The Italian Film Festival USA is organized by the Italian Film Festival of St. Louis, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.

Our objective is to provide the public the opportunity to see ITALIAN LANGUAGE films (with English subtitles) that have not yet or may never be seen locally, always with the scope to elevate the awareness of and educate the public about Italy - its land, people, culture, and language.

Every year, the Italian Film Festival USA screens Italian feature films, documentaries, and short films in several American metropolitan areas. The 2024 edition of our in-person festival brought Italian cinema to thousands of spectators in 13 cities: Metro Detroit, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Kansas City, St. Louis, Boulder, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston, and Portland. We plan to return to these cities in the Spring of 2025.

The Italian Film Festival USA believes that the audience's judgment of films is very important. Thus, we provide our spectators with a ballot before each film where they rate the film from 1 to 5 stars (5 being the highest). After the film screening, the ballots are collected and an average rating is calculated. At the conclusion of the festival, the film with the highest score is announced as winner of the Best Film Award. To see a list of the Best Films selected in our previous editions, visit our IMDB page:
http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0003313/

Awards & Prizes

Between five and eight shorts will be selected to be screened during the next 2025 edition of the Italian Film Festival USA. The locations in which the short films will be presented are going to be announced later. The locations screening the short film program in the last few years have included Detroit, Phoenix, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cleveland, Chicago, Portland, Salt Lake City, Madison, Milwaukee, and Boston.

The selected shorts will be screened at each location during one evening. Among the selected shorts, a winner will be indicated by the audience for each screening location. The votes from the audience at each location, added to the votes of a jury composed of members of our city committees, will determine a final winner, which will be announced after the last day of screenings of the 2025 Italian Film Festival USA. The director of the awarded short film will receive a monetary award of $500.

Please note that the 2025 in-person festival's dates are tentative for now. The organizing committee will inform directors and distributors promptly about unexpected program changes of our festival planning.

Rules & Terms

CONDITIONS FOR ELIGIBILITY:
All Films Must:
1) be completed by entry deadline of January 31, 2025 (no works-in-progress will be accepted);
2) have been shot in Italy, OR the director OR screenwriter must be Italian, OR be spoken in Italian. Maximum film length 40 minutes. Films in Italian or in languages other than English, will only be accepted with English subtitles. Animated films are eligible, as long as they fulfill the above mentioned characteristics;
3) not be widely commercially available on video/DVD/online in the U.S. before the festival dates.

Please note that shorts that have screened at other festivals are still eligible.

Please contact the Italian Film Festival USA for questions and clarifications.

ENTRY PROCEDURE:
For preview purposes, films must be submitted by Vimeo (or other similar website) link. Submit a completed entry form with the screener. Please provide all information requested. It is advised that you keep a photocopy of this completed application for your own reference. Please read and understand the agreement at the end of the form before submitting. If your film is selected, we might request publicity photographs, posters, and/or a press kit.

JUDGING PROCESS:
All submissions will be viewed in their entirety. Submissions will be judged and scored based on criteria including: quality of screenplay (story, dialogue, character development, etc), acting, production quality, originality, technical proficiency, cinematography, sound design, editing, location/s used and set design. We support indie filmmaking and will award additional points to shorts produced on small budgets and/or minimal crew. All entrants will be notified of the status of their submission by e-mail no later than February 21, 2025.

SCREENING FOR SELECTED SHORTS:
If your film is selected, you will have to submit it as a high quality file. Additionally, we will request you to submit a short (no more than 2 minutes), personal video introduction. Failure to provide the director's video introduction will determine the exclusion of the short from our program.

RULES & TERMS:
- A separate entry fee is required for each submission.
- Changes to submitted films will only be accepted if accompanied by a new submission fee.
- The decision of the judges and selection committee is final.
- All selected films may be excerpted (up to 30 seconds) for publicity and promotional purposes. Stills of selected films may also be shown on the Festival website and publicity/promo material including press releases, Festival brochures, and other materials.
- All entry fees are non-refundable.
- Entrants are responsible for securing all rights and permissions from copyright and other holders relating to their short.
- The Italian Film Festival USA reserves the right to update or modify these terms and policies without prior notice.

AGREEMENT:
I affirm that the information submitted in FilmFreeway is correct, that I have read, understood and do hereby agree to be bound by the festival regulations as described herein and that I have the legal right to represent and to submit this film to the Italian Film Festival USA (IFFUSA). Music rights and all copyright clearances are the sole responsibility of the filmmaker. IFFUSA will not be held responsible for any legal disputes regarding the exhibition of this film. Submitting a film for consideration does not guarantee inclusion in the IFFUSA lineup. Noncompliance with rules and regulations may affect, delay and/or disqualify your entry. Permission for the festival to use excerpts or still images of each submitted film, not to exceed 30 seconds, for promotional purposes is considered granted on submission, unless otherwise noted. The festival reserves the right to complete any information not supplied by the filmmaker from whatever source available and will not be responsible if incorrect information is entered. Participation in IFFUSA implies understanding and acceptance of above regulations and requirements of this application.

Italian Film Festival USA, 9475 Mackenzie, St. Louis, MO, USA 63123
Phone: 314-422-3102. Website: www.italianfilmests.org, E-mail: shorts@italianfilmfests.org