International Animation Festival Chilemonos

CHILEMONOS 2026 Call for Entries
Official Terms and Conditions

The 15th CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival 2026 opens its call for submissions and invites creators to take part in this new edition. The Festival will be held in a hybrid format: online for all of Latin America and in person in Santiago, Chile, from May 1 to 31, 2026.
Fundación CHILEMONOS is a non-profit organization that promotes, encourages, and develops Chilean and Latin American animation worldwide. It works in five areas: culture, industry, training, research, and dissemination, from which it implements action plans for the creation and formation of new audiences. Since 2012, we have developed and organized the CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival, a space for knowledge exchange and interaction between animation professionals such as directors, producers, animators, and Latin American animation students, who have made this a place for feedback.
Since 2019, the CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival has been an Academy Award® qualifying festival recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). This means that the winning films of both the Latin American Animated Short Film Competition and the International Animated Short Film Competition may be eligible for consideration in the Oscar® Animated Short Film category, provided that they meet the Academy’s official rules and requirements.

1. GENERAL CONDITIONS
The Fifteenth CHILEMONOS 2026 International Animation Festival (the “Festival”) is now accepting submissions of animated works in five official competition categories.
Individuals and legal entities, either individually or collectively, over the age of 18, of any nationality, may participate by submitting animated works (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Works” and individually as the ‘Work’) that meet the requirements set forth in these regulations (the “Regulations”) and the technical standards that allow for their future exhibition.
Participation in the competitions is free of charge.
Works that have already been part of the Official Selection in previous editions of the Festival are not eligible to participate.
The call for entries is open to Works in all types of animation techniques that have been completed since March 1, 2025.

2. SUBMISSION PERIOD
Submissions for all official competition categories will be accepted from 12:00 a.m. on Friday, October 24, 2025, until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, February 27, 2026, according to mainland Chile time (GMT-3).

3. COMPETITIVE CATEGORIES
The competitive categories for this edition of the Festival are six (6) and are as follows:
1. International Animated Short Film Competition.
2. Latin American Animated Short Film Competition (including Chile).
3. International School Short Film Competition.
4. Latin American School Short Film Competition (including Chile).
5. Latin American Animated Series Competition (including Chile).
6. Latin American Experimental Animated Short Film Competition (including Chile).

The categories are segmented according to the type of works submitted and their nationality. The awards granted in each category are defined as follows:

3.1 International Animated Short Film Competition
Official selection focused on showcasing international short films. Works with a running time between 2 and 30 minutes (excluding all credits and/or title sequences) will be considered as short films.
This is an international call, excluding Chile and the rest of Latin America.
This category awards:
- Trophy for Best International Animated Short Film
- Digital certificate for first, second, and third place in the competition.

The CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival is an Academy Award® qualifying festival recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). This means that the winning film of the International Animated Short Film Competition may be eligible for consideration in the Oscar® Animated Short Film category, provided it meets all official Academy rules.
For more information, visit: www.oscars.org/rules

3.2 Latin American Animated Short Film Competition
Official selection focused on showcasing Latin American short films. Works with a running time between 2 and 30 minutes (excluding all credits and/or title sequences) will be considered as short films.
This is a Latin American call, including Chile.
This category awards:
- Trophy for Best Latin American Animated Short Film *
- Trophy for Second Place for Latin American Animated Short Film
- Trophy for Third Place for Latin American Animated Short Film
- Digital certificate for first, second, and third place in the competition.
- Trophy for Best Chilean Animated Short Film**

* The CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival is an Academy Award® qualifying festival recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). This means that the winning film of the Latin American Animated Short Film Competition may be eligible for consideration in the Oscar® Animated Short Film category, provided it meets all official Academy rules.
For more information, visit: www.oscars.org/rules
** The Best Chilean Animated Short Film Award will be granted to a Work produced in Chile only if no Chilean film places among the top three winners. If a Chilean film is awarded 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place, this additional prize will not be given.

