An outpost to investigate the present in view of the future.
An immersive experience in screen dance.
Crossing borders between choreography, cinema, motion, new technologies, creativity and innovative storytelling, ZED Festival aims to become a landmark for screendance in Italy by facilitating immersive creative processes and programming short films & feature films, 360 ° films, VR / AR performances, talks and workshops.
ZED Festival welcomes international screendance and cross-media works, with a particular attention to virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, triggering connections between dance and new media.

This open call is for two different competitions:

INTERNATIONAL SCREENDANCE FILM COMPETITION (ZED Festival + La Danza in 1 Minuto)
Focused on international short dance films of a maximum 20 minutes duration. This competition section aims to showcase an heterogenous panorama on quality international dance films released no earlier than 2021. Applicants can submit a maximum of 2 films.

This competition confirms its collaboration with La Danza in 1 Minuto, Torino (Italy). The selected films will in fact merge with La Danza in 1 Minuto’s Beyond one minute section.
Submitted works from both the open calls will be selected by the artistic directors of both La danza in 1 Minuto and ZED Festival, evaluated by an international jury of experts for the dedicated Jury awards and screened at ZED Festival 2025 Edition on July 3rd and 5th.

VR 360° DANCE FILM COMPETITION
Focused on international short dance films related to dance, choreography and movement, specifically meant to be seen on a VR headset, with no duration limits and released no early then 2020; throughout the whole duration of the Festival two VR corners will be available with several VR headsets to present selected works

Both competitions welcome short dance films with no genre restrictions (fiction, animation, documentary, cinematographic transposition of a live performance, hybrid). Nevertheless our special focus is on effective and coherent storytelling and its relation to contemporary global challenges. The selection of works in both competitions will therefore have as ruling criteria the effectiveness and consistency of an adequate dramaturgical proposal through the body in motion on screen.

Selected works can be considered for PRO|D|ES CARAVAN (a selection from La Danza in 1 Minuto + ZED Festival) touring program in the framework of the numerous Festivals partners and international ScreenDance networks.
Selected works could also be shown on DIGITAL ZED, the online version of ZED Festival, through ZED Festival website, for a limited period of time from July 6th to 20th 2024; the access to the videos will be free of charge. Submitting doesn’t automatically grant ZED Festival the rights to include the film in the Digital ZED selection, we will contact authors to have explicit permissions, for general or geographic areas limitations.

ZED Festival is realized in the frame of the project "PRO|D|ES Danza - Promozione Digitale Estesa della Danza", in collaboration with Cro.me (Milano) and COORPI (Torino), with the support of MiC (Ministero della Cultura).

DATES AND DEADLINES

February 28th, 2025: Open Call Opening
April 15th, 2025: Early Bird Deadline
May 28th, 2025: Deadline for submissions
June 6th, 2025: Notification of Admission to Final Selection (both sections)
July 3rd and 5th, 2025 Screening and Awards Night, ZED Festival Internazionale Videodanza, at Cinema Odeon, Bologna IT

Awards & Prizes

1. Screendance Film Competition ZED Festival + La Danza in 1 Minuto
Submitted works will be selected by the artistic directors of both La danza in 1 Minuto and Zed Festival and evaluated by an international jury of experts for the dedicated Jury awards:
Best Film: 1000 €
Best Original Storytelling: 900 €
Best Choreography for the Screen: 800€
Special prize Gen Z: 600€
with a special focus on young creativity, this prize is exclusively assigned to international applicants born on or after January 1, 1997 (<=28). In case of collective authorship, it is mandatory that at least one among the authors meets the eligibility criterion mentioned above (<28).
Submissions will be selected by a special Z Generation joint artistic committee composed by young curators (also <=28) both from the BA in Arts, Music and Performing Arts and the MA course in Film, Performing Arts, Music and Media of the University of Torino and the University of Bologna (Italy).

The Jury of Experts will also assign a special mention to the Best performer.

ZED Festival Audience will assign an Audience Award.

Selected films will be screened during ZED Festival Internazionale Videodanza VII Edition, in Bologna on July 3rd and 5th 2024 at Cinema Odeon.

2. 360° VR Dance Film competition
An international Jury nominated by ZED Festival Artistic Director, composed by experts of dance and XR technologies will assign an Award with cash prize:
Best Film: 600€

For both sections, the judgment of the artistic direction, the juries, the special Z Generation artistic committee and the audience is final.

Additional honorable mentions and awards for both competitions may also be given by the project partners

Rules & Terms

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

INTERNATIONAL SCREENDANCE FILM COMPETITION ZED Festival + La Danza in 1 Minuto
we accept dance films with a duration with a maximum duration of 20'.
Films must have a production date of 2021 or later;
Each applicant can submit a maximum of 2 films.
The submitted works can be shot by any means and / or device.

ONLY FOR THE SPECIAL PRIZE Z GEN
This prize is exclusively open to artists and creatives born on or after January 1, 1997 (<=28). FOR THIS COMPETITION IT IS MANDATORY TO FILL IN BIRTH DATE ON YOUR SUBMISSION FORM. Selected applicants will be asked to provide a copy of a valid identification document stating the date of birth ( ID /Passport).
In the case of collective works, it is necessary at least for one of the authors to meet the birth date requirements.

VR 360° DANCE FILM COMPETITION
Films must be shown on a VR Headset (ideally Oculus Go o Quest series);
No duration limits; No production date limits.

