Call for entries 2025

Call for entries 2025

Associazione Culturale Scarti is glad to announce the Call for Entries for the 24th edition of Magma – mostra di cinema breve, International Short Film Festival.  The festival, open to filmmakers and works from all over the world, will take place in Acireale and Catania (Sicily) between November 3rd and 8th 2025.

CONDITIONS OF REGISTRATION
  1. Participation in the festival is free of charge.
  1. The festival accepts short films of the following genres: narrative, documentary, experimental, and animation. The maximum duration allowed for each film is 20 minutes. Music videos will not be taken into consideration. 
  1. Eligible works must have been completed no earlier than January 1st, 2023. 
  1. To take part in the selection, entrants are required to submit their short films by June 15th 15th 2025 filling out the online entry form. Short films must be submitted by using video uploading/sharing services (Dropbox, YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) provided by the entrant.
  1. Besides submitting the link to the short film and filling in the entry form, entrants must include the dialogue list (in English and/or Italian). Spoken short films submitted without the above-required documentation may not be admitted to selection.
  1. Short films in languages other than Italian must be provided with subtitles either in English and/or Italian. Works in languages other than Italian without subtitles (English and/or Italian) will not be taken into consideration.

     

  2. Each filmmaker is held responsible for the contents of their own works and – through the acceptance of this call for entries – they declare to own any rights required for the public distribution and screening of the submitted films, both in their entirety and in their individual parts (e.g. soundtracks, archive images, etc.)
SELECTION
  1. The short films to be included in the festival competition will be selected by the Associazione Culturale Scarti committee members. Works submitted for pre-selection will be stored in the archives of Associazione Culturale Scarti, where they will be made available for consultation, study or cataloging purposes and as reference materials for other festivals. They may also be used for full or partial repetition of the event in any form, at any time, in any place, with prior notification sent to the e-mail address specified on the entry form.
  1. Selected participants will be contacted by e-mail by the end of September 2025 and asked to submit (regardless of country of origin and language used in the film) materials with the following requirements:


    Mandatory requirements

    1. Short film(s) in a clean version without imprinted subtitles (selected films will later be subtitled by the festival organization in two languages, hence the need to have a clean copy available)
    2. English dialogue list in SRT format

    Optional requirements

    1. Dialogue list in Italian
    2. Dialogue list in original language

    The lack of even one of the mandatory requirements may result in exclusion from the selection.

    It is also recommended – for the purpose of optimal enjoyment of the selected films – to send a screening copy in high resolution and high video/audio bitrate. The festival organization disclaims any responsibility for any problems arising from projection copies that do not meet the minimum quality standards required by a 4K cinema projection and 5.1 audio broadcasting

  1. The festival Organising Committee reserves the right to use an excerpt of each selected film for promotional purposes. 
  2. Works admitted to the final phase of the festival will not be entitled to any form of payment.
AWARDS AND JURY
  1. Selected short films will be screened according to a programme published on the festival official website prior to the start of the event. A panel of experts invited by the Organisational Committee and publicly announced prior to the beginning of the festival will give the Lorenzo Vecchio Award to the best short film. The award winner will receive a € 1.500 cash prize. The viewing public will vote for the films and decide the winner of the Audience Award.

  2. Prior to the start of the event, the Organising Committee reserves the right to decide to award other Special Mentions as well as establish competitive and non-competitive sections to include in the festival programme.
GENERAL TERMS
  1. Once short films have been submitted for pre-selection, under no circumstances may they be withdrawn from the festival. Submission of the entry form to Magma – mostra di cinema breve implies unconditional acceptance of all the above mentioned rules and regulations.  According to the EU Regulation UE 2016/679, personal data provided by applicants will only be used in relation to the festival competition and may be published on the official website.

15. Decisions of the Festival Organisational Committee regarding all matters not expressly provided for in these regulations or which require interpretation of the clauses mentioned above shall be final and binding on all parties. Catania Law Court is held responsible for any other controversial matter and the Italian version of this text (available at the following link: Bando di concorso 2025) is the only one to refer to.