FESTIVAL DESCRIPTION

September 18–27, 2026 – Gerri de la Sal (Catalan Pyrenees)

"The fantastic emerges from reality like the moon over a misty swamp."

The idea for the Festival was born from our passion for the Pallars Sobirà, a remote region of the Pyrenees, its stories and legends, and for cinema. Our desire to preserve the most mysterious heritage of this wild land grew into the Tabaca Film Fest – the Mythological Film Festival of the Pyrenees, now celebrating its third edition.

This is a land rich in its own myths and legends, but every corner of the world has its own Yeti, its own mermaid, its own werewolf, its own mountain guardian — in short, its own mythological legacy.

With the Tabaca Film Fest, we bring to light these stories from the Pallars, the Pyrenees and all over the world through the art form we know best: cinema.

This Festival embodies values we care deeply about: quality cinema and the preservation of mythological and historical memory, in an extraordinary natural setting.

The Tabaca Film Fest includes short films in the categories of fiction, animation, documentary, and video-dance, featuring an international open call and complementary activities.

The third edition of Tabaca Film Fest will take place in person in Gerri de la Sal from September 18 to 27, 2026.

The Festival will consist of an opening ceremony, screenings of the finalist films, and a closing gala with an award ceremony. In parallel, there will be lectures, guided tours, workshops, concerts and other mythology-related cultural activities.

Awards & Prizes

AWARDS

The third edition of the Festival will bring together fiction, animation, documentary and video-dance short films from the international scene, with a maximum duration of 30 minutes, produced after January 1, 2023, in all digital formats and in all languages.

The short films will compete for the following awards:

- Gea Award, endowed with €1,000 and the Festival trophy, for Best International Short Film (non-Spanish production).

- Biterna Award, endowed with €1,000 and the Festival trophy, for Best Short Film inspired by mythological characters or places of the Pyrenees, or that includes local dialectal and/or identity features (international production).

- Tabaca Award, endowed with €1,000 and the Festival trophy, for Best National Short Film (Spanish production).

- Ofita Award, endowed with €500 and the Festival trophy, for Best National Short Film, aimed at emerging creators, students, and debut works, with a fresh perspective on mythology (Spanish production).

- Audience Award, open to all finalist short films, endowed with €300 and a gift, awarded by popular vote among attendees at the Festival screenings.

Rules & Terms

PARTICIPATION

All short films submitted must be inspired by the mythological world in the broadest sense.

When we speak of mythology in audiovisual creation, we refer to a whole universe of myths, legends, fables, superstitions, premonitions, tales, traditions and family stories that define a culture, a land or a community.

Modern reinterpretations of these ancestral myths in a more contemporary context are also included. These stories may be based on historical fact, fiction, or a combination of both.

Universal archetypes and great timeless narratives are also considered mythological structures and remain more alive than ever. The figure of the hero, the sage, the riddle to be solved or the inescapable labyrinth are structures that continue to fascinate us today.

The genre of mythology draws from many influences: fantasy, horror, folk horror, science fiction, mystery, historical cinema, epic drama, road movie, western, nature cinema, ethnographic, spiritual and philosophical cinema. Ultimately, myth manifests itself in the most unexpected places and can be sensed in every gaze.

DEADLINES AND NOTIFICATIONS

- Submission deadline: May 29, 2026

- Finalists notification: August 1, 2026, by email

- Winners notification: announced live during the festival’s closing ceremony

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

- Films must be inspired by the mythological world in the broadest sense of the word.

- Accepted formats are fiction, animation, documentary and video dance.

- Films may be in any language.

- Films must be submitted in their original version.

- Maximum duration: 30 minutes.

- Works submitted must be short films produced in the current year of the Festival or up to a maximum of three years prior (from January 1, 2023 onwards).

- Short films that have been made publicly available online or have already been commercially released in the Pallars Sobirà will not be accepted.

SUBMISSIONS

Submission implies providing:

- A synopsis

- An artistic and technical dossier

- A working online screening link

- Updated contact details

- A YouTube, Vimeo or similar password that will not expire or change until the end of the Festival

Submitting a film implies the payment of a symbolic fee of 1 euro.

Due to its commitment to equality and in order to support the presence of women, gender-dissident and racialized people in film production, the Festival may request participants to indicate gender (female, male, non-binary, other) and the identification of non-white persons. This information will be used exclusively for statistical purposes, with the aim of obtaining reliable and accurate data on inclusion within the audiovisual field.

REQUIREMENTS FOR SELECTED SHORT FILMS

- Additional materials and screening copies must be submitted before August 15, 2026.

- Additional materials include director photographs, film stills, posters, trailers and other audiovisual and promotional materials.

- Screening copies must be delivered in Full HD format or higher, with subtitles provided separately.

- Subtitles in Catalan or Spanish are mandatory if the film is not in either of these languages.

REQUIREMENTS FOR AWARD-WINNING SHORT FILMS

- Award recipients commit to including mention of the prize received at the Tabaca Film Fest in subsequent screenings of their films.

- Award recipients authorize the Festival to use all provided audiovisual materials for the promotion and publicity of the Festival across all physical and digital platforms, including the Festival’s social media and associated entities.

JURY

The Festival Direction will appoint the jury, whose decision will be final. Awards may not be declared void.

GENERAL CONDITIONS

- Authors guarantee that their films do not infringe upon the rights of third parties. The Festival assumes no responsibility in this regard.

- By submitting a film, authors grant the Festival the rights to screen and exhibit the work, in whole or in part, for promotional purposes and for the realization of the Festival. This excludes any commercial or non-promotional events.

- Submitted productions will become part of the Tabaca Film Fest archive, which is authorized to screen them for one year after the Festival’s conclusion as part of its activities, always subject to prior agreement with the production company.

- Submitting a film to this call implies full acceptance of the rules.

- The Festival commits, as far as possible, to facilitating the attendance of the authors of finalist films.

- The Festival reserves the right to program works that do not meet the above requirements for artistic reasons.

- The Festival reserves the right to group films into different sections according to their thematic content.

- All decisions made by the Festival are final.

CONTACT

tabacafilmfest@gmail.com
tabacafilmfest.com
@tabacafilmfest