3.3 International School Short Film Competition.
Official selection focused on showcasing short films produced under the institutional framework of schools, universities, or professional institutes, created during the applicants’ academic years or as a graduation project.
Works with a running time between 2 and 30 minutes (excluding all credits and/or title sequences) will be considered short films. The nationality of the Work will correspond to the country of origin of the school, university, or professional institute where it was produced.
Projects conceived as series, series pilots, music videos, trailers, feature teasers, or any other non–short film format will not be accepted.
Each Work must specify in its credits the identification of the school, university, or professional institute where it was produced, including the institution’s name and/or logo.
This is an international call, excluding Latin America and Chile.
The Festival will verify the student status of the applicant. In the case of a collective submission, this condition must be verified for all applicants. If verification is not possible for any participant, the Work will be immediately disqualified from this category.
This category awards:
- Trophy for Best International School Short Film
- Digital certificate for first, second, and third place in the competition.

3.4 Latin American School Short Film Competition
Official selection focused on showcasing short films produced under the institutional framework of schools, universities, or professional institutes from across Latin America, created during the applicants’ academic years or as graduation projects.
Works with a running time between 2 and 30 minutes (excluding all credits and/or title sequences) will be considered short films. The nationality of the Work will correspond to the country of origin of the school, university, or professional institute where it was produced.
Projects conceived as series, series pilots, music videos, trailers, feature teasers, or any other non–short film format will not be accepted.
Each Work must specify in its credits the identification of the school, university, or professional institute where it was produced, including the institution’s name and/or logo.
This is a Latin American call, including Chile.
The Festival will verify the student status of the applicant. In the case of a collective submission, this condition must be verified for all applicants. If verification is not possible for any participant, the Work will be immediately disqualified from this category.
This category awards:
- Trophy for Best Latin American School Short Film*
- Trophy for Second Place for Latin American School Short Film
- Trophy for Third Place for Latin American School Short Film
- Digital certificate for first, second, and third place in the competition.
- Trophy for Best Chilean School Short Film**

* The Festival reserves the right to divide this category into subcategories based on the number or type of submissions received in this call, according to nationality or other criteria deemed appropriate.
** The Best Chilean Student Animated Short Film Award will be granted to a Work produced in Chile only if no Chilean film places among the top three winners. If a Chilean film is awarded 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place, this additional prize will not be given.

3.5 Latin American Animated Series Competition
Official selection focused on showcasing animated series produced by independent creators, production companies, or television channels, with or without state funding, whether already released or upcoming.
The winner of this category will be determined by the evaluation of a specialized jury.
This is a Latin American call, including Chile.
Each submission must include one episode of the series. The choice of episode is left entirely to the discretion of the applicant(s).
Episodes from new seasons or special editions (e.g., Christmas, Halloween, local festivities, etc.) of series that participated in previous editions of the Festival are eligible.
Eligible works include series released on or after March 1, 2025 (as stated in Article 1: General Conditions) or those with a confirmed release date within the competitive year (2026).
This category awards:
- Trophy for Best Latin American Animated Series
- Trophy for Second Place for Latin American Animated Series
- Trophy for Third Place for Latin American Animated Series
- Digital certificate for first, second, and third place in the competition.

* The Festival reserves the right to divide this category into subcategories based on the number of entries received, according to the criteria of age rating** of audiences or those deemed appropriate.
** The age rating to which each Work will be assigned is at the discretion of the author(s) of the Work.

3.6 Latin American Experimental Animated Short Film Competition
Official selection focused on showcasing short films that explore the boundaries of the animation language. Experimental works are understood as those situated at the intersection between animation, contemporary art, and other visual discourses, proposing formal experimentation, unconventional narratives, or hybrid processes that challenge traditional formats.
Works with a running time between 2 and 30 minutes (excluding all credits and/or title sequences) will be considered short films.
Projects created using any animation technique or combination of techniques are accepted.
Short films created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) will not be eligible.
This is a Latin American call, including Chile.
This category awards:
- Trophy for Best Latin American Experimental Animated Short Film
- Trophy for Second Place for Latin American Experimental Animated Short Film
- Trophy for Third Place for Latin American Experimental Animated Short Film
- Digital certificate for first, second, and third place in the competition.