FOR BOTH COMPETITIONS
Once selected you are required to provide a copy of the film with a minimum quality of Full HD (1920 x 1080 or more for 360° films) typical film Full HD file: Codec: H264; Format: MP4; Aspect: 16:9 o 4/3 depending on the source; Height: 1080px; AVG Bitrate: 10MBPS or more;
Sound: 5.1 AAC 48Hz 320 or stereo (Only 1 audio layer mixed);
Framerate: 24 or 25fps

In presence of dialogues, English subtitles are mandatory.
WARNING: music videos, trailers or recordings of performances, commercials, home-made videos will not be accepted;

GENERAL CONDITIONS
To participate to this call, applicants must sign up through FilmFreeway platform and agree to the following Terms and Conditions:

- declare that all the information they provide is truthful.

- ensure that they do not infringe copyright rules and that they have obtained any and all the consent from any possible rights owner, including copyright and other rights (music, pictures), as well as any license, permission, clearances required with reference to the film, and agree to substantially and procedurally exempt and release Compagnia della Quarta and Associazione COORPI and their representatives and to keep them harmless from any loss, damage, liability, cost or expense, including legal fees, arising out of or in any way related to claims or disputes of third parties and against any request or legal action of third parties related to or arising out of the use of the film

With his/her application the candidate :

- ensures that he/she is the author of the work and therefore the only holder of the rights of exploitation, or that he/she has acquired the authorization of all the people having any such rights thereon, he/she also grants Compagnia della Quarta permission to keep copies of the film in its archives.

- agrees that, once the admission in the competition has been notified, the application cannot be withdrawn and that Compagnia della Quarta and Associazione COORPI can not be held liable for the loss or damage of the submitted materials.

Compagnia della Quarta and Associazione COORPI do not own the rights for the submitted and selected films. However if selected the participant grants Compagnia della Quarta and Associazione COORPI do not own the rights for the submitted and selected films. However the artist agrees to grants Compagnia della Quarta the right to use the selected films, frames, film stills, posters and trailers and/or its soundtrack for promotional purposes in its communication, advertising and marketing campaigns on the internet, television and other media. An excerpt of 10% of the film (max. 2min) of each submitted film may be used for that purpose.
This right is limited only to cultural, non commercial exploitation of the submitted works.

The artist agrees to allow Compagnia della Quarta and Associazione COORPI the use of images, frames, or short parts of the film and/or its soundtrack for promotional purposes in its communication, advertising and marketing campaigns.
PER ONLINE

It is acknowledged that the selected films can be considered for PRO|D|ES CARAVAN (a selection from La Danza in 1 Minuto + ZED FESTIVAL) touring program in the framework of the numerous Festivals partners and international ScreenDance networks. Artists will always be notified about these screenings. The artists and its films will always be treated with the maximum respect they deserve.

Once selected, Compagnia della Quarta and Associazione COORPI will contact the author/s to sign the clearance release agreement for the possible exploitation of the audio-visual content submitted to the competition. Further presentation material may be requested to selected participants.

Compagnia della Quarta and Associazione COORPI is committed to use the films exclusively for cultural or educational purposes, never and under no condition for any commercial purpose. Artists can deny grants to screen their films online and will always be notified about screenings.

Compagnia della Quarta and Associazione COORPI reserves the right to modify, suspend, interrupt, cancel or postpone the competition for any cause beyond their control, force majeure and for which it can not be held responsible in any way. Likewise, Compagnia della Quarta and Associazione COORPI reserves the right to redefine, suspend, cancel the aforementioned awards if circumstances make it inevitable; no objection will be accepted.
The organisations undertake to notify any changes with regard to this as soon as possible.

If awarded with one or more prizes and / or mentions, the author is committed to quote, on any occasion and on any material related to the winning film, the prize / mention won at ZED Festival/La Danza in 1 Minute Beyond one Minute Competition.

Further requirements
In your submission form, please include:
1. Filmmaker's contact information: name, address, birthdate, phone number, website (if applicable), and email ( ALL THIS DATA IS MANDATORY)
2. Film synopsis (up to 400 characters).
3 Artist/s biographies (up to 400 characters each).
4 Past screenings / awards concerning the presented work

The participation in the contests implies the unconditional acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. The decisions of the artistic direction must be respected, and failure to comply will result in exclusion from the competition.

For all that matters not specified, Compagnia della Quarta and Associazione COORPI reserve the final decision.

Stay in touch with us through our website and social networks.

We look forward to receiving your work!

For further info: zedfestival.info@gmail.com | danzaunminuto@coorpi.org
3 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
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Networking
  • Gisela Chicolino

    The festival is an invaluable addition to the film industry. Please continue to develop the high-quality programming for which the festival is renowned. @films.to.festivals

    September 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Dear Gisela, thank you very much for this message, it really helps us. Congratulations again for your film "Unless we dance", it was a great value for ZED Festival. Hope to host you and your work again in the future.

  • Naya Kuu

    A festival dedicated to celebrating dance through the language of cinematography. Thank you very much for selecting my short film 'Kill the Minotaur' and for honoring its protagonist, Alejandro Moya, with the award for best performance.

    July 2023
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  • Martina Faux

    El Festival ZED es un festival de alta calidad técnica y con un trabajo de equipo muy profesional. Son prolijos y dedicados en todas sus presentaciones, y aunque no tuve la suerte de estar allí, unas semanas antes del festival me pude reunir en Bologna a charlar con uno de sus organizadores. Me pareció un gesto hermoso, interesarse por los realizadores de los trabajos seleccionados.
    Me encantaría poder presenciar la próxima edición. Un placer conocerlos y muchas gracias!
    Saludos, Martina Faux Marambio -the invisible inheritance-

    October 2021
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Martina for the review and the kind words. It was a real pleasure to host your wonderful film and even more to have the chance to meet you in person, that gives meaning to all the work.
    Congrats again for the Audience Award!