Contemporanea is a festival dedicated to exploring women's perspectives in cinema and the visual arts. Created in collaboration with the National Museum of Cinema and Film Commission Torino Piemonte, it aims to support the next generation of women filmmakers and amplify their impact on a global scale.

The festival's 5th edition will take place in Turin in November 2026, featuring an international competition highlighting outstanding independent short films by emerging women directors from around the world.

In recent years, Contemporanea has welcomed renowned guests, including celebrated actresses, producers, and award-winning filmmakers such as Maura Delpero, Francesca Archibugi, Roberta Torre, Monica Guerritore, Laura Luchetti, Ángela Molina, Jessica Woodworth, Adele Tulli, and Chloé Barreau. Industry leaders from prominent production and distribution companies including Paramount, Grøenlandia, Indiana Production, Vision Distribution, Cinedora, and Teodora Film have also served on the festival jury.

Awards & Prizes

Each year, the festival appoints a jury of industry professionals who present the following awards:

• SHORT FILM JURY AWARD – Best Short Film
• SPECIAL JURY AWARD: DIRECTING – Best Director
• DAMS PRIZE – Awarded by a jury of film students from the University of Turin

Rules & Terms

1. ELIGIBILITY
• Submissions are open open to women filmmakers from anywhere in the world.
• CFF accepts short films of all genres and subject matter.
• The Festival welcomes all forms of film production, including animation and experimental works. However, promotional films (e.g., tourism promotions, charitable appeals) are not eligible.
• Films should have English or Italian subtitles.
• Eligible films must have been completed after 1st January 2023 and must not exceed 25 minutes in length.
• The screening formats eligible for inclusion are QuickTime ProRes or H.264.
• CFF has no strict premiere requirements, but the programming team will prioritise works that have yet to receive a public screening in Turin prior to CIFF 2025.
• Each entry must be accompanied by the appropriate entry fee. Entry fees are non-refundable.

2. SELECTION
All submissions are fully considered and curated by our team of programmers, pre-selectors and review committee. If a project is selected for screening, the Festival will contact the entrant by e-mail. All entries will be notified by September 1st 2025, barring unforeseen circumstances. Following selection, successful entrants will be required to provide a Quicktime ProRes or H.264 file, film synopsis and three high resolution film stills.

3. RIGHTS & PRIVACY
If selected, the entrant grants CFF the right to utilise publicity materials related to the production (e.g. press kits, posters, stills, etc.) for promotional purposes and to broadcast or screen clips of a maximum of two minutes. Entrant confirms and warrants required legal authority to submit the entry into the Festival and to use all music, images and content in the entry. CFF is unable to return preview copies.
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