4. NATIONALITY OF THE WORKS IN COMPETITION
In cases where the nationality of a work is not clearly determined, it will be defined by the Festival, considering the following criteria:
a) Nationality of the director - 30 points in general qualification
b) Team of filmmakers (members of the pre-production, production and post-production of the Work), 75% of which must be from the territory to which the Work claims to belong. - 20 points in general qualification.
c) The financing must come from the territory in which the Work is competing. In the case of co-financing, it must be a simple majority from the territory in which the work is competing - 20 points in general qualification.
d) The Work must be mostly produced in the territory in which it is competing - 20 points in general qualification.
e) The theme of the Work must allude in some way to the territory in which it is competing - 10 points in general qualification.
In order for a Work to be assigned to the category in which it competes (Latin American or International), it must have a score greater than 50 points according to the nationality criteria.
In the event that a short film has been entered in a category to which it does not correspond, the Festival may relocate it to the corresponding category. If the relocation is not accepted, the Work will be disqualified.
Exception: in school short film competitions, the nationality of the Work is defined by the educational institution where it is made.

5. REGISTRATION, SUBMISSION, AND SELECTION OF WORKS
5.1 Registration of Works
Within the submission period defined in section 2 of these Regulations, applicants must register to be considered in one of the competitive categories. There are two official channels for submitting Works for preselection:
a) Online registration form available on the official Festival website (free of charge):
www.chilemonos.cl
b) FilmFreeway submission platform (free of charge):
www.filmfreeway.com
5.2 Submission Methods for Preselection Materials
When submitting a Work via the online registration form on the Festival’s official website, the applicant must select the appropriate delivery method:
a) File submission via download link: through Vimeo (password-protected), WeTransfer, Dropbox, Google Drive, private FTP servers, or similar.*
*If a Work is submitted via an expiring link, the applicant is required to provide a new, active link in the event that the Festival organization has not yet downloaded the Work. Otherwise, the submission will not be considered.
5.3 All Works submitted for consideration in the competitive categories will undergo a preselection process conducted by the Festival’s Curatorial Committee. The decision of this Committee is final and not subject to appeal.
5.4 All materials submitted for consideration in any Festival competition will become part of the Festival’s historical archive.
5.5 Submitting a Work for consideration in any of the official competitive categories of the Festival under this call implies the full and unconditional acceptance of these Regulations.
By submitting the application form, the applicant declares that they are the legal holder of all copyrights associated with the Work and have the authority to authorize its reproduction, storage, exhibition, and public communication.
The applicant thereby authorizes the free reproduction, exhibition, and public communication of the Work from the submission date until May 31, 2026, within Chilean territory.
They also authorize the storage, reproduction, and public communication of the Work as part of the Festival’s historical archive.
Without prejudice to this authorization, applicants agree to sign any additional authorization forms required by the organization should their Work be selected.
5.6 The Festival organization reserves the right to take any measures or make any decisions it deems appropriate regarding situations not expressly covered in these Regulations.

6. COPYRIGHT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
6.1 The applicant declares that, in the event their Work involves, affects, or includes the total or partial use of materials protected under national or international intellectual property laws (including, in particular, those necessary for the public exhibition of the Work and any applicable phonographic rights), and where the copyright holders are individuals or legal entities other than the applicant, they have obtained express authorization for the use of such materials from the respective rights holders.
The applicant assumes full responsibility for any infringement of these rights and agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold the Festival harmless against any claims brought by third parties in this regard.
6.2 The Festival assumes no responsibility for any violations of copyright or related rights resulting from the applicant’s failure to comply with section 6.1.
6.3 The Festival reserves the right to take any measures or make any decisions it deems appropriate in response to potential infringements of copyright and/or intellectual property rights that may arise.

