The MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL champions the world’s finest machinima and filmmakers using video games and their technologies. An annual event, the festival showcases game-based videos created by artists and practitioners whose work lies at the intersection of video art, cinema, animation, and gaming.

The screened works are selected on the basis of their cultural relevance, artistic achievement, and innovative style by an international panel of jurors and by our cadre of curators. We strongly believe that the Festival selection best represents the diversity, ingenuity, and creativity of game-based video practices.

Filmmakers and video artists engaged in the practice of appropriating, repurposing, and remixing video games are encouraged to send us their work for consideration. All submissions will be judged by an international panel of jurors comprising scholars, curators, and critics. A Critics' Award will be awarded to the most groundbreaking work.

Screenings of selected machinima will be curated around different themes and presented in different sections. The most interesting submissions are those which seek to capture or highlight a specific facet of contemporary life, from politics to art, from violence to creativity, from technology to ideology, through the aesthetic lenses of digital gaming.

Featured artists: https://milanmachinimafestival.org/artist-index

The deadline for submissions is December 30, 2022

The full program will be announced in Early March 2023

Please carefully read our simple submission guidelines and requirements below before sending your work.

Critics' Choice Award.

Awarded by an international panel of scholars, curators, and critics:

Previous winners include:

Stanislaw Petruk (2023), Sam Crane (2022), Gina Hara (2021), Bram Ruiter (2019)

Submit your artwork for the seventh edition of the Milan Machinima Festival will take place in Milan, Italy between March 11-17 2024.

Filmmakers and video artists engaged in the practice of appropriating, repurposing, and remixing video games are encouraged to send us their work for consideration. All submissions will be judged by an international panel of jurors comprising scholars, curators, and critics. A Critics’ Award will be awarded to the most groundbreaking work.

Screenings of selected machinima will be curated around different themes and presented in various sections. The most interesting submissions are those which seek to capture or highlight a specific facet of contemporary life, from politics to art, from violence to creativity, from technology to ideology, through the aesthetic lenses of digital gaming.

The deadline for submissions is December 30, 2023

The full program will be announced in February 2023

Please read carefully our submission guidelines and requirements below before applying.

INTERNATIONAL OPEN CALL FOR NEW MEDIA ARTWORKS GUIDELINES

The MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL defines machinima as any digital video made using video games technology (game engines, tools, assets such as characters, items, environments, and, obviously, video games as found footage etc.).

Submissions must feature machinima made with specifically with video games and/or video game technology: CGI only videos will not be considered. We strongly encourage candidates to review the program of the previous editions to get a better idea (see the archive section of thewebsite).

Submissions must be between 2 and 10 minutes in length. Longer or shorter submissions will not be considered for the award.

Submissions must have been produced between January 1, 2023 and December 30, 2023.

Artists and filmmakers can submit more than one machinima. However, multiple versions of the same machinima will not be considered.

Acceptable submission formats: Digital video files only.

Acceptable exhibition formats: mp4, avi, mpg, Quicktime file (ProRes 422).

The submission must include an accompanying artist statement/description of the artwork and an author biography no longer than 500 words.

All applicants must complete the official festival submission form located on filmfreeway.com

One-time, nominal submission fee: 15 euros payable via PayPal to the festival organizers. Submissions that have not been accepted will not be refunded.

Given that the MMF fully supports the fair clause doctrine when it comes to intellectual property, the applicant holds the sole responsibility of copyright clearance of any copyrighted material in the machinima. Please provide a detailed list of all the assets used, including mods in the accompanying document.

Exclusivity: If your machinima is accepted for screening during the Milan Machinima Festival, we kindly request not to present it elsewhere during the same time frame (i.e., March 11-17 2024), including personal websites, video sharing sites like Vimeo or YouTube.

Review: The MMF is under no obligation to provide comments regarding submitted machinima to any applicant.

Submission deadline: December 30, 2023

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  • È stato un onore partecipare al festival.

    July 2021
  • Gina Hara

    One of the best festivals I've ever screened at. An absolutely lovely crew, super smart programmers and an overall fantastic team. The festival was running online this year and their website was beautiful, easy to navigate, and provided a great backdrop for the movies. Do yourself a favour and submit your film to this wonderful festival!!

    March 2021
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you very much Gina! The entire staff appreciate your kind words.