MOTELX - Lisbon International Horror Film Festival

I. GENERAL RULES

1. Sections:

Official Selection:

a) Méliès d’argent Award - Best European Feature Film – Feature films of European production, including co-productions with a majority of European participation;
b) Room Service – Feature films;
c) MOTELX Award - Best Portuguese Horror Short Film –Portuguese short films, up to 15 minutes, including co-productions with a majority of Portuguese participation;
d) International Shorts – Short films, up to 59 minutes;
e) SectionX – Features and short films up to 59 minutes, produced worldwide);
f) Big Bad Wolf – Special programme for younger audiences.

Out of Competition:

g) Doc Horror – Documentaries about horror films or related themes;
h) Retrospectives – Masters of horror and other cult figures;
i) Special Screenings – Anniversaries, restored prints, TV series;
j) Lost Room – A journey into the history of Portuguese genre film.

Specials:

k) MOTELX Award - Best Portuguese Horror Script – Unproduced national feature film screenplays;
l) microSHORTS – Portuguese shorts, up to 2 minutes, filmed with a mobile phone, tablet, or webcam).

2. The sections mentioned in a), b), c), g), h), and j) will select films produced in the year of the edition to which the film is submitted and in the previous year.

3. It’s not possible to submit films to the sections mentioned in d), e), and f).

4. Awards:

a) Méliès d’argent Award - Best European Feature Film;
b) Méliès d’argent Award - Best European Short Film;
c) MOTELX Award - Best Portuguese Horror Short Film;
d) Audience Award - Best Feature Film - Room Service Section;
e) Big Bad Wolf Award - Best Short Film;
f) MOTELX Award - Best Portuguese Horror Script;
g) microSHORTS Award. *

* The regulations for the microSHORTS Award, as well as the submission deadline, will be published separately on motelx.org.

5. The organisers may select a film for a different section from the one it was submitted to, cancel sections or create others not listed here, for programming purposes.

II. SUBMISSIONS

6. Submissions to MOTELX are exclusively made via FilmFreeway.

7. The submissions will be completed when the Festival is granted access to the screener copy of the submitted film.

7.1 The screener copy must be exclusively provided through an online screening link.

7.2 All screener copies must come with English subtitles. This is not mandatory for films with English dialogue and for films with Portuguese dialogue submitting to the MOTELX Award – Best Portuguese Horror Short Film.

8. The deadline to submit a film for all sections, with the exception of the microSHORTS award, is 31 May of each edition’s year. Submissions received after that date will be considered for the following year's edition.

9. The participants will be given notice if their films were selected or not until mid August.

10. The participants are fully responsible for the content of the films they submit, namely in what concerns copyrights. Participants who are underage must have a written and signed authorisation from their parents or legal guardians.

11. Submissions of Portuguese productions or co-productions with a majority of Portuguese participation are exempt from paying submission fees.

12. Re-submissions from previously unselected films are not accepted.

III. MÉLIÈS D’ARGENT AWARD - BEST EUROPEAN FEATURE FILM

13. The winner of the Best European Feature Film Award is the recipient of the Méliès d'argent, being nominated to run for the international competition Méliès d'or, promoted annually by the Méliés International Festivals Federation (MIFF).

IV. MÉLIÈS D’ARGENT AWARD - BEST EUROPEAN SHORT FILM

14. All eligible European short films selected for SectionX and the International Shorts section are considered for the Méliès d’argent Award - Best European Short Film.

15. The winner of the Best European Short Film Award is the recipient of the Méliès d'argent, being nominated to run for the international competition Méliès d'or, promoted annually by the Méliés International Festivals Federation (MIFF).

V. MOTELX AWARD - BEST PORTUGUESE HORROR SHORT FILM

16. The MOTELX Award - Best Portuguese Horror Short Film aims to stimulate the production of horror films in Portugal, by honouring a short film screened at the Festival and giving also a Special Mention.

17. Horror films produced in the year of the edition to which the film is submitted to and on the previous year **, meeting all of the following requisites, will be considered for selection:

a) Portuguese productions or co-productions with a majority of Portuguese participation;
b) Maximum running time of 15 minutes (credits included);
c) Not released commercially in Portugal until the closing date of the Festival (previous screenings on other festivals will not automatically eliminate a film).

** Example: For the 2025 edition only films produced after 01/01/2024 can be submitted.

18. The winner will receive €5,000 (five thousand euros) paid in a single instalment.

Other prizes may be added. These will be announced in due time on the Festival’s website, newsletter and social media.

