The fifth edition of the BAFTA Qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) is currently open for submissions. The festival champions artists’ filmmaking, with strands in artists’ film, experimental, documentary and dance, and last year ASFF welcomed Steven Bode, Director of Film and Video Umbrella and Maggie Ellis, Head of Film London’s Artists’ Moving Image Network (FLAMIN), among other leading art professionals to share their expertise with filmmakers and audiences through masterclasses and hosted networking sessions.

With the call for entries open, the festival presents an opportunity for artist filmmakers to enter their work and be in with a chance to showcase their films to thousands of audiences at the four day event in November, while also networking with other artist filmmakers and meeting those behind key art organisations to build an essential contacts list.

ASFF 2014 screened 300 films from 40 countries worldwide across 15 unique venues in the city of York. These included artistic spaces such as award-winning art gallery New School House Gallery and white cube space According to McGee. The winning artist film was announced at the closing night ceremony and was awarded to Brazilian filmmaker Danilo Godoy for his work Forgotten Memories From The End Of The World.

In addition to screenings and the awards line-up, prizes include screenings in various guest programmes at other film festivals and editorial coverage in Aesthetica Magazine, which attracts a global readership of 186,000. Aesthetica reviews must-see independent film releases in each issue, and offers insights into the industry, covering artist filmmakers such as Isaac Julien, Steve McQueen and Michel Gondry.

The deadline for entering ASFF 2015 is 31 May. For more information and to submit visit www.asff.co.uk/submit

Credits
1. Sasha Litvintseva, Alluvion (2013). Artists’ Film, ASFF 2014.