16th CERDANYA FILM FESTIVAL
SUBMISSION RULES AND REGULATIONS - 2025 EDITION
1. OBJECTIVES
Cerdanya Film Festival – Festival Internacional de Cinema de Cerdanya, is a generalist Festival in which the documentary, fiction and animation genres, short films and feature films participate, and which consists of sections in international competition, non-competitive sections and parallel activities. Its objective is the spreading and promotion of Catalan, Spanish, European and Latin American audiovisual. Among its functions is to host and promote conferences and programs aimed at creators and the audiovisual industry, especially in the cross-border area of Spain-France-Andorra and in collaboration with a guest country from Latin America and one from Europe, promoting its development and international marketing.
The 16th edition of the Cerdanya Film Festival will be held from July 28 to August 17, 2025 in Puigcerdà (Cerdanya).
Cerdanya Film Festival has been designated by the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences as a Collaborating Contest in the Short Film Preselection in the Fiction, Animation and Documentary categories for the Goya Awards.
The following rules regulate the candidacy of films for the Official and parallel Sections of the festival.
2. SECTIONS
OFFICIAL SHORT FILMS SECTION – FICTION AND ANIMATION
The duration of the short films may not exceed 59 minutes, they must be made after January 1, 2023 and must not have been commercially released in cinemas, video or television in Catalonia.
OFFICIAL FEATURE FILM SECTION – FICTION AND ANIMATION
Fiction and animation feature films of any origin and over 60 minutes long, made after January 1, 2023 and that have not been commercially released in cinemas, video or television in Catalonia.
OFFICIAL DOCUMENTARY SECTION
Documentary films of any length, made after January 1, 2023 and that have not been commercially released in cinemas, video or television in Catalonia. They may focus on the following themes: society, solidarity, world, art, biography, musical, fusion, history, nature, science, landscape, discovery, travel, tourism, sport and ethnography.
PYRENEES SECTION – NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
The Pyrenees Section brings together a selection of films of any length, made after January 1, 2023 and that have not been commercially released in cinemas, video or television in Catalonia.
They may focus on some aspect related to the mountains, rural areas, winter or adventure sports and/or the Pyrenees. This section is complementary to the Official Short Film, Feature Film and Documentary Sections.
HISTORICAL MEMORY SECTION
The Historical Memory Section brings together a selection of films of any length, made after January 1, 2023 and that have not been commercially released in cinemas, video or television in Catalonia. Participating films must focus on some aspect related to historical memory, democratic and/or collective memory, from a perspective of solidarity with victims of injustice, from any part of the world. This section is complementary to the Official Sections of Short Films, Feature Films and Documentaries.
TRINXAT DE CERDANYA SECTION – HORROR/FANTASTIC
The Trinxat de Cerdanya Section brings together a selection of films of any length, made after January 1, 2023 and that have not been released in cinemas, video or television, in Catalonia. The films must belong to the fantastic themes, genre cinema and/or horror, in any of its variants and understood in a broad sense. This section is complementary to the Official Sections of Short Films and Feature Films.
CINEFÍLIA INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA SECTION
Films selected by the festival and not included in the general registration process. Outstanding feature films made after January 1, 2023 that have been critically acclaimed and/or awarded in other national and international festivals will be selected, with special attention to female talent and emerging European and Latin American cinematography.
All films that make up the different sections will be selected by the Festival programming committee. The Festival management reserves the right to program, as an exception, films that do not meet these requirements, always out of competition.
3. REMUNERATION FOR FILMS, GRANTS AND BILLING
The Festival establishes remuneration for all films selected in the competition for screening rights according to the following scale:
Short films (<59'): €50 all taxes included
Documentaries (any length): €50 all taxes included
Fiction and animation feature films (>60'): €250 all taxes included
The Organization will provide a grant for the authors or performers of the films selected in the Festival with €150 per participating team to present their film to the audience. The amount will be paid after attending the Festival.
