This is an expanded list from the Wellywood Woman sidebar. I've listed the festivals according to date, because I can imagine women's film festival tourism. You might like to know there's a festival on if you're on a trip? Maybe arrange travel to make sure you can take part in festivals around the world?
I have more work to do collecting info about where there are ongoing online festivals, and collections of films by, for and about women. Please feel free to comment, and to email me with updates and festival posters you love!
Many thanks to Kyna Morgan at HerFilm for the extra festivals she tracked down for the list on her site, where the festivals are listed in alphabetical order.
YEAR ROUND
Another Experiment By Women Film Festival (AXWFF)
Also here.
AXWFF promotes and screens women’s experimental films that feature alternative forms not covered in film school and/or that represent themes and issues distinct to women and girls, with the hope to inspire others to make and hone their own experimental work to be shared with others.
BleedFest
"A monthly Los Angeles film festival that fetes the women who love writing, producing, directing, and watching badass genre movies: action, thriller, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, western, exploitation (of men or audience only), B-movie, and erotica. We feel passionate about raising the visibility of awesome indie genre movies by female filmmakers."
Starts second week March 2012.
Hope is in Woman the 2012 theme. Filmmor Women’s Cooperative, established exclusively for women in 2003, is here to make movies, to raise objections, to produce, to dream and to realize for women together with women! FilmMor (Istanbul 2d week March 2012 and then to other cities).
FilmMor also makes films, for example, this one about Kurdish women.
Lunafest (travelling, United States)
Short films by, for & about women. Aims to support and nurture the inspiring and often unsung work of talented women filmmakers and to raise funds and awareness for causes that help, empower and give a voice to women from all walks of life.
Network of Asian Women’s Film FestivalsIncludes festivals in the following countries: Japan, Taiwan, India, Israel, Korea
Viscera Celebrating female genre filmmakers
Viscera is "a non-profit organization expanding opportunities for contemporary female genre filmmakers and raising awareness about the changing roles for women in the film industry." It envisions "a world in which women are allowed equal opportunities to create and share their filmic visions in an appreciative environment". Viscera is an unorthodox Festival because it focuses on promoting the films and their creators all year round. Its partners are "an ever growing community of film festivals, promoters, conventions, organizers, film clubs, and educational institutions who believe in the positive outcome of women creating horror."
Twitter Facebook
Women's Voices Now
Online: A collection of voices from women of all faiths living in Muslim-majority countries and Muslim women living as minorities around the world.
World of Women Film Festival (New South Wales, Australia, online, and around the world)
ANNUAL
Everett Women's Film Festival (Everett, WA)
11-12 February 2011
International Women's Film Festival (Institute for Research & Education on Women & Gender State University of New York at Buffalo)
17 February - 1 April 2011
Women Take the Reel (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston)
March 2011
Bird's Eye View Film Festival (London, England)
Much more than a festival — year round activities (no festival 2012)
March 8-17 2011
Women's Film Festival (McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, Illinois)
March 20 2011
Palm Beach Women's International Film Festival (Florida)
April 7-10 2011
Mujeres en Foco (Buenos Aires)
5-8 May 2011
"Submission is open to any person... The only specific requirement is that film content is approached by a gender perspective and fits within one of the festival’s categories."
Queer Women of Color Festival (San Fransisco)
10-12 June 2011 Twitter
Pan African Women’s Film Festival (Minneapolis)
August 11-13 2011
Women of the Sun (Johannesburg, South Africa)
2-9 September ?2011?
Sale International Women’s Film Festival (Morocco)
19-24 September 2011
English translation here. Thanks to African Women in Cinema blog
Shashat Palestine Women’s Film Festival
24 September-15 December 2011
Broad Humor (Venice, CA)
29 September-October 2 2011
Elles Tournent/ Dames Draien (Brussels, Belgium)
29 September-October 2 2011
Lady Bug Film Festival (Gothenburg, Sweden)
13-14 October 2011
LA Femme International Film Festival (Hollywood)
October 13-16 2011
Lady Filmmakers Festival
(also supplied films to Lewiston-Auburn Film Festival, Maine)
October 14-16 2011
Women Make Waves Film Festival (Taipei, Taiwan)
October 14~23, 2011
Also here.
