwined before a contemplative and poetic perspective.
Melina is a young Iranian girl with divorced parents, living with her grandparents. Celebrating her 9th birthday, Melina legally comes of age in Iranian society, allowing her to take her custody case to court to get the legal permission to live with her mother. Melina is growing up much too fast having to deal with these adult issues. As she starts to realize her mother doesn’t want to take her in, Melina decides not to bring her case to court, knowing it won’t solve her problems. Instead, she holds her own trail of her mother in an intimate but hard confrontation.
When a 21-year-old girl falls in love with a boy from an oppressed caste, her infuriated family believes that she is possessed by his love spell. They ruthlessly drag her to a distant village shaman to break the spell and erase all her memories of him until she forgets his face by performing witchcraft and sacrificing a rooster. The girl’s innocent future is now dictated by the violent misogynistic patriarchs and their regressive ideologies. This one-day travel exposes the dangerous influence of caste, religion and chauvinism on an average Indian family. Will the girl and the rooster survive this lunacy or will they be victims to their belief system?
In 2024, Alternativa expanded to Southeast Asia, hosting the Awards and Festival in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, introducing festival screenings of the nominated titles alongside impact discussions for the first time.
The Alternativa Film Awards are presented in six categories with a total prize fund of $120,000. Fiction, documentary, hybrid and animated films of all genres compete together for the Awards.
Recognizing bold new talent. This award honors a first or second feature that demonstrates outstanding creative vision and the potential to bring positive change to both cinema and society.
Celebrating cinema that reveals the unseen. This award honors a film that brings overlooked stories into the light, inviting awareness and deeper public engagement with what is often ignored.
Championing the catalysts for change. This award honors a film that addresses critical issues and can inspire action, motivating audiences to take tangible steps toward transformation.
Illuminating identity. This award honors a film that explores national or cultural identity, portraying a place or community with depth and care, and giving global recognition to local voices.
Discovering the storytellers of tomorrow. This award honors two short films from the current Alternativa Focus Region and supports filmmakers who boldly forge their own paths with a strong vision for impact.
Revealing a region’s challenges and hopes. This award honors a film that offers insight into the complexities of the current Alternativa Focus Region. With clarity and urgency, it depicts the realities shaping the future of this part of the world.
Alternativa offers free educational programs for filmmakers at different stages of their journey, who explore social issues in their countries, and who seek to develop their homeland’s film industry and give a voice to their local communities.
