Taking part of Tribute to a Vision cross-border film festival, First Crossings is a young festival section for discovering new film languages within the short film form. Based in the cross-border area between Slovenia and Italy, we welcome films that somehow revolve around the border in the broadest sense of the word, be it regarding form or content. We encourage original, daring, and underrepresented ideas with social, dramatic, and transformative impact to draw attention towards the short audio-visual forms of all genres.

Call for entries is now open.

Deadline for submitting is August 1, 2024.

FIRST CROSSINGS is a festival platform that presents brave, youth–hearted, innovative authors that find exciting ways to explore new cinematic perspectives. With its 7th edition on the way, First Crossings is again in search of aesthetically novel, cutting-edge films, both from emerging and well-established authors who strive towards the foundation of new film languages. First Crossings will be organized within the compelling film festival program of Tribute To A Vision, organized by the audiovisual center Kinoatelje. We are proud to offer a symbolic cash prize to our best short, awarded by our esteemed jury members, as well as our dear audiences.

Applicants are required to fulfill the application via FilmFreeway.

What kind of films do we accept?
All genres and formats up to 30 min. of length *
(*Films must have been completed in the current or previous three years).

Who can apply?
Open to projects (short films) from the whole world.
(Any Foreign film that is not in English must have English subtitles.)

Dates and venue
From 08-13 October 2024 in the cross-border region around Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy).

Should filmmakers require assistance or have questions, they can contact us at nagrada.darko.bratina@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing your films!

More about the festival: https://www.poklonviziji.com/first-crossings

Awards & Prizes

- Jury award (500 euros)
- Audience award (recognition)

Rules & Terms

The submission period for the 2023 First Crossings opens April 20, 2024, and closes August 1, 2024. All entries must be made by sending an online submission via FilmFreeway. The entry fee is 15 $ per submission, except for Slovenian or Italian-based authors and production companies for whom we offer a special 5 $ fee. Students have a special discount of 10 $ as well.

RULES AND REGULATIONS
To submit a film, you must have created the project yourself, own the rights or have permission for the content to submit the film to us.
1. Films must have been completed in the current or previous three years (2021-2024).
2. Any Foreign film that is not in English must have English subtitles. All English-language Films or multilingual films that include spoken English dialogue will be required to have closed captions in English.
3. All fees are non-refundable.
4. Films must not be published or posted online (without a password) to be eligible for our festival, prizes, or awards.
5. All genres and formats up to 30 min. of length are welcome to be submitted.
6. One entry fee is to be paid per film. The same author may apply with several films, but each work requires an entry fee.
7. By submitting your film, you authorize us to use, distribute and share the film materials for educational, promotional, and non-commercial purposes. If a film is awarded you grant us the right to screen it to alternative screening events without the need for asking additional permission.
8. We do not require regional premiere status of your films, but if submitted and accepted for screening you can’t withdraw your film.
9. Acceptance of a film does not guarantee covering transport costs for talent or producing crew.
10. The festival includes non-competitive sections in cross-cinema venues. If selected the festival cannot cover screening fees for the submitted films.
11. Any technical issues with the submitted films are a responsibility of the filmmakers. If, at the time of judging, your video file doesn’t work or doesn’t have English subtitles (if in a language other than English), it will be automatically rejected, without a refund. Please contact the festival team ASAP if there are any issues with the submission process.
12. By submitting your film to First Crossings, you constitute your full and complete acceptance of the rules and regulations hereof.

Waivers: We provide fee waiver codes for festival alumni and Slovenian/Italian authors or productions. Please contact us if needed.

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  • Erik Sémashkin

    Very nice experience in this region, with warm people and a great selection. THANKS !

    November 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Erik! It was a pleasure having you as a guest!

  • Eneos Çarka

    this is a great festival that I always enjoy returning to!

    October 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks Eneos, you are definitely one of our favorite alumni! Your films are becoming better and better each year, that we can't wait to see what is your next project! Looking forward to having you as a guest in person!