Mecal Pro, the Barcelona International Short and Animation Film Festival, will celebrate its 23rd edition this year. With more than 5,000 short films submitted annually, Mecal has become one of the most important festivals of its type in Spain. Thanks to its international scope and quality film selection, Mecal regularly benefits from grants awarded by various Spanish and international public cultural institutions.

Mecal is strongly committed to promoting the exhibition and promotion of audiovisual creations in the short format, not only with the audiences, but also in having creators and distributors meet through different activities. Mecal is also devoted to fostering emerging talent, by holding events and awards specially aimed at young creators. In this sense, it also works as a short film promotional network, organising screenings both at a national and an international level, and collaborating with other festivals, embassies, and institutions around the world.

Awards & Prizes

1. International Grand Prix for the Best Short Film of the International Competition.
● Awarded by the International Jury. This jury will also grant a second and third award to complete a podium in this category.
2. Animation Grand Prix for the Best Short Film of the Animation Competition
● Awarded by the Animation Jury. This jury will also grant a second and third award to complete a podium in this category.
3. Filmin Oblique Grand Prix for the Best Short Film of the Oblique Competition
● Awarded by the Oblique Jury. This jury will also grant a second and third award to complete a podium in this category.
4. Documentary Grand Prix for the Best Short Film of the Documentary Competition
● Awarded by the Documentary Jury. This jury will also grant a second and third award to complete a podium in this category.
5. Videolab Award for the Best Spanish production
● Awarded by the International Jury
6. Moonlight Award for the Best Spanish Fiction
● Awarded by the Oblique Jury
7. ALMA Award for the Best Spanish Script
● Awarded by a jury composed of members of ALMA (Spanish Screenwriters Guild)
8. Young Jury Award for the Best Short Film of the Oblique Competition
● Awarded by the Young Jury
9. Audience Award for the Best Short Film of the Animation Competition
● Awarded by the audience
10. El Periódico de Catalunya Audience award for the Best Short Film of the Documentary Competition
● Awarded by the audience
11. Animation Students Award for the Best Short Film of the Animation Competition
● Awarded by the Animation Students jury
12. Prix de la Critique
● Awarded by a jury composed of members of ACCEC (Catalan Film Critics and Writers Association)
13. Avisual Pro Award for the most innovative short film of the Barcelona Film Schools
● Awarded by the audience
14. Plançó Award for the best short film of the Catalan Animation Schools
● Awarded by the audience
15. Shorts TV Award
● Awarded by the Shorts TV jury

Rules & Terms

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Eligibility

1. The contestants can submit as many works as they wish, as long as they have been produced after 1st January 2019.

2. There are no restrictions regarding the topic or genre of the films, but they cannot exceed 30 min.

3. Any works containing dialogue must be presented with English subtitles. Those works whose original version is in English do not require subtitles, but the dialogue list will be required in case they are selected.

Selection

The festival has four official competing sections (Fiction, Animation, Oblique and Documentary) and several non-competing parallel sections. The selection committee will decide in which section the selected works will be featured and will communicate this decision to their submitters.
Regulations

1.- The selected works will be screened in front of an audience during the festival according to a calendar that will be set beforehand by the festival board.

2-. The Festival will ensure proper screening conditions for all selected works. Therefore, the screening copies of the selected films must be in MP4 or .MOV with a 1920x1080 resolution H.264 codec, 20 mbps (minimum), STEREO (avoid 5.1) or DCP.

3- The screening copies should preferably be sent online, via an FTP server, or a file transfer service such as Filemail, WeTransfer, MyAirBridge, etc.

4. In the event of a regular shipment (only with the festival’s approval), the shipping costs will be covered by the participants, and the return costs will be paid by the Festival. The Festival will take due care of the works. In case of loss or damage, the organisation will only take responsibility for the cost of the copy.

5. The Festival is fully authorized to publish printed material of the selected pieces, as well as a short extract of the film (1 minute at the most) to promote the Festival on its website, social networks and the Media.

6. The Festival can hold in a copy of the selected works, always guaranteeing the author’s royalties and its intellectual property rights. Being selected for Mecal Pro implies being part of the Festival diffusion network, which promotes screenings of the films in different Cultural Circles such as Mecal Air.

7. The selected short films will participate, if they wish, in the online edition of Mecal Pro, through the online film streaming platform Filmin. The films will be available to stream on the aforementioned platform during the festival dates, exclusively within Spanish territory, and accessible only to festival and daily pass holders.

