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Founded in 2017, the Festival de Santa Cruz has been taking place annually, in physical locations and online during the Covid-19 quarantine. Aiming to bring the best independent films to the heart of the brazilian capital, FDSC accepts submissions of all genres and from all walks of life. Among our top priorities is to encourage young aspiring filmmakers to follow their dream. Therefore, we have opened several affordable categories only applicable to students.
We always host our Festivals in local cinemas and multicultural spaces, supporting the city's historical venues while creating events that are accessible to all. Our screening categories span a wide range including shorts and feature films, documentaries, animations and music videos.

Welcome to our seven edition, submit your film.

🏆 The Awards Winners of the 2024 Edition:
- THE BAD SON by Ghatfan Ghanoom | 1. Best Feature Documentary
- PARISAN by Kambiz Babaei | Best Feature Film and Best Director
- MY MOTHER IS A SAINT by Syllas Tzoumerkas | Best Short Film
- INVISIBLES MÉXICO by Rafael Franco Gomez | 2. Best Feature Documentary
- OXIGEN by Vitaly Lazo, Olga Borodina |3. Best Feature Documentary
- ROOTS, DIASPORA & WAR by Phil Comeau | 4. Best Feature Documentary
- INSIDE ME - FLOWING MEMORIES by Mattia Bello | Best Music Video
- DAUGHTERS OF MAGUEY by Francisca Siza | 5. Best Feature Documentary and Empowered Talent Award Winner
- WITH MY OWN HANDS by José Francisco Tapajós | Empowered Talent Award Winner
- WARM WATERS by Camila Dalossi, Juliana Deeke, Giulia Moralez | Best Short Documentary
- BUG by Tiago Eugenio dos Santos | Best Brazilian Short Film
- MÅNGATA by Maja Costa | Best Short Film
- THE ASIFA BANO STORY by Mina Isabella JafriMalik | 2. Best Short Documentary, Best Screenplay and Best Director in Short Documentary
- FOOTPRINTS by Manu Sobral | First Best Brazilian Short Film
- INVISIBLE LIFE by Mark Krol | Empowered Talent Award Winner
- LA LIXEIRA - LA DIGNITÀ DEGLI INVISIBILI by Guido Galante, Antonio Notarangelo | 3. Best Short Documentary
- ZAZEN by Qiya Ma | Best Animated Film
- MATCHBOX by Jennifer Cabral | Best Experimental Film
- MUDFLATS by LuĂ­s Campos | 2. Best Short Film
- FIGHTERS OF NO RETURN by Shihyun Wang, James Chen | 4. Best Short Documentary