In the case of non-Spanish production films, invoices will be issued without VAT and, in all cases, the payment of taxes will be the responsibility of the issuer. It is the obligation of the production companies to provide the corresponding invoices to the Festival Organization to process the payment of these amounts, which will be made throughout the month of December 2024 . No payment will be made without the required invoice. afternoon of the current year. Likewise, the amounts will be paid to whoever has entered the film in the Festival, being the one who has the legal authority to participate in it and assuming that all the parties involved (distributor, producer, director...) are aware of this participation.
4. REGISTRATION AND SELECTION PROCESS
DEADLINES AND NOTIFICATIONS
Registration deadline: April 15, 2025
Notification: All participants will be notified of the selection intention before May 15, 2025
Confirmation of selection: Before May 20, 2025
Sending materials and screening copies: Before June 1, 2025
Final selection: Final selection and screening times will be notified before July 1, 2025
The Organization will preferably inform applicants of the selected films via email and will publish it on the Festival website as a priority.
REGISTRATIONS
The accepted procedures to present a film at the Festival are: through the platform www.Festhome.com, the platform www.FilmFreeway.com, the platform www.Movibeta.com or by postal delivery.
Registration on the Festhome platform, FilmFreeWay platform or Movibeta platform , which includes a technical sheet, promotional materials and an online link. The participant must ensure that the password on YouTube, Vimeo or others does not expire or change until the Festival ends.
Registration by postal mail or by hand must include the registration form, a technical sheet, promotional materials and a physical medium with the film. It should be sent to: Cerdanya Film Festival – Fundació Cerdanya Cinema, av. Cataluya 17 Baixos, 17520 Puigcerdà (Girona).
The following registration fees for the Festival are established:
€15 for fiction and animation short films.
€15 for documentaries (of any length).
€30 for fiction and animated feature films.
These registration fees are non-refundable and there are no exemptions. Failure to pay the fee implies non-registration in the Festival.
Unpublished films that want to premiere at Cerdanya Film Festival, considering international or national premieres, must expressly notify: info(a)cerdanyafilmFestival.cat
The Festival accepts the entry of films with non-definitive edits (rough cuts/non-definitive version) so that the programmers can take them into account. At the time of registration, it must be clearly notified/written that this is a non-final montage of the film. The Organization will contact directly the participant and/or person who registered to request a final and/or final version of the film if necessary.
The participant guarantees that the film presented is original and is not subject to contracts, assignments or licenses to third parties of copyright or intellectual properties or other rights, except those of the author.
Only registrations that arrive on time will be accepted and unfulfilled applications will not be taken into account. The films that participate in the Official Sections will be selected by the Festival programmers. Your decision is final.
The films must be presented in their original version and must have subtitles available in Catalan and Spanish. If the film is in a language other than Catalan or Spanish, the Festival will assume the costs of translation and subtitling but will not be entitled to remuneration for screening rights. Subtitles must be delivered in SRT.
During the registration and/or selection process and due to the commitment that the Festival has with parity and to support the presence of women in film production, we will request that the gender of the people participating in the projects be indicated with the aim of prepare statistics with reliable and real data that allow us to know the degree of participation of women in the audiovisual field.
REQUIREMENTS OF THE SELECTED FILMS
The signatory of the application expressly declares to have all the licenses, rights, authorizations, and administrative permits for the participation of the audiovisual work in the Festival, observing and committing to carry out all the administrative formalities that are mandatory in accordance with the current applicable regulations. The Organization will recognize the signatory of the registration application as the only interlocutor to negotiate all aspects related to the participation of the audiovisual work in the Festival and as the only person responsible for other companies or people who may have participated in the production of the film.
The invitation to each of the films selected by the Festival selection committee will be strictly confidential between its management and the producers or representatives of the invited film until the Festival decides to officially announce it.
