[eltdf_dropcaps type=”normal” color=”” background_color=””]T[/eltdf_dropcaps]he concept of Innovation refers to generate new ideas, to maximize the reach and goals of a project; defend the practice and remain competitive with the intention of forging an increase in ideas. In revising our history, we have found these contributions, all thought to benefit filmmakers and film-loving audiences.
1. First festival open to all audiences; inclusive and massive, as it should be.
2. First festival to offer a space for culture and entertainment, conferences, concerts, workshops and of course, screenings, all free of charge.
3. First festival to accept digital submissions, which has democratized the national creation of film.
4. First major festival for short films in Mexico, generating a boom for short films in said country.
5. First festival to call for an international competition, because it’s only by measuring ourselves against the rest of the world that we can know who we are.
6. First festival to approach major international directors to their audiences through tributes, conferences and coexistence.
7. First festival to develop an industry area through the Pitching Market, bringing filmmakers closer to international production companies.
8. First festival to create a Bilateral Forum with representatives from our Spotlight Country and our own institutions, where a dialogue opens up to generate co-production.
9. First festival to create an Incubator for film projects, a platform to encourage filmmaking by the hand of international specialists.
10. First festival that, through the Think Tank, creates a space for prospecting new technologies and exhibition platforms. Groups of experts from inside and outside the industry debate the future of cinema.
11. First festival to create the GIFF HACK, a space to codify creative people in search of technological and procedural innovation in the film industry.
12. First festival to call for and propitiate the creation of the Women in Film and Television Association.
13. First festival to conceive a decentralized screenwriting competition without interest groups and currently the greatest national number of calls for entry.
14. First festival to create a space for national university competitions, the 48-Hour Collegiate Rally is a crossroads of ideas, vitality and enthusiasm for cinema.
15. First festival to propitiate, through its Documentary Competition, the search for identity in young people from the State of Guanajuato to ingrain their belonging to their land.
16. First festival to offer a space for LGBT topics without prejudice or taboo.
17. First festival to screen horror cinema in a cemetery to deliver a unique and chilling experience.
18. First festival to offer cinematic residencies to international filmmakers and to arrange, through associated institutions, residencies in Europe for Mexican filmmakers.
19. First festival to incorporate music as a partner in cinematic creation, leading to collaboration among both industries through audiovisual work.
20. First festival to produce Virtual Reality cinema in Mexico.