St. John's International Women's Film Festival (Newfoundland, Canada)
October 18-22 2011 Twitter
Tokyo International Women’s Film Festival (Japan)
October 23-26 2011
Chick Flicks (Dallas Texas)
25-27 October 2011
Run by Women in Film Texas.
Cineffable: the Paris Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival: Quand les lesbiennes se font du cinéma
31 October-4 November 2011
Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival (Colorado Springs, CO)
November 4-6 2011
International Women’s Film Festival Israel
7-13 November 2011
African American Women in Cinema International Film Festival (New York)
17-19 November 2011
Mujeres en direccion/ Women Directing International Film Festival (Cuenca, Spain)
21-26 November 2011
Underwire (London)
23-26 November 2011
A short film festival dedicated to showcasing the raw cinematic talents of women.
Hecho X Mujeres/ Done By Women (Argentina)
25 November 2011
Stop Violence Against Women Film Festival (Melbourne, Australia)
26-27 November 2011 Twitter
KIN (‘A woman’ in Armenian) International Film Festival (Yerevan, Armenia)
5-10 December 2011
Women in Horror Recognition Month
February 2012
Online only.
Athena Film Festival (New York)
9-12 February 2012
Twitter Facebook
Women & leadership, at Barnard College
Girlfest Hawa'ii (Honolulu, Hawaii)
16-20 February 2012 Twitter Facebook
Tx, @kimcummmings for the info about this *fabulous* festival, with film in there among an amazing range of events. This is how the organisers describe their herstory (there's another Girlfest in Brooklyn, March 2012, see below, & I'd love to see/hear about more springing up)—
Girl Fest’s mission is to prevent violence against women and girls through education and art. Currently, we are Hawaii’s longest-running all-volunteer anti-violence multimedia festival. Girl Fest incorporates music, film, art, dance and spoken word to get its message out to the public. Girl Fest started doing quarterly smart parties in 2003 culminating that year in a sold-out V-Day Vagina Monologues performance at the historic Hawaii Theatre in February 2004 with Lois-Ann Yamanaka, Joy Harjo and Nora Okja-Keller. This event raised the money needed to start the annual Girl Fest festivals.
Stranger With My Face (Hobart, Australia)
17-19 February 2012 Facebook
Where are the stories for women about the monsters within? Includes workshops, and a script competition.
Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival (part of the Alliance of Women Filmmakers)
March 2012
Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza (Los Angeles)
2-4 March 2012
I think this one's really special. It was founded by Josefina Lopez who wrote the classic Real Women Have Curves. "The mission of the festival is to build a network of Latina filmmakers that will draw attention to the growing number of Latinas behind the camera."
Serseliafam International Women's Film Festival (Vilnius, Lithuania).
March 1–11 2012, with an international competition for a first-time feature film-maker.
International Association of Women in Radio and Television Asian Women's Festival and here (New Delhi) March 5-7 2012
Meditation, Movement & Memories, women directors of Asian origin only, with three curated sections on women filmmakers from Hong King, Japan, & Turkey and a fourth on contemporary childhood
World of Women Film Festival (New South Wales, Australia)
6-8 March 2012 (Sydney)
Short films. Also online and around the world, see YEAR ROUND listing.
Women/Mujeres Spanish Film Festival (London, UK)
8-12 March 2012
Twitter Facebook
Women + Film (Denver, Colorado)
6-12 March 2012
Portland Oregon Women's Film Festival (POW, Portland, OR)
8-11 March 2012 Twitter Facebook
Vancouver Women in Film Festival
March 8-11 2012 Twitter Facebook
Corto Helvetico Al Femminile (Ascona and Losone, Switzerland)
8-12 March 2012
mujerDOC: International Documentary Festival on Gender (Soria, Spain)
8-17 March 2012
Women's Film Festival (Brattleboro, Vermont)
Tricky women: Animation (Vienna, Austria)
14-18 March 2012 (theme: Work)
Seen and Heard Film Festival: Promoting Women in Film (Red Rattler, Marrickville, Sydney, Australia)
15, 22 and 29 March 2012 Twitter Facebook
Brooklyn Girl Fest (New York)
29-31 March 2012 Twitter
Female Eye Film Festival (Toronto, Canada)
28 March-1 April 2012 Twitter Facebook
Women's International Film and Arts Festival (Miami, Florida)
28 March to April 1 2012
Twitter Facebook
International Female Film Festival (Malmo, Sweden)
2-4 April 2012
Davis Feminist Film Festival (Davis, California)
10-12 April 2012
San Francisco International Women's Film Festival
10-15 April 2012
Images of Black Women: African Descent Women in Cinema (London, UK)
April 13-15 2012
Facebook Twitter
Through Women's Eyes Film Festival (Sarasota, Florida)
(in partnership with Women Make Movies)
14-15 April 2012 Twitter
International Women’s Film Festival (Dortmund/ Koln, Germany)
17-22 April 2012 Twitter
This festival has an excellent film archive here.
