Planet Earth

1. Entries for the Planet Earth Film Festival are open to everyone. Feature films, short films, documentaries, and music videos may be submitted. Participants under the legal age must provide a consent letter from a parent or guardian.

2. Films and videos may be based on any theme or concept.

3. Films can be in any language. However, all films must have English or German subtitles.

4. The total runtime of a feature film, including opening and closing credits, must be at least 70 minutes and no more than 180 minutes.

5. The total runtime of a short film, including opening and closing credits, must be at least 3 minutes and no more than 20 minutes.

6. The total runtime of a documentary, including opening and closing credits, must be at least 30 minutes and no more than 120 minutes.

7. The total runtime of a music video must be at least 2 minutes and no more than 12 minutes.

8. All content used in feature films, short films, documentaries, and music videos must be either owned or properly licensed. If any copyrighted material is used, the participant must obtain permission and submit a copy to the festival organizers.

9. The submission deadline for unsolicited films and documents is 20th May 2026. Please send advertising material (posters, flyers, etc.) only after the film has been invited.

10. Permitted formats for the short film competition are DCP and Blu-ray. Other formats are accepted only upon request.

11. Only films, documentaries, and music videos produced and completed after 1st January 2020 are eligible for the festival.

12. We reserve the right to move your film to another appropriate category if there is a better chance at winning. -Acceptance and “being in consideration” is not a pre-requisite for getting an automatic screening at the festival. 2 weeks before the event we will make a decision on what films will be screening.

13. The Planet Earth 2026 Film Festival will be held as an official event in Bayreuth. The screening of all selected films and videos will take place at two different venues and will be presented to a public audience. All files will not be distributed outside the Planet Earth Film Festival.

14. Once invited to the festival program, a short synopsis, photo, short biography and filmography of the director as well as scene photos and - if available - press material must be submitted. If invited to a competition, a suitable high-resolution, approx. 60-second excerpt must also be provided free of charge, which can be used as part of the festival coverage and at the awards gala.

15. For competition films, additional viewings are necessary for the internal festival preparation of the moderations and talks. Consent to the forwarding of the links or the DVD/BluRay to the responsible festival staff is deemed to have been given upon submission of the film.

16. Planet Earth reserves the right to copy or use the material submitted by participants in any form, online or offline, for the festival’s promotional and archival purposes. Please note that your entire short film will never be shared with anyone or uploaded online without your permission. We understand that filmmakers want to keep their films private, and we will honor that.

17. The jury’s decision is final and binding.

18. The Planet Earth Festival organizers reserve the right to change, modify, or alter any rule, part of a rule, or event of this competition at any time.