The selected films may not, under any circumstances, be withdrawn from the Competition unilaterally by the person or production company that entered the film in the Festival once the selection has been notified by the Festival and accepted by the party alone applicant, making it impossible for this film to compete, be exhibited or be presented at other festivals that take place in Catalonia and Andorra or at similar events, before its screening at the Cerdanya Film Festival and until the awarding of the same.
Likewise, the production/distribution company undertakes to have representatives in leading roles from the film's technical and/or artistic team attend their official pass to the Festival, as far as possible, and as a condition to enjoy 'an assistance grant.
The films, in addition, must meet the requirements of the section in which they participate until their presentation at the Cerdanya Film Festival.
NOTIFICATION CHANNELS
The Organization will preferably inform applicants of the selected films via email and will publish it on the Festival website.
FORMATS
Films selected in all sections must provide a screening copy in DCP format. Projection copies in Digital Cinema Package (DCP) will have to comply with the DCI regulations, and will remain in the possession of the Festival until the conclusion of the last screening scheduled within the Festival. Furthermore, the company that has entered the selected film must certify the proper functioning of the copy (audio/video synchronization, color, etc.), testing it before sending it to the Contest. This company will also provide the technical department, if applicable, with the necessary KDM (with a minimum available window of 72 hours before the start of the festival and 24 hours after the end), taking charge of the expenses derived from their generation. , as well as the management of new KDMs (or DKDMs) if necessary.
The Festival reserves the right to not accept copies that, after the necessary technical checks, do not meet adequate exhibition conditions for screening, providing a technical report to the representatives of the film and requesting a new copy.
SENDING MATERIALS AND SCREENING COPIES
Those selected must send the Festival a copy of the film before the date established in these rules, being able to choose one of these options:
3) Physical shipment of the DCP along with a digital file as a backup
The payment of the shipping costs (transport and insurance policy) caused by the shipment from the place of issue of the copy of each film selected to participate in any of the sections of the Festival to its warehouse of copies, will be the responsibility of the producing companies.
In the case of the participating films, the production companies will have to deliver to the Festival before the date established in these rules, with a mandatory nature, the screening copies, with the obligation to communicate to the Organization the date of issue of the copy and the means of transport used.
All copies of the participating films will have to indicate the information for their return. These refunds will be made within a maximum period of one month from the end date of the Festival. The payment of transportation costs caused by this return will be borne by the Festival.
The insurance contracted by the Festival covers the risks of fire, loss, theft, damage and destruction of the copy for the period between arrival at the Festival and return to the indicated return address. The maximum period to make any claim regarding a copy will be fifteen days from the date of return.
4) Digital sending of the DCP through a platform enabled for this use by the Festival
In this case, the DCP must be hosted uncompressed, ZIP or RAR files are not accepted, before the date provided in these bases. In addition to the DCP, it is also necessary to host a digital file (MOV or MP4) as a backup, in H264, that does not exceed 15 GB and with subtitles (SRT) and with a minimum resolution of HD sheet. The Organization will destroy these files when editing is completed. Once this sending method has been communicated to the Copy Management department (always before the deadline set), the access data to the platform will be provided as well as all the information related to the download when it is enabled.
EXHIBITION SPACES AND CHANNELS
The selected films will be shown in person during the Festival dates at the Casino Ceretà in Puigcerdà and in other spaces decided by the Organization. The Organization reserves the right to roam the sessions. Exceptionally, participating films may also choose to be screened in geo-blocked streaming and for a limited period through the Festival's online channel and under the conditions agreed upon with the service provider, always voluntarily and after signing the mandatory contract.
5. JURY, PRIZES, OBLIGATIONS AND COMPENSATIONS
JURY
The Festival Management will appoint the juries of the different sections in the competition, whose decisions will be final and will not have to be justified. People with interests in the production, distribution or any other type of exploitation or participation with the films selected for competition may not be part of the juries of the different competition sections.