Awards:

The Festival’s Direction Board will be in charge of selecting the jury, which will be made up of renowned professionals of the audiovisual industry (with the exception of the audience award):

1. International Grand Prix for the Best Short Film of the International Competition.
● Awarded by the International Jury. This jury will also grant a second and third award to complete a podium in this category.
2. Animation Grand Prix for the Best Short Film of the Animation Competition
● Awarded by the Animation Jury. This jury will also grant a second and third award to complete a podium in this category.
3. Filmin Oblique Grand Prix for the Best Short Film of the Oblique Competition
● Awarded by the Oblique Jury. This jury will also grant a second and third award to complete a podium in this category.
4. Documentary Grand Prix for the Best Short Film of the Documentary Competition
● Awarded by the Documentary Jury. This jury will also grant a second and third award to complete a podium in this category.
5. Videolab Award for the Best Spanish production
● Awarded by the International Jury
6. Moonlight Award for the Best Spanish Fiction
● Awarded by the Oblique Jury
7. ALMA Award for the Best Spanish Script
● Awarded by a jury composed of members of ALMA (Spanish Screenwriters Guild)
8. Young Jury Award for the Best Short Film of the Oblique Competition
● Awarded by the Young Jury
9. Audience Award for the Best Short Film of the Animation Competition
● Awarded by the audience
10. El Periódico de Catalunya Audience award for the Best Short Film of the Documentary Competition
● Awarded by the audience
11. Animation Students Award for the Best Short Film of the Animation Competition
● Awarded by the Animation Students jury
12. Prix de la Critique
● Awarded by a jury composed of members of ACCEC (Catalan Film Critics and Writers Association)
13. Avisual Pro Award for the most innovative short film of the Barcelona Film Schools
● Awarded by the audience
14. Plançó Award for the best short film of the Catalan Animation Schools
● Awarded by the audience
15. Shorts TV Award
● Awarded by the Shorts TV jury

The judges reserve the right to declare void any of the above mentioned prizes. They can also award special mentions which are not specified in these entry conditions. Cash awards will become effective in the figure of the owner of the short film’s rights.

The Organisation reserves the right to change the name of the awards and to increase their number and amount – anytime, up to a week before the beginning of the festival, in which case the participants will be informed. Awards names may change due to new sponsors.

Submitting for competition implies the full acceptance of the entry requirements stated in this document.
8 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Lorenzo Monti

    The festival team did an amazing job adapting to these extraordinary times. Thanks for your determination and organisation. Great initiative to make the festival online!

    April 2020
    Helpful
  • Fran Casanova

    It was a really pleasure to be part of this festival!!!

    I attended the festival and it was a wonderful experience! I´m very happy to have been part of the festival with my short film HAY ALGO EN LA OSCURIDAD (SOMETHING IN THE DARKNESS).

    Thanks a lot to the director and crew of the festival for their great attention and kindness. I was great moments in Barcelona, thank you so much!

    I hope to have the opportunity again to be in the festival in the future.

    All my best wishes and greetings!
    See you soon Barcelona!
    Fran Casanova

    May 2019
    Helpful
  • Niall Shukla

    A fantastic festival. It was great to have my short film A Doll Distorted screen here. If you get a chance to go out to the festival itself definitely do. The festival has an amazing friendly team that put on a lot of events for the filmmakers, including filmmakers lunches and nights out and tours of the city. They also were kind enough to offer accommodation for 2 nights and include meals. This is an excellent festival. I highly recommend submitting.

    April 2019
    Helpful
  • Rocco Di Mento

    Didn't make it there but the staff seemed very nice and competent. The only strange thing to me is that they never mention the director or the crew of the selected short films on their press actions (not on their website nor on facebook) but they do it on an app built for the festival. I was a bit disappointed and asked for explanations (maybe there is a sort of concept behind this decision) but nobody ever answered me. Such a pity. I think especially for emerging film makers it is important to have at least their name mentioned in a festival program as a form of recognition.

    April 2019
    Helpful
    Mecal pro cast 2 (1)
    Response from festival:

    Dear Rocco,

    Thanks for your feedback!

    Every year we produce a festival catalog in 3 languages with the complete infos of every film on the line-up: title, genre, length, production country, year of production and director's name, plus a film still and the synopsis in English, Spanish and Catalan.

    We are going to send you a pdf copy so that you can check ;-)

    Best regards from Barcelona!

  • Nathan Campbell

    It's a fun festival to attend as a filmmaker, even if you don't speak Spanish (or Catalan). Lots of networking and social activities organized by the staff, which was great! And there was a quality selection of animated films being screened.
    Definitely recommended.

    April 2018
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