7. JURY
7.1 The jury will be composed of professional filmmakers, animation specialists, cultural managers, guest directors invited to the Festival, and members of international organizations associated with the event.
7.2 Individuals who are directly involved with any of the Works in competition within a given category will be ineligible to serve as jurors for that category.
7.3 The jury’s decision is final and not subject to appeal.

8. OFFICIAL SELECTION IN COMPETITION
8.1 The Official Selection will be published on the website www.chilemonos.cl and on the Festival’s social media (Instagram and Facebook). Results will be announced at the end of March 2026.
8.2 Applicants hereby authorize the use of trailers or excerpts of their Work (as supplied by the representative of the selected Works) in the event of selection. Such trailers or excerpts will be used solely to promote the Festival’s Official Competition.
By submitting materials to the Festival and Fundación CHILEMONOS for competitive consideration, the sender agrees that the Curatorial Committee may view the submitted materials. If nominated, materials may also be viewed by the Official Jury, and short portions (excerpts or official trailers) may be shown to the public online or in person as part of the Festival’s promotion and/or official ceremonies.
8.3 Works included in the Official Selection will receive an Official Digital Certificate and the CHILEMONOS Official Selection laurels.
8.4 Selected entrants will be notified by email, at which point detailed instructions will be provided regarding formats, deadlines, delivery method, and place of submission for the Works to be publicly exhibited during the Festival.
8.5 Due to the large number of animated Works submitted each year for preselection across the various competitive categories, only those participants whose productions are selected for the Official Competition of the CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival will be notified directly via email.
Therefore, if you do not receive notification between March 23 and March 31, 2026, it means that your production was not selected. We thank you for your participation.
8.6 The final screening materials must be delivered within the deadlines specified in the email mentioned in section 8.4. Failure to do so will result in disqualification of the Work.
8.7 If the final screening version of the Work is in a language other than Spanish, it must be submitted with Spanish subtitles (or in English as an alternative). Subtitles must be delivered separately from the video file as a text or subtitle file (e.g., *.srt).
a) When subtitles are used, they must be legible at all times and delivered separately from the video file. The only exception applies to feature films submitted in DCP format, which must include embedded subtitles. Subtitles should be provided in .srt format, or alternatively as text files with time codes (Word, TXT, or PDF).
Scripts will not be accepted as subtitles.
b) For dubbed versions, the audio track must be synchronized with the video. The dubbed audio may be either embedded in the video file or provided as a separate audio track.
The Festival accepts 2-channel (stereo) audio files, preferably in WAV format, though other formats such as WMA, FLAC, MP3, or AAC are also accepted.
8.8 For selected filmmakers, the Festival does not cover travel or accommodation expenses to attend the event. However, the organization may provide support letters to relevant institutions to facilitate the attendance of selected participants.

9. USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
While we are fully aware that AI is currently a tool used to create animation, Fundación CHILEMONOS and the CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival have not yet adopted a specific policy regarding the use of AI in submissions to the Festival’s Official Selection. At this time, we are still studying the best way to incorporate AI into our submission guidelines.
For this year, in light of the above, projects that include animations created with AI that replace the animator’s work will not be eligible for the Official Selection in competition for the 2026 edition of the Festival.
Although we recognize that generative artificial intelligence is today an emerging tool in the field of animation, Fundación CHILEMONOS and the CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival have not yet established a final policy regarding its use in submissions to the Official Selection. We are currently analyzing how best to incorporate this technology into our project submission rules.
Accordingly, and as an exceptional measure for the 2026 edition, the use of artificial intelligence in submitted works will not be permitted. Projects that incorporate AI-generated animation in place of the animator’s creative work will not be eligible to participate in the Festival’s Official Selection in competition.

10. SUBMISSION AND PARTICIPATION FEES
The Festival does not charge submission fees in any of its competitive categories.
Likewise, the Festival does not offer screening fees or payments for selected Works.
All screening-related costs are the responsibility of the participants.