The juries of the different categories may award a maximum of three awards per film and may grant special mentions along with the official awards, up to a maximum of two for each of the sections. Prizes in all categories may not be declared void nor may those that involve a financial award be awarded ex aequo. In the case of prizes without a financial award, the juries of the different categories may award a maximum of two prizes ex aequo.
The Organization reserves the right to incorporate new prizes and to substitute prizes with others of equal or greater value whenever there is justified cause. In any case, this decision will always be duly communicated. Prizes are not exchangeable for any other prize. The financial award is subject to the director's attendance at the awards ceremony, as well as compliance with the rest of the mandatory obligations. Trophies can only be collected in person.
The juries of the different sections in competition undertake not to publicly express their considerations regarding the selection of films for which they must issue a verdict. The Festival Management may be present, with voice but without vote, in the deliberations and communications of the different juries.
AWARDS
OFFICIAL SHORT FILMS SECTION – FICTION AND ANIMATION
• Award for the Best Spanish Fiction Short Film (under 30’) granted with €2,000 and a Festival trophy. This award is associated with automatic pre-selection in the Best Fiction Short Film category for the Premios Goya Awards of the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences.
• Award for the Best Spanish Animated Short Film (under 30’) granted with €1,000 and a Festival trophy. This award is associated with automatic pre-selection in the Best Fiction Short Film category for the Premios Goya Awards of the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences.
• Award for the Best International Short Film granted with €1,000 and a Festival trophy.
• Curtmiratges Award for the Best Fiction or Animation Short Film made by a young director (under 30 years old), which consists of a Festival trophy.
• Audience Award.
OFFICIAL FEATURE FILMS SECTION – FICTION AND ANIMATION
• Award for the Best Fiction or Animation Feature Film granted with €1,000 and a Festival trophy.
• Mirada Social Award for the Best Fiction or Animation Feature Film that deals with a social theme, which consists of a Festival trophy.
• Audience Award.
OFFICIAL DOCUMENTARY SECTION
• Award for the Best Spanish Documentary Short Film (under 30’) granted with €1,000 and a Festival trophy. This award is associated with automatic pre-selection in the Best Documentary Short Film category for the Premios Goya Awards of the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences.
• Best International Documentary Award, granted with €1,000 and a Festival trophy.
• Audience Award.
PYRENEES SECTION – NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
• Best mountain film granted with €1,000 and a Festival trophy.
• Sustainable Pyrenees Award, to the film that stands out in the sustainability of its production and filming process endowed with a Festival trophy.
HISTORICAL MEMORY SECTION
• Memory Award for the Best documentary that disseminates some aspect related to historical memory, endowed with a Festival trophy.
TRINXAT DE CERDANYA SECTION – HORROR/FANTASTIC
• Trinxat de Cerdanya Award granted with €1,000 and a Festival trophy.
• Audience Award.
CINEFÍLIA SECTION INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA
• Audience Award – Cinefília, awarded with €2,000 for the distributor in Spain of the most voted feature film in the section and a Festival trophy.
OTHER AWARDS
The films in the official Short Films, Feature Films and Documentaries sections also compete for the rest of the Festival trophys, awarded by the festival jury and endowed with a Festival trophy. These are:
• Best Film in Catalan
• Emerging Talent Award
• Best Direction
• Best Original Screenplay
• Best Photography
• Best Sound Design
• Best Editing
• Best Individual Performance
• Best Choral Performance
The Organization reserves the right to establish as many mentions to films as the Festival Jury deems appropriate.
PAYMENT OF PRIZES
The financial allocation of the prizes will be made effective to the entity or production company, once a certificate demonstrating its screening in commercial theaters or accreditation of the exhibition of the film in another Contest or audiovisual event held within 2025 has been provided, always with after the screening at Cerdanya Film Festival, as well as, where appropriate, on television or platforms. This document will state that at the beginning of the document the corporate image (logo and name) of Cerdanya Film Festival appears and express reference to the award obtained. Cash prizes are subject to current personal income tax legislation for Spanish productions and based on international double taxation agreements for foreign films, with the latter being responsible for paying the corresponding taxes.
