This post will go through a compendium of festivals that concern the areas of film, sound for film, sound design, and sound art that I’ve collected throughout the years. Some of these festivals I have personally attended, and some others I look forward to going to and even participating in as an artist.
Berlin international sound design competition (BIFSC)
BIFSC is a competition that tries to emerge sound designers from different branches of audiovisual mediums (Film, TV, and Games). The main idea of this “festival” is for designers to be exposed to the industry and network with other designers. It also comes with awards. There’s also a category for Film Scoring.
How it works?
Participants don’t share their previous work. Instead, it is sent to participants a 5-minute award-winning short film which they would have to do sound design over. Later on, they will have one month to complete the task. Registration is 30€ (£26).
Awards
The awards are given after a selection of 10 finalists. The first three get to collaborate with the BIFSC Film Scoring competition winners, signifying a networking opportunity for them. Apart from that, winners will receive many other prizes, such as Sound Libraries, plugins and more. Link: www.bifsc.org/sound-design-competition
A’ Design awards
A’ Design Awards and Competition is for designers, innovators and companies that want to highlight themselves to attract the attention of media, publishers and buyers. It is free to sign-up for the A’ Design Award, it is free to upload your design and it is free, anonymous, confidential and obligation-free to obtain a preliminary score, before you nominate your work for the A’ Design Award consideration. This event has a sound design category called A’ Music, Audio and Sound Design Award, where participants.
How it works?
Participants have to submit their own work and these are selected according to aesthetical and emotional aspects of the audios.
Awards
Extensive and exclusive marketing and communication services to promote the success of winning the A’ Award. Furthermore, the winning designs appear on the A’ best designs book which is available worldwide, this book is furthermore distributed to the high-profile magazine editors, design oriented companies and relevant parties. The winning designs are also exhibited at our museum, and the best designs will be picked for the permanent exhibition. The winners appear on magazines, newspapers, webzines and many other publishing mediums.
Prix Ars Electronica
The Prix Ars Electronica is the world’s longest-running media art competition. The areas that are emphasized are electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture, music and sound art. Many sound artists participated and won awards at this event that takes place in Linz, Austria – Chris Watson, Ryoji Ikeda, Francisco López, and many more.
How it works?
Awards
Sound Of the year awards
SOTY Awards or SOTYA is a competition that celebrates sound in all its forms and from all corners of the world. Their award is mainly set online, but last year they had a little ceremony in the British Library. Their juri comprised people from many different of the sound spectrum like sound and audio artists, audio producers, artist and ecologists, sound and installation artists, field recordists, mixing engineers, academics, and sound designers. SOTYA partner with Category partners this year include The British Library, Natural History Museum, Quiet Mark, Accidental, the Southbank Centre’s National Poetry Library, Sound On Sound, and UK Hearing Conservation Association.
How it works
The Categories are
- Minute of Listening X SOTYA
- Sound of the Year
- A Disapearing Sound: A sound worth saving
- Composed with Sound
- Best Natural Sound
- Best Imagined Sound
- Best Innovation in Sound Technology
- Most Unpleasent Sound
- Best Sound Innovation in Everyday Life
Awards
the winner of each category will receive a pair of basicUcho microphones – a set of phantom-powered, high-quality omnidirectional electret microphones courtesy of LOM.
Other Competitive Festivals
- ISFMF – The Internationl Sound and Film Music Festival (Pula, Croatia)
- Sound and Music Film Festival Makedonska (Makedonska, Serbia)
- SSFF – Short Sounds Film Festival (Bournemouth, England)
- Norient Festival (Bern, Switzerland)
- Music+Sound Awards (London, England)
Other Festivals and Events
Sound Art Brighton Festival
Sound Art Brighton is an independent initiative that celebrates the presence of sound art in Brighton, UK. Building on the wide interest this art form has attracted in the city, we promote the diversity of sound in its intrinsic relations with other arts and the everyday.
The festival is a city-wide programme of events presenting sound installations, sound sculptures, interactive sound events, performances, sound walks, audio and audiovisual works, both in galleries and outdoors, throughout the city of Brighton and Hove (UK).
The festival also provides SAB Network – an informal collaborative network.
Fest – New Directors | New Films Festival
FEST in Espinho, Portugal, is a new generation of festivals, featuring film screenings, music concerts & showcases, Conference sessions, projects in development, competitions, TV showcases, Awards ceremonies, and much more. From all the film festivals I have attended, FEST is the best festival for networking. There’s a Film competition alternatively, but the main emphasis are the masterclass given by film professionals. Previous lecturers were Gaspar Noé, Bella Tarr, Asghar Farhadi, Peter Webber and many more. The perk of this festival is the Sound & Music Hub:
The Sound & Music Hub at the FEST Film Festival is a program dedicated to exploring the intersection of sound and music in film. It offers a platform for filmmakers, composers, sound designers, and music supervisors to discuss their work, exchange ideas, and showcase their latest projects. People that attended: Will Files, Mark Ulano, John Warhurst, Salome Limon.
Lisboa Soa
Lisboa Soa is a festival dedicated to the exploration of sound, taking place annually in Lisbon, Portugal. The festival features various sound art installations, performances, workshops, and talks, all focused on the use of sound in artistic expression and as a medium for experiencing the world. The festival aims to promote and celebrate sound art, to create a platform for artists to showcase their work, and to engage audiences in new and innovative ways of experiencing sound. Lisboa Soa also aims to raise awareness of the importance of sound and its impact on our daily lives, as well as to foster a community of artists, scholars, and enthusiasts interested in the field of sound art.
The festival is developed by one of my favourite sound personalities – Raquel Castro. She is a Portuguese sound artist and researcher who has been involved in the organization and production of the festival since its inception in 2014. She is a member of the cultural association Binaural/Nodar, which produces the festival, and has played a key role in curating and organizing its programming. In addition to her work on Lisboa Soa, Raquel Castro is also involved in various other projects related to sound art and media culture, including research, creation, and dissemination activities. She has a background in music and sound design and has collaborated with artists from various disciplines, such as dance, theater, and visual arts, to create immersive and experimental soundscapes.
Other Festivals
- IN-SONORA (Sound Art Festival in Madrid, Spain).
- SONICA (biennial Sound Art Festival in Glasgow, Edinburgh).
- Full of Noises Festival (aka FonFestival is a new music and sound art festival in Cumbria, England).
- SÓNAR (festival dedicated to music, creativity and technology in Lisbon and Barcelona).
- Semibreve (exploratory electronic music and digital art festival in Braga, Portugal).