Alternativa Film Festival 2026 to Be Held in Colombia, Expands Focus to Asia
Kathmandu – The third edition of the Alternativa Film Festival is set to take place in Colombia in the second quarter of 2026. The festival will feature an expanded prize pool of USD 120,000, a USD 20,000 increase from the previous edition and will include a new award category specifically for a feature film from the festival’s focus region. In 2026, the focus region includes Asia, meaning that feature-length submissions from both Latin America and Asia are now eligible. Short films, however, are limited to filmmakers from Latin America.
Submissions for the 2026 edition will be accepted from June 10 to October 10, 2025. Eligible entries include fiction, documentaries, animations, and hybrid works completed after January 1, 2025. Films that will premiere before August 1, 2025, must be submitted by September 1, while those with later premieres have until the final October 10 deadline. Full eligibility requirements and submission guidelines are available on the official Alternativa website.
The announcement was made during Alternativa’s first press conference in Latin America, held at the 40th Guadalajara International Film Festival. Representatives Liza Surganova (Head of Alternativa), Anna Gudkova (Head of Industry and Labs), and Andjelka Jankovic (Head of Marketing and Communications) presented the upcoming plans and emphasized Alternativa’s dedication to nurturing filmmakers from the Global South. The festival, supported by inDrive, aims to celebrate films that blend artistic quality with meaningful social impact.
A statement from Arsen Tomsky, CEO of inDrive and founder of Alternativa, highlighted the festival’s vision of empowering storytellers without borders. He emphasized that impactful storytelling can challenge injustice and serve communities, echoing inDrive’s broader mission.
Since its inception in Kazakhstan in 2023 and its expansion to Indonesia in 2024, Alternativa has evolved from an awards program into a full-scale film festival. The 2024 edition, held in Yogyakarta, featured 14 public screenings attended by around 2,300 people. It received over 1,000 submissions from 33 countries, with 14 Asian nations represented among the 25 finalists.
Despite its new Latin American location, Alternativa will continue accepting submissions from Asia. Organizers expect increased participation due to the growing interest in the festival. Vietnamese filmmaker Nguyen Duy Anh, who won one of the shorts awards in 2024, described the festival as a place of community and inspiration that deeply influenced his creative practice.
The 2026 festival will include free public screenings, panel discussions, and interactive events to help amplify the impact of the selected films. Additionally, Industry Days will offer professional development opportunities and promote cross-cultural collaboration between filmmakers, producers, and social change advocates. Directors whose films are selected for the Competition will be invited to attend the festival, with travel and accommodation expenses covered.
While details such as the host city, exact dates, and jury members will be shared in the coming months, Alternativa will remain active globally. Its 2025 calendar already includes several initiatives: the Just Futures Impact Story Lab in Bali, the Impact Distribution Lab in Central Asia, film days in Almaty and Jakarta, and an impact campaign in Nepal for the film *Devi*. The festival continues to grow while staying true to its purpose of elevating stories from the Global South and fostering international dialogue through film.
