about the festival

Read the Festival overview below (pdf)

ABOUT RTF

Welcome to the 4th edition of the Realtime International Film Festival (RTF)
Our Festival Catalogue Theme for 2019 is "RELENTLESS" while the Festival Program theme is "PALLETE"
Our vision is “to build a truly International, all - inclusive and remotely accessible Film Festival”.
Our corporate VISION is “to become the biggest and most acclaimed technology – driven, remotely accessible Festival in Africa with a keen interest in Cultural & Creative Arts".
Our MISSION is to champion an Artistic baseline where equity and openness is enhanced among Creative Artists, Filmmakers & Film Enthusiasts; in other words, a platform "Where everyone feels equal"
'Our LANGUAGE is "ART", our MEDIUM is "TECHNOLOGY" and we celebrate the "HUMAN TALENTS" responsible for churning out "ARTISTIC FILMS"

The Festival accepts entries from filmmakers across the world without discrimination. We also offer waivers for submission fees to filmmakers from countries like Iran, Pakistan and others who can't pay for submissions due to limitations caused by sanctions imposed on their countries.
We celebrate the FILMS (especially Artistic Films) and their MAKERS. We also celebrate and expose current TECHNOLOGIES that affect the art of film making. That's our focus hence, we do not seek to be the most glamorous Festival, but rather, the most all-inclusive, most Innovative, and most Eco-friendly and "Technology attentive" Festival in Africa that attracts the world!

The Festival boasts of being the first Film Festival where film makers and enthusiasts alike can participate remotely from their individual countries; without physically attending the Festival in Lagos - Nigeria.
We employ the use of current Technology to achieve the Real-Time attribute of the Festival, whereby both the participants in Lagos and those from across the world can interact and share ideas and experiences via Tele-Presence, Video Conferencing, Live Streaming and Skype.
During the Festival, we offer Master classes (Training) in Cinematography, Photography, Lighting Design, Acting and Directing. These master classes will be handled by industry professionals from Nigeria and overseas.

Visiting Filmmakers and other participants from outside Nigeria will be received by the Festival Team at the
Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA)

RTF presents a creative blend of The Arts, Film, and Industry Sessions, RTF was founded by and for independent filmmakers who seek to express themselves through the showcase of the mastery of their craft - from story-telling to technical expertise; all captured within a Creative package.

Storytellers and Creative Arts practitioners from all countries around the globe are welcome to participate.
As the world shrinks, and the ability of Filmmakers to connect with diverse global cultures becomes easier, we are bringing the world together through the arts.
Our innovations make it possible for Filmmakers to participate from around the world, without being physically present.

The Festival's maiden edition held between September 29th and October 3rd, 2016 in the heart of Nigeria's NOLLYWOOD (Film Industry) in Lagos - Nigeria. The second edition took place between June 24 and July 1 2017 on the Mainland of Lagos - Nigeria.
The third edition (2018) is scheduled to take place in Ikeja, Lagos State of Nigeria.

The Film Festival was founded by, and for independent filmmakers who seek to express themselves through the showcase of the mastery of their craft - from story-telling to technical expertise; all captured within a Creative package.

Artists and Storytellers from around the globe are welcome. As the world shrinks, and the ability of Filmmakers to connect with diverse global cultures becomes easier, we are bringing the world together through the art of film.

Films can be submitted both in and out of competition; based on the filmmaker's desire. Submissions "IN COMPETITION" attract a fee (based on deadlines) and winners in those categories will be awarded laurels, certificates, and medals.

Winning Filmmakers in the competitive category who cannot travel down to Nigeria for the Festival will have their laurels / awards shipped to them, or sent to their Embassies in Nigeria at the expense of the Festival Organizers.

Providing a young, fresh and exciting perspective to today’s world of cinema, we seek to showcase and honor innovative and exciting voices in the African and international film communities.

The goal of this Festival is to identify new talents and celebrate the veterans of the industry; while fostering cooperation and co-production between Filmmakers from across the globe.

It will also provide the avenue for networking, forging alliances and expanding creative / production teams of established studios and emerging ones alike.

Special Industry Veterans will also be hosted to showcase their film making prowess and offer counsel to young filmmakers who will benefit from their expertise and wealth of experience during the Festival.

There will be scheduled screenings of select SHORT FILMS produced by established filmmakers so, we look forward to receiving those awesome short films from around the world.

Eventually, on the last day of the festival, there will be a Closing Ceremony (Red Carpet Event) where the awards will be presented.

The Festival has been tagged as the "ultimate" Technology driven, remotely accessible Festival; where Filmmakers can interact and partake in all the activities remotely from their various locations worldwide, through the use of real-time enabling technology.
We explore different aspects of Live streaming, and real-time chats via networking platforms.

Filmmakers who cannot attend the Festival physically will also not be left out of the on-goings as they will be able to interact with their counterparts in attendance through our technological framework. This will be best demonstrated during the Q&A Sessions at the Film Festival.
In our past editions, some of the countries that have been represented include:

• United States
• Islamic Republic of Iran
• Russian Federation
• Nigeria
• India
• Bangladesh
• Estonia
• Hong Kong
• Saudi Arabia
• Canada
• Portugal
• Italy
• France
• Afghanistan
• Denmark
• United Kingdom
• Georgia
• Nepal
• Argentina
• Serbia
• Turkey
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Czech Republic
• Egypt
• Finland
• Albania
• Germany
• Spain
• Greece
• Ireland
• Iraq
• Thailand
• Ukraine
• Uganda
• Austria
• Barbados
• Belgium
• Brazil
• China
• Cyprus
• Ghana
• Israel
• Lebanon
• Moldova, Republic of
• Mali
• Mexico
• Malaysia
• Philippines
• Kosovo

NOVELTY - THE REAL-TIME FILM MAKING CHALLENGE.

One unique feature of our Festival is the RealTime Challenge. In the Real-Time Challenge, only Short Films with running time between 5 minutes and 30 minutes are expected to be created during the festival. Those Films will then be screened on the last day of the Festival and Awards will be presented to deserving Filmmakers who completed their films at the given deadline.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FESTIVAL GUIDELINES, AWARDS AND PRIZES, VISIT OUR FILMFREEWAY PAGE.