The Federation

“29 festivals, 21 countries, more than 800 000 spectators!”

The Méliès International Festival Federation – MIFF is a tightly knit network of 29 film festivals from 21 countries, with a global attendance of over 800 000 visitors, making it a vital economic and cultural player on the fantastic film scene.

Its mission is to promote European fantastic film productions throughout Europe and the world, by enhancing their visibility and their standing both among the public and within the industry, and encouraging their circulation. The Federation works to fulfill this mission through its festival network in Europe, its supporting members in Asia, North America and South America, as well as its Méliès awards for outstanding European genre films.

The festivals are major platforms for genre films in their respective regions. They all work closely within the Federation network, but embody diversity and individual artistic identity, through their distinct programming choices, including the Méliès competition selections. They feature both press and audience screenings and offer a full range of side events that include master classes, conferences and industry pitchings, bringing together a wide spectrum of viewers, iconic and emerging talent, and other industry professionals to share experiences and knowledge.

The Méliès d’or and Méliès d’argent awards are given each year to the best European fantastic feature and short films. The awards recognize quality and creativity, and generate unique visibility for the film and their directors. The winners are showcased by all of the Federation’s festivals, including its supporting members, thereby encouraging their circlation worldwide.

Each festival with an individual artistic identity!

History

In 1983, five festivals for fantastic film joined forces and founded the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation, with the aim to promote European fantastic cinema throughout the world. Renamed the Méliès International Festivals Federation in 2019, we now have 29 members from 21 countries, reaching a worldwide audience of more than 800.000 each year.

Founded on the initiative of five film festivals!

Our mission is to promote European fantastic film productions throughout Europe and the world, by enhancing their visibitily and their standing both among the public and within the industry, and encouraging their circulation. 

The Federation works to fulfill this mission through our festival network in Europe, its supporting members in Asia, North and South America and the Middle East.

With the Méliès competition, the Federation supports the creative wealth and diversity of filmmakers from across Europe.

In addition to our own competition, the Federation also awards Asian films at our member festival BIFAN in Bucheon (South Korea) and Latin American films at our partner event Blood Window in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

Since 2018, the Federation presents a Career Méliès for outstanding contributions to European fantastic cinema. Recipients were Álex de la Iglesia in 2018, Asia Argento in 2019, Paco Plaza in 2020, Lucile Hadzihalilovic in 2021, Claudio Simonetti in 2022 and Jorge Guerricaechevarría in 2023.

The largest film festival network in the world!

Facts & Figures

The global outreach of the Federation today has made it a vital economic and cultural player on the fantastic film scene worldwide. It enhances the visibility and standing of fantastic cinema with the industry and public, and encourages its distribution and production. 

The Federation’s internationally renowned awards, genre-film screenings drawing audiences in four continents and networking capacity have made it a global player in the promotion and production of genre film worldwide. 

Today’s Federation:

  • Consists of a network of 29 film festivals, representing 21 countries
  • Covers the four corners of Europe, with strongholds in Asia, North America, and South America
  • Draws a combined audience of more than 800000 people
  • Screens more than 1 800 genre films annually
  • Awards 29 prestigious Méliès d’argent (Silver Melies) prizes for feature and short films each year
  • Awards the Méliès d’or (Golden Melies) prize annually for the Best European Fantastic Film (feature and short)

The Board

The board of the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation consists of professionals from its member festivals. The board is elected on a yearly basis by the General Assembly.

The board is composed of:
The Federation
Chris Oosterom

Chairperson

The Federation
Patrick Van Hauwaert

Deputy

lorenzo bertuzzi
Lorenzo Bertuzzi

Coordinator

The Federation
Dianne Leenders

Deputy

The Federation
Tania Morrisette

Deputy

The Federation
Anders E Larsson

Deputy

The Federation
Monica Garcia & Angel Sala

Deputy

How to become a member

Festivals are eligible for membership after completing three editions.

The Federation looks for festivals that are economically viable and exert a strong genre presence in their region. Festivals are admitted to the Federation on the basis of their programming ability, screening conditions, staff commitment and promotional capacity, among other criteria.

The Federation has three types of membership:

This category is for non-European festivals. Supporting members promote both the Federation and European genre film abroad and provide input on the latest genre scene developments in their country.

This is the entry level for European festivals. Adherent members organise the short film Méliès d’argent competition, promote European fantastic film and much more.

Adherent members may apply to become affiliated members, and then organise the Méliès d’argent competition for narrative features. 

If you wish to apply for membership, the first step is to prepare a descriptive document on your festival, which should include, for example, its history and a summary of past editions; staff organisation, number of industry accreditation (actors, directors, etc.); number of media accreditations; media coverage, guests and films.

You should also state why you want to join, what your expectations are and what you think your festival will be able to contribute to the Federation.

We will review your application and present it at our next general assembly meeting. These are held biannually: during the Cannes International Film Festival in May and during Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, held in October. If the assembly approves the application, your festival will then invite, at their own expense, the Federation to send a representative to conduct an on-site evaluation during your next edition.

The ensuing report will be discussed at the next general assembly meeting and your application will be put to a vote. Once membership is approved, your festival is subject to Federation rules and regulations and will be charged an annual membership fee.

The process of applying for membership could take from a few months up to a year depending on your festival dates and when you apply.