Rules & Terms

The 2025 edition of Cortocircuiti Short Film Festival has a competitive screening taking place in Summer, and other non-competitive screenings are organized year-round.

General rules

  • Anyone can enter the contest;
  • Eight categories are open for submission:
    • ANIMATED SHORTS (PROFESSIONALS);
    • ANIMATED SHORTS (FILM STUDENTS);
    • LIVE ACTION SHORTS (PROFESSIONALS);
    • LIVE ACTION SHORTS (FILM STUDENTS);
    • DOCUMENTARIES (PROFESSIONALS);
    • DOCUMENTARIES (FILM STUDENTS);
    • SHORTS FOR KIDS (3 to 10 years old – WITHOUT DIALOGUES) open to short films both animated and shot live, intended for children and without dialogues;
    • STUDENTS FROM APULIA, exclusively open to short films made by students enrolled in schools and universities in the region of Apulia, Italy. The participation of non-students in the making of the film is allowed as long as key roles (director, screenwriter) are held by students;
  • There is an additional ninth category, NON COMPETITIVE SCREENING, intended for submissions to the non-competitive screenings events that will be organized year-round after the Summer competition. All short films can be submitted to this category, without restrictions on the genre of the short film, even if they have already been submitted to other categories.
  • Authors/groups can submit more than one short films to the contest, each with its own entry form and fees;
  • Short films submitted must be original but do not need to be unpublished. Authors/groups submitting a film to the contest certify to have full rights over the film and all its components;
  • The short film can be made using any technique, and it can be about anything as long it is not discriminatory or offensive in any way;
  • All submissions are required to include subtitles either in English or in Italian. They must not be hardcoded and, if possible, they should be provided as .srt files;
  • Entries will undergo a pre-selection process carried out by members of the LBM Group, La Scatola Blu and Armata Brancaleone;
  • Selected entries will be screened on a date depending on the category they belong to;
  • After the screening, a jury of experts will unquestionably declare the winner of each category, which will be awarded a monetary prize. Special mentions will also be awarded by the LBM Group, La Scatola Blu and Armata Brancaleone and by the attending audience;After the screening, a jury of experts will unquestionably declare the winner of each category, which will be awarded a prize. Special mentions will also be awarded by the LBM Group, La Scatola Blu and Armata Brancaleone and by the attending audience;
  • Should there be any non-commercial screenings planned for the months after the festival, the organizers will contact the authors to request permission for additional screenings of the short films;

Awards & Prizes

Prizes for the Summer Part

  • Short films selected for screening will be eligible to compete for the WeShort Award, the official award of WeShort, already chosen by more than 50 festivals worldwide. WeShort’s Senior Committee, made up of film industry professionals, selects the short film that is most capable of renewing the world of great short cinema, experimenting with new languages and capturing the essence of cinema in its most authentic forms. The award-winning author receives the branded laurel, two 4Life subscriptions to the platform and a distribution contract on the platform by preferential route.
    WeShort will publish a post on its official channels in collaboration with the festival to greatly expand the visibility of the award, the author, and the festival itself to a highly loyal and targeted audience in the world of short films.
  • The best short films for each category (Animated Short Films – students and professionals, Live Action Short Films – students and professionals, Documentary Short Films – students and professionals) will receive a custom made award.
  • The best short film for the category Students from Apulia will receive a yearly subscription to a Cinema journal.
  • A focus on documentaries with an environmental theme will be featured.
  • More prizes will be announced soon!

Requirements

  • For the categories
    • ANIMATED SHORTS (PROFESSIONALS and FILM STUDENTS)
      LIVE ACTION SHORTS (PROFESSIONALS and FILM STUDENTS)
      DOCUMENTARIES (PROFESSIONALS and FILM STUDENTS)
      SHORTS FOR KIDS (3 to 10 years old – WITHOUT DIALOGUES)
      short films made after the 1st January 2024 are eligible for submission. The maximum length of the films for these categories must be of 20 minutes INCLUDING OPENING AND END CREDITS.
    • For the category
      STUDENTS FROM APULIA
      short films made after the 1st January 2023 are eligible for submission. The maximum length of the films for this category must be of 20 minutes INCLUDING OPENING AND END CREDITS.
    • For the category
      NON COMPETITIVE SCREENING
      short films made after the 1st January 2022 are eligible for submission. The maximum length of the films for this category must be of 20 minutes INCLUDING OPENING AND END CREDITS.

Fees

  • Submission to categories
    • ANIMATED SHORTS (PROFESSIONALS);
    • ANIMATED SHORTS (FILM STUDENTS);
    • LIVE ACTION SHORTS (PROFESSIONALS);
    • LIVE ACTION SHORTS (FILM STUDENTS);
    • DOCUMENTARIES (PROFESSIONALS);
    • DOCUMENTARIES (FILM STUDENTS);
    • SHORTS FOR KIDS (3 to 10 years old – WITHOUT DIALOGUES);
    • NON COMPETITIVE SCREENING;

requires the payment of a non-refundable fee;

  • Submission to the category STUDENTS FROM APULIA is free of charge, and must be accompanied by an email sent to cortocircuiti.festival@gmail.com with proof of enrollment in a school or university in Apulia, Italy.
  • The fees, when required, will be paid upon submission directly on FilmFreeway and will cover organization costs and platform fees;

Notifications and Screenings

All authors will be notified whether or not their submission has been selected for screening by the 1st of July, 2025; after this date the organizing committee will provide additional info on the public screening event. The public screening event will take place at ExpostModerno (Via Napoli, 264, 70123 Bari BA, Italy) at the end of July 2025 for selected films in the categories for the competitive screening, as part of the “Festa del Cinema in Libertà” Festival, organized by Armata Brancaleone APS. The exact date will be announced later on;

Final Deadlines

Entries for all categories must be submitted by the 20th JUNE 2025.

For info, you can write us an email at cortocircuiti.festival@gmail.com

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