Schécci Short Movie Award (2)

Festival start: 13 December 2026      Festival end: 13 December 2026

The Schécci Short Movie Award is an international competition dedicated to short-form cinema, created with the aim of promoting creativity, narrative research, and technical quality in the short film format. The festival welcomes works from all over the world, offering emerging and professional filmmakers a space for visibility and artistic exchange.

The competition is open to fiction short films, documentaries, experimental films, animated films, and music videos, produced with professional production standards. Each filmmaker may submit multiple works and enter the same work into multiple categories, in accordance with the procedures established by the submission platform.

Selected works are evaluated by a jury composed of directors, film industry professionals, critics, and cinema experts, who assess each film according to internal criteria of artistic, technical, and narrative quality. Jury decisions are final and not subject to appeal. Winning works may be screened during the competition’s official final event at Auditorium Maria SS. Del Rosario in Grottaglie (Taranto, Italy), a two-hour evening showcase featuring the winning short films alongside exclusive out-of-competition preview screenings.

• Best Action Short Film
• Best Adventure Short Film
• Best AI Short Film
• Best Animated Short Film
• Best Biopic Short Film
• Best Comedy Short Film
• Best Crime Short Film
• Best Drama Short Film
• Best Documentary Short Film
• Best Experimental Short Film
• Best Fantasy Short Film
• Best Horror Short Film
• Best Mistery Short Film
• Best Musical Short Film
• Best Music Video
• Best Romantic Short Film
• Best Sci-Fi Short Film
• Best Thriller Short Film
• Best Western Short Film

ELIGIBLE WORKS

The Competition accepts the following types of works:

• Short films in the following formats:
• Fiction (narrative)
• Documentary (non-fiction)
• Experimental films
• Animated films
• Music videos

CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

By submitting their work, participants declare and accept that:

• They are adult.

• The Schécci Short Movie Award is authorized to use parts of the submitted work (including trailers, teasers, posters, and stills) exclusively for promotional and informational purposes related to the competition.

• Entry fees are non-refundable under any circumstances.

• Each filmmaker may submit multiple works, and each work may be submitted to multiple categories.

• The same work may be submitted multiple times, in accordance with the procedures set out on the registration platform.

• Participants agree to receive promotional and informational emails from the Competition and its partners.

• The jury is composed of directors, film industry professionals, critics, intellectuals, authors, and film experts.

• Each work will be evaluated by the same number of jury members, according to the Competition's internal criteria.

• The winning works will be screened during the final evening of the Competition.

• The jury's decisions are final and cannot be appealed.

• Registration for the Competition implies acceptance of promotional communications from the Competition itself or its official partners.


TECHNICAL AND LINGUISTIC REQUIREMENTS

All films must include subtitles in Italian or English, unless the language spoken is already Italian.

• Films must meet minimum technical standards, including:
• Clear, good-quality audio
• Video resolution no lower than 720p HD
• Subtitles/captions for works not in Italian

WORKS NOT ELIGIBLE

The following works will not be considered:

• Amateur videos

• Extremist or propaganda content from religious or political organizations

• Films with political themes or that promote a political agenda

• Works with insufficient production standards (poor audio, lack of required subtitles, video resolution lower than 720p HD)