The International Film and Television Festival SIMFEST

SIMFEST is a TV and film festival – competition, the only one of this kind in Romania and one of the few in Europe. It is organised every year by "SIMFEST Cultural Association", which supports and promotes the creators in visual arts. SIMFEST stands for professionalism and for the freedom of expression of the journalists and the media producers. The festival promotes, at the same time, local journalism and community mass-media. It is a complex manifestation for electronic mass-media. It is the annual meeting point of the TV's and film’s world specialists from Romania and from Europe, of students, independent producers, and of media enthusiasts; it is a competition that it's designed to find and form values and talents, to give them the needed validation and for connecting them with the medium in which they can develop. It is a competition and, at the same time, a media school and a cultural event. The SIMFEST components are: - The Competition - The Summer School for journalists and media creators - The official program of the festival The Competition is opened to all the media creators, reporters, cameramen and media producers from Romania but also from other countries, but is also opened to freelancers, to students and territorial correspondents of central televisions, production houses, as well as to all multimedia creators. It has nine sections. - TV NEWS (no longer than 5 minutes) - JOURNALISM (REPORTAGE/ DOCUMENTARY/ INQUIRY/ ESSAY / TALK-SHOW etc.) - ENTERTAINMENT - VIDEO - MULTIMEDIA - STUDENT PROJECTS (fiction and non fiction) - TOURISTIC MOVIE - FICTION (short movie and feature film) - ANIMATION The jury of the competition consists out of well-known personalities in the field of journalism, TV and cinema from Romania and from other countries. The Summer School for journalists and media creators was founded and included within the festival in 2007, and through it, SIMFEST became in the past few years the only institution in the country of non-formal education of media creators, especially from the audiovisual section. The journalists Romeo Couți and Brândușa Armanca (TVR), the writer Bogdan Hrib, Assoc. Prof. PhD. Ion Stavre (SNSPA), Assoc. Prof. PhD. Lucian Ionică (West University of Timișoara), the director Ștefan Fischer (Germany), Charles Fletcher, MBE (Scotland), TV producer Codruț Pânzaru, TV producer Tamas Barok (Hungary), Geo Tuică (director of photography, TVR), the director Copel Moscu (UNATC Bucharest), Iulia Badea Gueritee and Raymond Clarinard (Courrier International Paris), Assoc. Prof. PhD. Avram Tripon (''Petru Maior'' University of Tîrgu Mureș), Beata Biel (Google expert, Poland) and many others held lectures and led workshops or held masterclasses within the Summer School. The official program of the festival is available for the public with the purpose to, on one hand, construct a way of communication between the creators of media and those whom they serve: the consumers of information in order for the audience to correctly understand the messages transmitted through mass-media. On the other hand, it offers a space of free expression and a non-formal platform for professional development for the journalists anf filmmakers. Therefore, SIMFEST is a festival not only a TV and film competition but also a cultural complex. The 2021 program consists of – beside others: • Fine Arts exhibitions • Public projections of the productions sent in for the competition in the presence of the creators, followed by debates • Public projections of 5 films offered by UPFAR – ARGOA (The Association of The Romanian Film and Audiovisual Producers) • Public projections of movies and documentaries made by special guests of the festival • Documentary journey in the county • Anniversary events dedicated to the supporters (sponsors, partners, volunteers etc) • A books and music market • Gala of the laureates including musical recitals and poems International recognition: SIMFEST is known and recognized in the Romanian mass-media as a role model in the promotion of artists' free expression and for the promotion and being an advocate of real media professionalism. Most of the creators attending SIMFEST for the past years, have also won international recognition at competitions organized in Sibiu, Prague, Belgrade, Bucharest, London, Kishinaw and Tel Aviv. SIMFEST is also in collaboration or in partnership with other similar manifestations: CRONOGRAF Chishinaw, DETECTIVEFEST Moskow, CINEPOLITICA Bucharest etc.