Art. 1
The 1st edition of the Modena Film Festival is organized by Crispy Cinema Club APS and longtake and will be held in Modena from 15 to 19 April 2026.
The Modena Film Festival originates from a reflection on cinema as the art of perception. The five senses represent our first and most immediate contact with reality: through them we experience knowledge, memory and emotion. The Modena Film Festival aims to be a place for reflection on the possibilities of evoking the entire sensory dimension, creating experiences that transcend the screen. The festival is devoted to explore new forms of film viewing, promoting diversity and inclusion as distinctive elements, in a context that celebrates Modena as a UNESCO Creative City for Media Arts.
Art. 2
The festival welcomes feature length films of all genres (fiction, documentary, animation, experimental cinema) with a minimum duration of 60 minutes that explore the theme of the five senses through the language of cinema.
Admitted films must develop an artistic, narrative or aesthetic reflection on at least one of the five senses - sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch - represented as follows:
· instruments of perception and knowledge of reality;
· elements of narrative and stylistic construction;
· dimensions of accessibility and inclusion;
· keys to understanding the relationship between body, mind and the surrounding world.
Works that engage the viewer in innovative sensory experiences, reflect on cinema itself as a visual and auditory art form or use the senses as a metaphor to explore contemporary issues are welcome. Particular attention will be given to works that offer original approaches to film viewing and that enhance the inclusive and accessible dimension of audiovisual language.
Art. 3
The Festival is divided into two sections:
· International Competition: presents a regional premiere of a selection of fiction films, documentaries or animated films, lasting a minimum of 60 minutes. The films in competition will be selected directly by a selection committee, both through direct evaluation of films presented at international festivals and from among the titles proposed by authors via the selection form available on the website www.filmfreeway.com (a link can be found on the website www.modenafilmfestival.it) from 20 November 2025 to 28 February 2026.
· Special events: event screenings, tributes and restored films. The films will be selected directly by a selection committee through direct evaluation of films presented at international festivals and from among the titles proposed by the authors through the selection form, available on the website www.filmfreeway.com (a link can be found on the website www.modenafilmfestival.it) from 20 November 2025 to 28 February 2026.
Art. 4
The submitted works must be produced and completed after April 2024 and must not have been presented earlier in Emilia-Romagna.
A selection committee, composed of film experts, will assist the Artistic Direction in the pre-selection phase of the works for the Festival.
Films already available on the web, broadcast on television or marketed on VOD, DVD, Blu-ray or any other medium are therefore not eligible for selection.
Art. 5
The submission of films the 1st edition of the Modena Film Festival is open from 20/11/2025 to 28/02/2026.
All participants must complete an online registration form for each film they wish to submit. Registration must be completed on the website www.filmfreeway.com by the author of the work or by the person who holds the rights to it (hereinafter also referred to as the “Author”).
The person registering the work assumes responsibility for being the legitimate representative authorised by all those entitled to the work itself. The declaration made by the person who signed the registration form therefore exempts the Modena Film Festival from verifying its legitimacy to register the work, which will therefore be considered as verified, exempting the Festival from any related responsibility.
Films of all genres and languages are accepted, made on any medium and without any division into categories.
Registration includes an Early Bird fee of €10.00 by 31 January 2026 and a Late fee of €20.00 by 28 February 2026.
Registrations will not be considered until payment has been made. The upload of the work and payment of the registration fee must be completed by the deadline of 28 February 2026. Incomplete or untruthful registrations will not be considered.
In the event of withdrawal of registration or if the work is not eligible for selection, the payment is non-refundable.
All works must be submitted in their original language with subtitles in Italian or English.
Films without Italian or English subtitles will not be considered. During the pre-selection phase, films in the original English language do not require subtitles.
The Festival may not be able to communicate the reasons for any non-selection.
The registration and participation of a film in the Festival implies acceptance of these Rules of Participation. Any cases not covered herein shall be decided by the Festival Management.
Copies of films submitted for pre-selection will become part of the Modena Film Festival video archive; any costs incurred for the film copy for pre-selection will be at the expense of the participants.
The author and/or producer and/or rights holder of each selected work authorises the publication of their details on the website www.modenafilmfestival.it and in the catalogue of the first edition, as well as their possible sharing to the press for promotional purposes, in accordance with the law.
The Modena Film Festival selection committee will choose the films that will participate in the Festival from among all the works received by the deadline.
The list of works selected for the Festival will be announced on the website www.modenafilmfestival.it before the start of the event, during the Press Conference.
Art. 6
Admission to the International Competition, as well as to the other sections indicated in Article 3 of these Regulations, is decided at the sole discretion of the Festival Management, which is assisted by a Selection Committee.
Art. 7
The works admitted to the Competition will be evaluated by an international Jury, which will award the following official prizes:
Best Film Award: to the best film overall, possessing high artistic qualities and corresponding to the cultural objectives that inspire the Festival;
Jury Prize: to the work that stands out for its contribution to the representation and reflection on sensory perception through the language of cinema.
Works admitted to the Competition or other sections of the programme may compete for the Audience Award. Works may also compete for special awards offered by associations or institutions partnering with the festival, which will be awarded by independent juries. These awards may be combined with the official awards.
Art. 8
The media for the screening of selected works, whether in competition or in other sections, must be sent via digital transfer unless otherwise agreed with the Festival organisers. The transfer must take place following notification of selection and in any case no later than 21 March 2026 for the tests necessary to guarantee the quality of the projection, any Italian subtitling and the creation of DCPs by the Festival when not already available.
The screening copy of Italian-language films admitted to the International Competition must be provided with English subtitles.
The screening format of the selected works must be agreed with the technical office. The following formats are accepted:
· DCP
· HD file (H264 or Prores codec, .mov or .mp4 wrapper, 20 Mbps bitrate)
If the final version of the selected work does not correspond to the one sent at the time of registration, it is the responsibility of the authors and/or producers to provide a new file copy that is perfectly faithful to the screening copy, for any translation and subtitling work, as well as for viewing by professionals and accredited persons.
For all films selected that are not in Italian, a transcript of the dialogue or a list of timed subtitles in English must be provided.
Relevant promotional materials (selected photographs, trailers, official posters, press kits) must also be provided.
Art. 9
The festival reserves the right to use excerpts from the selected works for a maximum duration of 2 minutes for television or online broadcast for promotional and non-commercial purposes only.
Art. 10
Authors, producers and distributors of films selected for a prize and/or awarded a prize at the 1st edition of the Modena Film Festival are invited to include the official Festival logo in the film and on all promotional materials. The logo can be requested from info@modenafilmfestival.it
Art. 11
Please note that the personal data provided and related communications are subject to our privacy policy, in accordance with EU Regulation 2016/679 (‘General Data Protection Regulation’).
Art. 12
Submission of an application to the Modena Film Festival implies acceptance of all the rules contained in these Regulations. It is the responsibility of authors, producers, distributors or other parties submitting the film to be legally authorised to enter the film in the festival.
The Management has the right to settle all cases not covered by these Regulations, as well as to derogate from them in specific and well-founded cases.
For any dispute regarding the meaning of individual articles of the Regulations, the original Italian text shall prevail.
The Court of Modena shall have jurisdiction over any disputes.