11. WHAT IS ANIMATION?
Since 2019, the CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival has been an Academy Award® qualifying festival recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
Accordingly, the Festival adheres to the definition of “Animation” as established by the Academy’s official rules, as follows:
“An animated film is defined as a motion picture in which movement and characters’ performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique and generally fall into one of two broad categories of animation: narrative or abstract.
Some of the techniques of animated films include, but are not limited to, hand-drawn animation, computer animation, stop motion, clay animation, pixilation, cutout animation, multiple-pass camera imagery, kaleidoscopic effects created frame-by-frame, and drawing directly on the film itself. Motion capture and real-time puppetry are not, in themselves, animation techniques.
An animated short film has a running time of between 1 and 30 minutes. An animated feature film runs for more than 60 minutes. In an animated film, animation must make up at least 75 percent of the film’s running time. Additionally, a narrative animated film must feature a significant number of animated principal characters. If the film is created in a cinematic style that could be mistaken for live action, the filmmaker(s) must also provide information demonstrating how and why the film is substantially an animated work rather than a live-action one.”
Source: https://www.oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility

12. VOLUNTARY AUTHORIZATION FOR ONDAMEDIA 2026 STREAMING
12.1 In its fifteenth edition, the CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival will take place in a hybrid format, both in person and online. For its online version, the Festival has partnered with ONDAMEDIA, a free Chilean audiovisual platform managed by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage of the Government of Chile.
For more information, visit: https://ondamedia.cl/terms.
12.2 In the submission form, applicants will find a voluntary option to authorize (if they so wish) the reproduction, public communication, and exhibition of their Work through the ONDAMEDIA platform.
The authorized content will be available for seven (7) days, protected by password-encrypted access and restricted to Latin American geolocation.
12.3 This exhibition will be non-commercial and intended solely to promote the CHILEMONOS Festival and to showcase the Official Selection Works of 2026.

13. VOLUNTARY AUTHORIZATION FOR CHILEMONOS 2026 TOURING EXHIBITION
13.1 Throughout the year, the CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival organizes free animation screenings.
In the submission form, applicants will find a voluntary option to authorize (if they so wish) the reproduction, public communication, and exhibition of their Work in free public screenings aimed at audience development and education.
13.2 If the reproduction, communication to the public, and exhibition referred to in the preceding paragraph are authorized, the Works will be part of the CHILEMONOS 2026 Festival Screening, which will take place in Chile and/or internationally in independent theaters, museums, libraries, cultural centers, universities, and schools, during the period between the months following the Festival (June 2026) and those preceding the next edition of the event (April 2027).

14. CHILEMONOS 2026 WINNERS SCREENINGS
14.1 Works awarded first, second, or third place, as well as special mentions or other jury-awarded prizes, will be included in the CHILEMONOS 2026 Winners Screening.
Eligible categories for this screening are:
• International Animated Short Film Competition
• Latin American Animated Short Film Competition (including Best Chilean Short Film)
• International Student Animated Short Film Competition
• Latin American Student Animated Short Film Competition (including Best Chilean Student Short Film)
• Latin American Experimental Animated Short Film Competition
14.2 The Screening will be displayed on a non-profit basis with the aim of promoting the CHILEMONOS Festival and publicizing the winning works of 2026. The Exhibition will be displayed at ONDAMEDIA (if point 11 is accepted and under the conditions specified therein), and in Chile and/or internationally in independent theaters, museums, libraries, cultural centers, universities, and schools, during the period between the months following the Festival (June 2026) and those preceding the next edition of the event (April 2027).
14.3 By submitting the application form, the applicant also agrees that, should they win in any of the categories indicated in section 14.1, they authorize the inclusion of their Work in the aforementioned showcase..

Participation in the Festival implies acceptance of the Regulations and the additional rules sent to selected applicants, which specify subsequent screenings.

The Festival organization reserves the right to take any measures or make any decisions it deems appropriate regarding situations not expressly covered in these Regulations.
Questions or comments regarding the 2026 selection period may be sent to: competition@chilemonos.cl

We invite you to stay informed about all activities of the CHILEMONOS International Animation Festival on our website www.chilemonos.cl and on Instagram and Facebook.