Cero Grados Film Fest (1)

Festival start: 02 March 2027      Festival end: 02 March 2027

Where Great Stories Begin

Cero Grados Film Fest is an international short film festival dedicated exclusively to emerging filmmakers presenting their first or second short film as directors.

Our mission is to discover, promote and support new cinematic voices by providing a professional platform where talent is evaluated on equal terms, free from competition with established filmmakers.

The festival welcomes fiction, documentary, animation and experimental short films from all over the world, celebrating originality, creativity and distinctive artistic vision. We believe that great careers often begin with a single story, and our goal is to help those stories reach an international audience.

Cero Grados Film Fest is held entirely online, making it accessible to filmmakers and audiences worldwide while ensuring broad international visibility for the selected works.

Awards include:

- Best Director** (€1,000)
- Best Short Film**
- Best Screenplay**
- Best Cinematography**

All selected films and award winners receive the official Cero Grados Film Fest laurels.

If this is the beginning of your filmmaking journey, this is your festival.

Where Great Stories Begin.

Cash Prizes: 1,000€

- Best Director – Grado Cero — €1,000
Main award of the festival, granted to the director whose work stands out for its vision, narrative strength, and cinematic proposal.

- Best Short Film
Honorary award without financial compensation, granted to the most outstanding work of the edition.

- Best Screenplay
Recognition of the writing work that provides narrative solidity, originality, and dramatic coherence.

- Best Cinematography
Honorary award for the most outstanding visual proposal in composition, lighting, and cinematic aesthetics.

The jury may declare any of the awards void if it considers that the submitted works do not meet the required quality. Its decision will be final and cannot be appealed.

1. Purpose

The Cero Grados International Short Film Festival aims to discover, support, and give visibility to emerging filmmakers from around the world, offering a platform for directors who are beginning their professional careers.

2. Participants

Filmmakers of any nationality may participate, provided that at the time of submission they have directed no more than one short film prior to the current entry.

3. Eligible Works

Short films of fiction, documentary, animation, or experimental genres are accepted, with a maximum duration of **20 minutes**, including credits.
Works may be produced in any language; if the original language is not Spanish or english, subtitles in either of these two languages are required.

4. Submission

Submission must be completed exclusively through the festival’s official platform.

5. Selection

A selection committee will choose the works that will form part of the Official Selection.
All decisions are final and cannot be appealed.

6. Jury

The selected works will be evaluated by a jury composed of professionals from the audiovisual sector.

The jury’s decision is final.

7. awards

• Best Director
• Best Short Film – Cero Grados
• Best Screenplay
• Best Cinematography

The organization may grant special mentions if deemed appropriate.

8. Rights

Authors retain all rights to their works.
The festival may use excerpts and still images from the selected short films solely for promotional purposes related to the event.

9. Year of Production

Only short films produced from **2025 onwards** are eligible.

Works produced before 2024 will not be accepted.

The production year must be clearly stated in the film’s technical sheet and submission materials. The festival may request supporting documentation such as:

- Official technical sheet indicating the production year
- Production certificate issued by the production company or legal representative
- Registration in distribution platforms (Festhome)
- Video file metadata (creation date of the master or DCP)

10. Acceptance

Submitting a film to the Cero Grados International Short Film Festival implies full acceptance of these regulations.