Special Program
View People View Cities
—The World of UNESCO Creative Cities 2027
Call for Entries
As UNESCO Creative City of Film from Japan, Yamagata City is pleased to announce an open call for exceptional films for the YIDFF 2027 special program “View People View Cities—The World of UNESCO Creative Cities 2027.” The films should come from cities designated by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Film.
Hosted by Yamagata City and the Yamagata Creative City Promotion Council, this project aims to present a program of exceptional films from the cities designated by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Film. The past editions of this program were held at Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2023 and 2025 to packed crowds, with audiences enjoying a selection of films from cities and related events.
From an open call, films made in or by filmmakers from the 29 Creative Cities excluding Yamagata (see list below) “about cities, its residents, and their daily lives,” the organizers will choose three to five films for public screening during the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2027 to be held in October, 2027. There is no restriction on genre, length, or year of production.
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. The 408 cities of this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level. Film is one of the eight creative fields of the UCCN, and there are currently 30 designated Cities of Film around the world.
- They are:
- Asaba (Nigeria), Bitola (Macedonia), Bradford (UK), Bristol (UK), Busan (South Korea), Cannes (France), Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Galway (Ireland), Gdynia (Poland), Giza (Egypt), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Kathmandu (Nepal), Łódź (Poland), Mumbai (India), Ouarzazate (Morocco), Penedo (Brazil), Potsdam (Germany), Qingdao (China), Quezon City (Philippines), Rome (Italy), Santos (Brazil), São Paulo (Brazil), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Sofia (Bulgaria), Sydney (Australia), Terrassa (Spain), Valladolid (Spain), Vicente Lopez (Argentina), Wellington (New Zealand), Yamagata (Japan).
For more information 
UNESCO Creative Cities Network website