SiciliAmbiente Film Festival

The 18th annual SiciliAmbiente Film Festival will take on July 13-18, 2026.

SiciliAmbiente Film Festival aims to promote independent and documentary cinema while fostering creative exchange and networking among filmmakers.

The Festival is organized and sponsored by Demetra Produzioni SAS and Cultural Association CANTIERE 7, with support from public and private partners and sponsors who share the Festival's ethical values.

The Festival accepts films that address:

Environment / Anthropology / Human Rights / Biodiversity / War / Integration / Civil Rights / Sustainable Development / Human-Environment Relationships

The Festival is divided into the following sections:

- Documentary Competition (minimum runtime: 31 minutes)
- Fiction Feature Competition (minimum runtime: 70 minutes)
- Fiction and Documentary Short Film Competition (maximum runtime: 31 minutes)
- Animation Short Film Competition (maximum runtime: 31 minutes)
- Screenings of documentaries, fiction films, short films, tributes, retrospectives, seminars and panel discussions

The Selection Committee will assess films based on the quality of their writing, cinematography and creative language.

DOCUMENTARY CONTEST – FICTION FILM CONTEST - SHORT FILM CONTEST - ANIMATED FILM CONTEST

Submission requirements


Documentaries (31 minutes or longer), feature films (70 minutes or longer), short films and animated shorts (30 minutes or less) from any country may be submitted, as long as they were completed after January 1, 2025

If selected, accepted screening formats include:

Unencrypted DCP
Blu-ray DVD
Apple ProRes File
H264 File
Other formats must be approved by the Festival Management.

- No screening fees are offered for competition films.

- Non-Italian language films must have English or Italian subtitles. Films selected for the final stage must be submitted with required promotional materials and an English dialogue list.

- Films longer than 31 minutes will not be eligible for the short film and animation categories.

- Festival Management reserves the right to invite films to compete and to program non-competing films in a showcase section.

- Directors and/or producers of selected films will be notified by June 10, 2026. Films not selected will not receive notification.

- Selection, programming and screening schedules are determined solely by Festival Management.

- Entering the selection implies acceptance of these regulations, which are also available in the original Italian version. In the event of any discrepancy or misinterpretation, the Italian version shall take precedence.

- If a film is withdrawn after being selected, the producer must pay a penalty of €1,000.