Cinema Sicilianu is an international short film festival celebrating contemporary cinema from Sicily and the global Sicilian diaspora. Presented by the Sicilian Arts Collective Australia, the festival showcases films that engage with the social, cultural, environmental, artistic, political, and human questions shaping contemporary life.

Inspired by Sicily's long history as a meeting place of cultures, ideas, and histories, Cinema Sicilianu champions films that challenge assumptions, expand perspectives, foster dialogue, and connect communities across borders.

We believe that Sicily is more than a place. It is a global network of people, experiences, and creative practices. From Melbourne to New York, Buenos Aires to Brussels, Tunis to Toronto, Sicilian communities continue to contribute to contemporary conversations through art, culture, politics, scholarship, and storytelling.

Cinema Sicilianu seeks films that reflect the diversity of these experiences and the many ways Sicilian identities, histories, and perspectives intersect with the contemporary world.

We welcome documentaries, narrative films, experimental works, visual essays, visualised poetry, animation, and hybrid screen works that demonstrate artistic excellence, originality, and a distinctive creative voice.

We are particularly interested in films that connect local experiences to global conversations and engage audiences with curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and social imagination.

The inaugural Cinema Sicilianu Film Festival will take place from 25–27 June 2027 at Palace Westgarth and Brunswick Picture House in Melbourne, Australia.

Selected films will screen alongside a curated program, filmmaker discussions, community events, live performances, and international partnerships.

We invite filmmakers from across the global Sicilian diaspora to join us in creating a festival that celebrates contemporary cinema, cultural exchange, and meaningful engagement with the world around us.

Awards & Prizes

Cinema Sicilianu will be awarding 3 prizes
1. The Giorgio Mangiamele Award
2. The Cavadini Documentary Award
3. The Monica Pellizzari Award

Festival awards will include cash prizes, trophies, and international screening opportunities.

3. Travel Bursaries
Cinema Sicilianu is working towards providing travel bursaries for up to 5 $500AU film makers to attend the festival. More details to follow!

4. Festival Passes
All filmmakers will receive two complimentary festival passes and an invitation for four to our Launch Party at the Purple Emerald Lounge on the 25th June 2027.

Rules & Terms

Cinema Sicilianu is seeking films that connect local experiences to global conversations. We seek works that challenge, provoke, inspire, and foster dialogue, reflecting the diverse ways Sicilian communities engage with the contemporary world.

We are seeking films produced across the globe. All submissions must demonstrate a meaningful Sicilian connection. A Sicilian connection may be expressed through:

• Filmmakers or key creative personnel being Sicilian or of Sicilian heritage.

• Films exploring experiences of the Sicilian diaspora or the diasporic responsibility to address important global or local issue from the perspective of a Sicilian filmmaker anywhere in the world.

• Films examining relationships between Sicily and broader social, cultural, environmental, artistic, or political issues.

• Films engaging with Sicilian communities, culture, language, history, traditions, contemporary life, or social issues.

Films do not need to be set in Sicily or be explicitly about Sicily.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
• Films must be between 3 and 25 minutes in length, including credits.

• Films must have been completed after 30 June 2021.

• We welcome documentaries, narrative films, experimental films, visual essays, visualised poetry, animation, and hybrid screen works.

• Non-English language films must include English subtitles. English and Italian language films may incorporate Sicilian subtitles if desired.

• Multiple entries are permitted. Each film requires a separate submission.

• The submitter must hold all necessary rights and permissions relating to the submitted work.

FESTIVAL PARTICIPATION
Selected filmmakers may be invited to participate in Q&As, panel discussions, interviews, workshops, and festival-related activities.

By submitting, filmmakers grant Cinema Sicilianu permission to use trailers, excerpts, stills, and promotional materials for festival publicity and marketing purposes.

FORMATTING / RESOLUTION / SOUND & RATIOS
• Video files can be provided as: .mov, .mp4, .avi, .mkv or ProRes
• Image files can be provided as: .jpg or .png
• If you choose to provide your content in DCP format it will need to be through a reputable DCP
provider such as a recognised post house.
• For both video and image files, content will be played in either FLAT (1998 x 1080 / 1.85) or SCOPE (2048 x 858 / 2.39) aspect ratios. Please provide your files in the preferred ratio (Flat or Scope).
• It is best to supply your media at the rate of 24 frames per second, but we accept 25
• It is best to supply your film with a 5.1 audio mix to capitalise on the cinema’s surround speakers. (you may supply your content in stereo, but please note, this will not utilise the surround speakers).

OTHER RULES
All programming decisions are made by the festival selection panel and are final.
All filmmakers are responsible for ensuring they hold copyright to any content presented within their film.
Submission of a film constitutes acceptance of these rules and terms.