Mare: El Festival De Cine De Ficdimev (Infancia, Mujer Y Educación) (1)

Festival start: 19 November 2026      Festival end: 20 December 2026

From Valencia, a cosmopolitan Mediterranean city where cultures from around the world converge, we invite film professionals to a space of connection and excellence. MARE IFF is a FILM AND DOCUMENTARY festival dedicated to celebrating narrative mastery and technical quality around three fundamental pillars: the female perspective, the purity of childhood, and the potential of education.

Our festival was created to recognize works of high cinematic value that, beyond any ideology, manage to capture the essence of humanity on the big screen. MARE IFF is an open forum for artistic excellence; a place for filmmakers who, with rigor and sensitivity, transform stories into windows of knowledge and learning for all generations.

MONOGRAPHIC SESSION: CHILDHOOD (Focus: Children's rights and children's realities)
1. MARE Childhood Award

MONOGRAPHIC SESSION: WOMEN (Focus: Female leadership and equality)
2. MARE Woman Award
3. MARE Award for Lifetime Achievement

MONOGRAPH SESSION: EDUCATION (Focus: Social transformation, learning and local values)
4. MARE Education Award


SCREENING DAYS (Thursday) (Direct voting in the room during screenings at ABC PARK)

CLOSING GALA: DECEMBER 13 (Delivery of the highest awards and technical/artistic categories)

5. MARE Grand Prize (Best work of the festival)
6. Best Fiction Feature Film
7. Best Fiction Short Film
8. Best Documentary (Feature Film)
9. Best Documentary (Short Film)
10. Best Film School Film
11. Best Direction
12. Best Production
13. Best Script
14. Best Leading Actor
15. Best leading actress
16. Breakthrough Actor/Actress

Call for Entries 2026

Organized by: Malu Zamora Producciones

MARE, the FICDIMEV Festival
Intercultural Festival for Children, Education and Women – Valencia

OFFICIAL RULES

1. ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
MARE, the FICDIMEV Festival is an international film festival based in Valencia (Spain), dedicated to recognizing audiovisual works that address:
Children and children’s rights
Education and social transformation
Equality and female leadership
Interculturality and inclusion

The festival culminates with an official awards gala in the city of Valencia.

2. COMPETITIVE SECTIONS

A) Short Documentary
Maximum duration: 59 minutes.

B) Feature Documentary
Minimum duration: 60 minutes.

C) Short Film (Fiction / General)
Maximum duration: 59 minutes.

D) Feature Film (Fiction)
Minimum duration: 60 minutes.

E) Film School Short Film
Maximum duration: 25 minutes.

Open to works created by students enrolled in official film schools or audiovisual communication programs.


3. AWARDS
The festival will grant the following awards:
MONOGRAPHIC SESSION: CHILDHOOD (Focus: Children's rights and children's realities)
1. MARE Childhood Award

MONOGRAPHIC SESSION: WOMEN (Focus: Female leadership and equality)
2. MARE Woman Award
3. MARE Award for Lifetime Achievement

MONOGRAPH SESSION: EDUCATION (Focus: Social transformation, learning and local values)
4. MARE Education Award


SCREENING DAYS (Thursday) (Direct voting in the room during screenings at ABC PARK)

CLOSING GALA: DECEMBER 13 (Delivery of the highest awards and technical/artistic categories)

5. Best Fiction Feature Film
6. Best Fiction Short Film
7. Best Documentary (Feature Film)
8. Best Documentary (Short Film)
9. Best Film School Film
10. Best Direction
11. Best Production
12. Best Script
13. Best Leading Actor
14. Best leading actress
15. Breakthrough Actor/Actress


The jury may grant special mentions or declare awards void.

4. LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
Works must:
Be spoken in Spanish, or
Be mandatorily subtitled in Spanish.

Works that do not meet this requirement will not be eligible.

5. ENTRY CONDITIONS
Works must be submitted in Full HD quality or higher.

Entries must be submitted exclusively through Festhome.

Works must have been completed after January 1, 2023.
Each participant may submit more than one work.

6. SELECTION PROCESS
All works will be viewed by the festival’s selection committee.
Selected works will become part of the Official MARE Selection and will be included in its film archive.
The organization will notify selected participants by email.

7. JURY
The jury is composed of renowned professionals from the audiovisual, educational, and cultural sectors.
The jury’s decisions will be final and not subject to appeal.

8. SCREENING RIGHTS
1st Screening Right: The Festival acquires the non-exclusive right to screen the complete work for viewing by the jury and attending audience. In the event that the film is selected as a finalist, the Festival shall have the right to screen it publicly during the celebration of MARE IFF 2026, incorporate it into the festival’s film library, and exhibit it both within the scope of the festival itself and through possible partnerships with affiliated institutions.

The organization reserves the right to establish an access system by subscription or ticket at a standard market price, the proceeds of which shall be allocated entirely to covering the exhibition venue expenses and financing the management, organization, and sustainability costs of the event, in accordance with the social purposes of the FICDIMEV association. Such exhibition and the corresponding box office charges for access to the screenings shall always be subject to the prior express authorization of the producer or rights holder of each work, which must be formalized after notification of selection. It is explicitly established that the exhibition of the works within the framework of the festival shall not generate any financial remuneration whatsoever in favor of the producers or rights holders by the organization.

Likewise, in the event that the screening venue requires it due to the technical requirements of the premises, participants undertake to provide a copy of the work in a medium with professional technical specifications suitable for cinematic projection (DCP format or similar). These screenings shall take place exclusively within the framework of the Festival or the partnerships it develops and under the conditions described herein.

2. Promotional Use:
The participant authorizes the Festival to use excerpts from the work (with a maximum duration of 3 minutes), up to four film stills, and the film's official poster.
This material will be used exclusively for promotional purposes and to publicize the Festival or its partnerships—both for the current edition and future ones—across any platform or media outlet (website, social media, press, etc.).

3. Commitment to Display Laurels:
Works selected for the Festival commit to displaying the official "Official Selection" laurels of the MARE IFF Festival in all future communications and screenings of the work.
Should the work win an award, the participant commits to including the laurels corresponding to the award received on posters, promotional materials, trailers, and in any other public screening or dissemination of the work.
Participant's Responsibility:
The participant declares, under their own responsibility, that they hold all necessary intellectual property rights regarding the submitted work, or possess the relevant authorizations and licenses from third parties for its screening and promotional use in accordance with these rules.
The participant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless MARE IFF against any third-party claim, lawsuit, or legal action arising from a breach of this warranty, assuming all costs and expenses that may result therefrom.

9. ACCEPTANCE OF THE RULES
Registration implies full acceptance of these rules.

For further information or inquiries regarding this call for entries, please contact “mare.iwff@gmail.com” via email.

Inquiries are accepted in English and Spanish.

JURY COMPOSITION:

Among others yet to be confirmed, the jury members for the 2026 edition will be:

Rafa Marí (Cinema journalist)
Jorge Climent Llopis (Manager de Espai Tripolar)
David Gaspar (Director y producer)
Carmen Mayordomo (Actress and art director)
Tote Trenas (Cinematographer and producer)
Eulalia Ramón (Actress and director)
Marcos Campos (Cultural Promoter and producer)
Juan Gea (Actor)
Paca Gabaldón (Actress)