Curaçao International Film Festival Opens Submissions for Caribbean Filmmakers

Call for Entry Caribbean Focus and Watapana Shorts

AWILLEMSTAD – The Curaçao International Film Festival (CIFF) has officially opened its Call for Entries for the upcoming 13th edition. Filmmakers of short and feature-length films from Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, Saba, Suriname, and the diaspora are invited to submit their work for the festival, which will take place from April 13 to 18, 2027, at The Movies Curaçao.

Submissions are open for both the Caribbean Focus category (feature films of 45 minutes or longer) and Watapana Shorts (short films of up to 45 minutes). Short films selected for Watapana Shorts will also be eligible for the prestigious Watapana Award. The award comes with a cash prize of Xcg 5,000 for the winner and Xcg 1,500 for the runner-up. In addition, the winning films will be screened at the renowned Morelia International Film Festival in Mexico and Film by the Sea in the Netherlands. Submissions are completely free and must be received no later than December 1, 2026.

With this initiative, CIFF once again underscores its commitment to developing local and regional talent. “Through our festival, we want to provide stories from the region with an international platform and strengthen the connection between filmmakers and audiences,” the organization states. “Encouraging Caribbean filmmakers to share their work is an essential step in the continued growth of our own film industry.”

Eligibility and Submissions

Both fiction and non-fiction productions made between January 2025 and December 2026 are eligible. Films must include English and/or Dutch subtitles, with preference given to films that will premiere at CIFF 2027.

Filmmakers can submit their work by emailing CIFF2027.submissions@gmail.com. The email should include a link to the film (via an online platform such as Vimeo), along with a short synopsis and a biography of the filmmaker. The selection committee will announce the selected films at the end of January 2027.

Note to editors
For more information about your submisson, please contact:
Petra van Dongen– ciff2027.submissions@gmail.com