London Lesbian Film Festival (London, Ontario)
April 20-22 2012
International Women's Film Festival Seoul (Korea)
19-26 April 2012
Women's International Film Festival (Los Angeles)
25-28 April 2012
Films de Femmes (Creteil, Paris, France)
28 April-8 May 2012
360/365 Rochester
2-7 May 2012
Archer Film Festival(Archer School for Girls, Los Angeles)
May 11-12 2012 Twitter
"The Archer Film Festival is dedicated to empowering student filmmakers with a focus on the promotion of women in the film industry. All high school students of southern California and students attending girls’ schools across the nation are eligible to submit. We are seeking original voices that convey a unique point of view as well as an acute attention to craft and character....Top honours will be awarded to females in critical roles of production."
Flying Broom (Ankara, Turkey)
10-17 May 2012
Bluestocking Film Series Film Series (St Lawrence Arts, Portland, Maine)
Starts 20 May 2012 Facebook Twitter
A "Bechdel-tested" series conceived by filmmaker Kate Kaminski, a collaboration between Gitgo Productions and the St. Lawrence: "Because women filmmakers are underrepresented in the filmmaking industry and largely misrepresented in forms of media worldwide we are thrilled to create a series within Maine that supports women filmmakers and provides them with a state of the art venue to showcase their craft. The USM Women and Gender Studies Program, the Maine Film Office and the Maine Film and Video Association are co-sponsoring the event." Go Kate! be good to see more of these spring up!
Mostra Internacional Films de Dones-Drac Màgic/ Barcelona International Women’s Film Festival (Barcelona, Spain)
7-17 June 2012
Femina: Festival Internacional de Cinema Feminine (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil)
2-8 July 2012
Screens mainly films directed by women in competition and thematic showcases: "Our goal is to promote the work of women in film and culture; foster the emergence of female directors and the presence of women in the audiovisual work market, as well as the production of films with feminine subject matter; showcase Brazilian directors, and bring international production to Brazil. The festival also screens films directed by men, as long as they deal with feminine issues or have women as protagonists, and films co-directed by men and women. Films of all genders, durations, regions of the country and continents.
Women's Panorama, Zanzibar International Film Festival (Zanzibar, Tanzania)
7-15 July 2012
International Black Women's Film Festival (San Fransisco)
20-21 July 2012 Twitter
VisualizaMe (Almeria, Spain)
6-9 September 2012
Etheria (Boston, Massachusetts)
15 September 2012
A new film festival that screens the 'best new short fantasy and sci-fi films made by women' and an imprint of the Viscera Film Festivals Organization, a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to women directors.
Femmina Internasjonale Filmfestival (Oslo, Norway)
October 2012
Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series
October 13-14 2012
Facebook Twitter
London Feminist Film Festival
1-4 November 2012
Twitter Facebook Facebook Events Page
WITHOUT WEBSITES
Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival Eastern Illinois University
27 March 2012
rlmurray[at]eiu.edu
Providence Women's Film Festival
The International Images Film Festival for Women (Zimbabwe)A call for films was announced on the African Women in Cinema Blog
The Festival Director, IIFF, Box BW 1550, Borrowdale, Harare.
Tel: 04 - 862355, cell: 0712 401 104/ 0712512552, email Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe.
Purple Pixels: Women in the Indie Film Frontier (Philippines), March 2011. Like many of the Asian festivals, this festival has been going for decades, but no URLs are current.
Unite To End Violence Against Women: "From the Bedroom to the Battlefield" (Johannesburg South Africa)
6-10 December 2011
Mis Me Binga (Yaoundé, Cameroon)
8-12 March 2012 Facebook
ONLINE COLLECTIONS FILMS & WEBSERIES
Digital Chick TV: your guide to the best online shows for women
Busk Films: queerly original
Tello Films