❀ Honorable Mentions:
- AMENTALIO by Mokotsi Rukundo | Honorable Mention in Short Film and Best Actress
- OUR GIFT TO THE WORLD by Rudolf Ć mĂ­d | Honorable Mention in Animated Film
- EMOTIONAL MAPS - HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS by Andre Deak, Felipe Lavignatti | Honorable Mention in Short Documentary
- WALTER THE MATERIALIZER by Gary Lang | Honorable Mention in Feature Documentary
- HALLOWEEN NIGHT by Fernanda Pacheco Maciel | Honorable Mention in Student Film and Animated Film
- SOAKED by Jean Di Barros | Honorable Mention in Brazilian Feature Film
- THROUGH YOUR EYES by Sonia Guggisberg | Honorable Mention in Feature Documentary
- NADA by Esnedy Milan Herrera | Honorable Mention in Music Video
- BEARS - QUIET BREAKS THE DAWN by Ino B | Honorable Mention in Feature Documentary
- ÁGUAS PASSADAS by LP Arruda | Honorable Mention in Student Film
- CHIMERA: A FILM FOR SOMEONE by Lucca Meloni, Rafael Monteiro | Honorable Mention in Brazilian Short Film
- WHEN NOISE IS TOO MUCH NOISE by Leo Sbabo Guerra | Honorable Mention in Brazilian Short Film, Best Actress and Best Director.
- THIS COUCH IS TOO BIG FOR MY TRUNK by Victor Toth | Honorable Mention in Brazilian Feature Film
- O GIGANTE DO MATA GALINHA by Rosane Gurgel Rosa | Honorable Mention in Short Documentary
- CIBERNÉTICAS by Graziela Mantoanelli | Honorable Mention in Feature Documentary
- THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FISHES IN THE WORLD by Gabriel Saraiva, Gabriela Pazini | Honorable Mention in Student Film
- SOU DO MAR - A HISTÓRIA DE MAIS UM AMANTE DO SURF by Bruno Lemos | Honorable Mention in Feature Documentary
- BLACK SUGAR RED BLOOD by Luigi Toscano | Honorable Mention in Feature Documentary
- BREATH AGAIN by GĂĄbor KlacsĂĄn | Honorable Mention in Music Video
- FEMININE SINGULAR by Dorian Shine | Honorable Mention in Feature Documentary
- THE INVISIBLE by Guga Lemes, Wagner Almeida, Marcelo Nobre, André Abujamra | Honorable Mention in Music Video adn Empowered Talent Award
- UNSTOPPABLE BEAT by Luke Dye-Montefiore | Honorable Mention in Animated Film
- ATONIA by Lucas Daniel | Honorable Mention in Student Film
- REFLORESCER by Lara Salsa | Honorable Mention in Animated Film, Brazilian Short Film and Student Film
- TAMALE SEASON by Isaac Rodriguez | Honorable Mention in Feature Documentary
Congratulations to everyone!

Awards & Prizes

Starcatcher Muse is the main prize award at the Festival de Santa Cruz
Our trophy reflects the filmmakers precious dreams of achieving greatness.

CATEGORIES

FEATURE
Best Feature Film

SHORT
Best Short Film

FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Best Feature Documentary

SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Best Short Documentary

EXPERIMENTAL
Best Experimental Film

ANIMATED
Best Animated Film

GOLD CAMERA
Best Director Award

EMPOWERED TALENT AWARD
Best Social Film

STUDENT FILM
Best Student Film

MUSIC VIDEO
Best Music Video

LONGA-METRAGEM BRASILEIRO
Melhor Longa-Metragem Brasileiro

CURTA-METRAGEM BRASILEIRO
Melhor Curta-Metragem Brasileiro

Rules & Terms

✓ All films must be submitted in Portuguese or with Portuguese subtitles (if in a different language).

✓ All films must have been made in or after 2022.

✓ Short films must not exceed 45 minutes.

✓ Filmmakers are responsible for sorting out the copyright on their own materials.

✓ By submitting to us, you give us consent and right to screen your film in front of a live audience, and, under special circumstances, online screening.

✓ Nominations: These are all the films that have been nominated for an award in a category. Not all nominated films will be screened.

Official Selection: These are all the nominated films selected for screening, which will be notified via email. If you received a Nomination email, but no Official Selection email, it means your film will not be screened, but is still a contender for an award in its category.

Award Winners: Chosen from the Nominations (which includes the Official Selection).

✓ We may promote clips from your film on social media, based on the press kits you provide us with.

✓ We retain the right to change the date and venue of the festival under special circumstances. All filmmakers will be informed about any changes through email and our online platforms.

✓ We place no restrictions on your work in terms of premiere status or whether your work has been made available online.

✓ We do not accept partial screeners, trailers, or screener links that require access other than password protected links.

✓ Any technical issues with the submitted films are 100% the 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, and a solution will be found.

✓ We cannot provide refunds.

✓ If you have submitted your project in the previous year, please do not resubmit the same project to the current edition.

✓ By submitting to us you agree to our terms and conditions and to receiving marketing newsletters and discounts about film festivals in the form of emails. We will never sell your information to third parties.

✓ We reserve the right to update our terms and conditions.