Art. 1 - Works eligible for the Prize
National and international feature films, medium-length films and short films are eligible for the Prize. Works created by authors under the age of 35 and produced within film schools, universities and academies are eligible for the Youth Section of the Prize. Fiction works are not eligible for the Prize. Works must have been produced between 2024 and 2026. Works completed before 1 January 2024 will not be eligible. Works may be submitted in any original language.
Films entered in the previous edition of the Prize but not selected may be resubmitted.
Art. 2 - Sections
The Prize has four distinct sections:
- feature-length documentaries (minimum duration: 60 minutes)
- medium-length documentaries (minimum duration: 31 minutes / maximum duration: 59 minutes)
- short documentaries (maximum duration: 30 minutes)
- Youth Section short documentaries (maximum duration: 30 minutes)
Art. 3 - Prizes
Prizes will be given to the best works in each section:
- best feature-length documentary: prize of €3,000.00;
- best medium-length documentary: prize of €2,000.00;
- two best short documentaries: first prize of €1,500.00; second prize of €1,000.00;
- two best Youth Section short documentaries: first prize of €1,500.00; second prize of €1,000.00.
METS reserves the right to add further prizes where appropriate and to announce them on its website (https://www.museosanmichele.it) and on the FilmFreeway platform).
Art. 4 - Submission
The deadline for registering works for the Prize is midnight on Sunday 31 May 2026.
Registrations must be made exclusively through the FilmFreeway platform
(https://filmfreeway.com). Participation in the selection process is subject to the correct and complete completion of the registration form. Incomplete registration forms will result in the exclusion of the work from the selection process.
Registration of works, regardless of their category, is free of charge.
English subtitles for the work and implicit acceptance of the terms of use referred to in Art. 5 below are mandatory, under penalty of exclusion from the competition selection process.
Art. 5 - Selection and use of works
The Scientific Committee shall be responsible for the selection of works to be submitted to the Jury for evaluation, at its sole discretion.
All authors of selected works will be notified by Saturday 20 June 2026. If no notification is received by that date, the works shall be considered not selected for the Prize.
It is understood that the selected works will be presented during the event as part of free screenings with free admission. Therefore, no compensation will be paid for the rental of the works. All selected works will be stored in the METS archive, which may subsequently use them for its own institutional and non-commercial purposes.
Art. 6 - Selected works
Following the selection notice, authors and/or their representatives must send the following materials by midnight on Sunday 5 July 2026:
- a high-quality file of the film, without hardcoded subtitles (permitted formats are: .mov
Prores codec or .mp4 H264 codec, minimum bitrate 20 Mbps); please note: works in DCP
format will NOT be accepted;
- .srt file with English subtitles;
- .srt file with Italian subtitles;
- 2 good quality photos of the author (minimum 300 dpi, 5MB);
- 5 good quality images from the film (minimum 300 dpi, 5MB);
- film poster;
- a short biography of the author in English (between 100 and 120 words);
- a brief synopsis of the film in English (between 140 and 200 words);
- film trailer, without hardcoded subtitles;
- .srt file with English subtitles for the trailer;
- .srt file with Italian subtitles for the trailer.
The materials must be sent electronically to the following email address:
mets.sebesta1@gmail.com. Please send the files in a single transfer or upload them to a
single folder on a cloud storage service.
Art. 7 - Juries
The Main Jury will consist of five members of recognised expertise in the fields of cinema, ethno-anthropological studies, journalism and culture, appointed by METS on the recommendation of the Scientific Committee.
The Youth Section Jury will be composed of students from universities, academies and/or film schools, appointed by METS on the recommendation of the Scientific Committee and with the collaboration of the educational institutions themselves.
The Juries reserve the right not to award all prizes, as well as to award shared prizes (with the relevant prize money being divided) and to award special mentions. Prizes are
awarded to the author of the work. It is the responsibility of the author to establish any
agreements in this regard with their producer and/or distributor in advance.
Art. 8 - Acceptance of the rules
Registration implies full acceptance of these Rules, including consent to the processing of personal data for purposes related to the Prize only. Please note that the English version of the rules is the authoritative version.
Art. 9 - Dates of the event
The screenings of all selected works and the Prize Ceremonies will take place between
Friday 16 and Sunday 18 October 2026 in Trento (Italy).