VI. MOTELX AWARD - BEST PORTUGUESE HORROR SCRIPT

19. Authors must be Portuguese citizens, except in situations outlined in point 20.1, and aged 18 or over, completed by the final submission deadline.

20. Scripts written in co-authorship by two or more people are permitted.

20.1 In cases of co-authorship, authors of nationalities other than Portuguese are permitted, provided they are residents in Portugal and at least half of the authors are Portuguese citizens.

21. Submitted scripts must be original works that have not been subject to a production contract for a cinematic work by the submission deadline.

22. Non-original scripts may be submitted if based on a pre-existing work by a competing author, provided the rights to said work have not been assigned, partially or wholly, to third parties.

23. Each script can only be submitted once. New treatments or corrected versions of scripts submitted in previous editions of this Award will not be accepted.

24. Each author may enter a maximum of two scripts per edition of this Award.

25. Scripts must be written in Portuguese and may include other languages provided they do not exceed 1/4 of the total text and must have an A4 page count between 80 and 120, otherwise they will be automatically disqualified from the competition.

25.1 Scripts must be written in PDF format following standard industry format, with 12-point Courier font. The following software is suggested: Final Draft (paid, available for Windows and macOS), WriterSolo.com (free version, available online in browser mode and offline for Windows and macOS) and Beat (free, exclusive to macOS).

26. Participation in this Award does not imply the transfer of any intellectual property rights and, consequently, commercial exploitation of the work.

27. Submissions must contain only the script. Any additional documents and materials that may be attached to the submission, such as synopsis, statement of intent, project bible or character descriptions, will not be considered for the final evaluation of the work.

28. Up to five works will be selected for a pitching session, which will take place at Cinema São Jorge in Lisbon, during MOTELX. The specific date will be announced by the beginning of August.

28.1 Each work selected for the Pitch must be represented by its respective author at the pitching session, otherwise it will be disqualified.

29. The winner will receive a single monetary prize of €2000 (two thousand euros).

30. The decision regarding the selection of finalists and winners of the competition will be final and sovereign.

31. Entries for this Award are made exclusively through the FilmFreeway platform.

32. The deadline for script submission is 31 May of the year of the respective Festival edition. Submissions received after this date will only be considered for the following edition.

33. Participants will be informed whether the submitted script has been selected for the competition and the pitching session by the beginning of August.

VII. JURIES

34. The juries of the Awards are composed of three individuals invited by the Festival's organisation.

35. No juror can have any sort of personal interest, direct or indirect, in any of the films running for the Awards.

36. The juries’ decisions are final.

37. The juries cannot give the Méliès d'argent awards to any short of feature film that has already received such an award at another Federation festival.

38. The jury decisions will be announced at the MOTELX closing ceremony and on the Festival website, at motelx.org, with the exception of the winners of the MOTELX Award - Best Portuguese Horror Script and the Lobo Mau Award - Best Short Film, which will be announced in the first days of the Festival.

VIII. SELECTED FILMS

39. If a film is selected, the following will be requested:

a) The copy of the film for screening;
b) Legal permits;
c) Credits list and synopsis;
d) List of festival in which the film was screened and awards received;
e) 3 high-resolution film stills;
f) 1 high-resolution photo of the director;
g) Director's biography;
h) A copy of all promotional materials available (poster, postcard, EPK, etc.).

40. The screening copy must comply with the following characteristics.

40.1 Image:

a) Screening formats: 35 mm, DCP, or digital file (mp4) for cinema;
b) The organisation might refuse to screen prints due to technical or quality reasons, in its sole discretion.

40.2 Subtitles:

a) All films must have English subtitles if they do not have English dialogue;
b) The festival will provide electronic Portuguese subtitles for foreign films;
c) The participants of Portuguese films in competition must also provide prints subtitled in English. If the films are spoken in more than one language, the participants must ensure subtitles both in Portuguese and English.

41. MOTELX is responsible for the insurance of selected films, from the moment of their delivery until their return.

42. MOTELX assumes all transportation costs of feature films, except in the event of them being sent to another festival, according to the conventions established between film festivals.

43. The directors/producers of films that receive an Award shall agree to mention MOTELX in all press and promotional materials produced after the closing day of the Festival.

IX. CLOSING RULES

29. The submission of a film to MOTELX implies the acceptance of all the norms here present. Non- compliance with any of the clauses in the regulations may imply the rejection of said film.

30. These regulations are available in Portuguese and English. In case of doubt, the Portuguese version shall prevail.

31. MOTELX’s organisation will decide on any issues not covered by the current regulations.

Lisbon, 24 March 2025