OBLIGATIONS OF THE AWARD-WINNING FILMS
The production companies will have to send to the Festival a copy (in digital file, through a download link) of the award-winning films that include the written reference of the award received and as a prerequisite for the payment of the awards contemplated in these Rules. .
Companies that produce and/or distribute award-winning feature films, short films and documentaries must include a written reference to the award of the award at the beginning of each and every copy they distribute for exhibition in theaters, other film competitions, television or VOD platforms. (video on demand), as well as in all printed informative and promotional material (press book, posters, etc.) from its granting. This reference will consist of a text with the prize awarded, accompanied by the corporate image (logo and name) of Cerdanya Film Festival, which will be provided to you, along with its rules of use, by its Organization.
IMAGE COMPENSATIONS
Mere participation in Cerdanya Film Festival in each of its sections will allow production/distribution companies to insert the Festival logo in the header of the films presented, indicating the corresponding annual fee. This logo and legend can also be included in all insertions in the written press, as well as expressly mentioning this participation in the different audiovisual media in which advertising of the film is included prior to the Festival or during its celebration. For the correct insertion of the logo, which in no case can be altered or adapted, you can consult the Festival's style manual on the Festival's website. In case of doubts, contact the Organization.
Likewise, the cash prizes awarded to films will entail correct compliance with the public image considerations reflected in the previous section and which will have to be met for the Festival to validate these payments.
6. OTHER REQUIREMENTS AND AUTHORIZATIONS
CATALOG, MATERIALS AND DOCUMENTATION
Once an audiovisual is confirmed to participate in the Festival, a specific online form will be sent that must be completed with the content deemed essential for its programming. The information necessary for the production of the programming guide, social networks and the website (synopsis, biofilmography, artistic and technical sheet, photographs of the director, stills and poster of the film, trailers and other audiovisual materials) will be taken exclusively from This formulary.
PRESS AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL
The Press Department of the Festival will contact the respective production and/or distribution companies of the selected films to supervise and coordinate the materials included in the selection form, and to which the media and those accredited will have access through the “Review Room”. Press"
of the Web. The production and/or distribution companies of the selected feature films, short films and documentaries authorize, by accepting their participation, the use of one or more fragments of the title for dissemination as informative material in any media.
ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS
Participants exempt the Festival Organization from any responsibility derived from plagiarism or any transgression of current legislation that they may incur. The films will be presented by a person who holds the rights to them or who represents them. The person who submits films to the contest will be responsible for making payments for the copyright generated by their works.
The winners undertake to ensure that the award received is mentioned in subsequent broadcasts of the film. In addition, they authorize the Organization to use extracts (less than 1') and photographs for the promotion and advertising of the Festival on all physical and digital media, including the social networks of the Organization and related entities.
All films received will become part of the videographic documentation fund of Cerdanya Film Festival, which will not return any of the copies to their authors under any circumstances. With registration in the Contest, the selected participants authorize the Organization to reproduce their films during the Festival as well as within the day of “The Shortest Day” and in traveling sessions of the Festival a total of 3 times. No film will be shown more than 3 times without the owner's consent.
All decisions made by the Festival and the jury are final. The registration and participation of a film in the Contest imply full acceptance of the rules. Any questions that may arise that are not resolved in these bases will be resolved by the management of the Festival Organization.
These participation bases may be complemented or modified by the Festival Management with any other annexes it deems appropriate, prior to the start date of the Contest and after prior communication to the interested parties. The interpretation will be the exclusive responsibility of the Festival Management.
7. CONTACT
FUNDACIÓ CERDANYA CINEMA – CERDANYA FILM FESTIVAL
Avinguda Catalunya 17, 17520 Puigcerdà (Girona – Catalonia - Spain)
Email : info(a)cerdanyafilmfestival.cat
Web : www.cerdanyafilmFestival.cat
Instagram : @cerdanyafilmfest