Submissions deadline
27 Nov 26
1. The Castilla y León Social Work Foundation (FUNDOS), Canal Saber, and the Palencia International Film Festival (MCIP) are announcing the third edition of their “MicroSaberes” competition.
2. The competition is open to documentary short films, with Castilla y León as the central theme. The micro-documentaries submitted must have a clear and evident connection to the Autonomous Community.
3. Participation is open to all film producers and directors who submit nationally produced films.
4. Those interested in participating may submit one short film to the competition.
5. Entries may not exceed 5 minutes in length under any circumstances.
6. Entries may be submitted in any of the following audiovisual formats: 3GP, 3GPP, MP4, MPG, FLV, MKV, MOV, and AVI. The quality of the entries must not be lower than HD720p. The organizers recommend, however, a quality of FHD1080p to facilitate screening and viewing in theaters.
7. Each participant may submit their material and upload their short films to the Festhome website from June 1 through December 14, 2026, inclusive; entries submitted outside of these dates will not be accepted. Additionally, when registering the micro-documentary for the competition, the following information must be provided via email to muestradecinepalencia@gmail.com: first and last names, phone number, and contact email address. Participants must also complete the attached form (Annex 1) available on the websites www.palenciamcip.com and www.canalsaber.es and send it with the subject line MICROSABERES.
8. Those selected must submit a high-quality copy of the short documentary via www.swisstransfer.com for hosting on the Fundos website (@fundoscyl). They are required to send it to the email address muestradecinepalencia@gmail.com by January 8, 2027.
9. If the micro-documentary is filmed in a language other than Spanish, it must include Spanish subtitles.
10. The creators are responsible for the legal use of third-party materials in the creation of the submitted works (music or any other type of resource).
11. All works submitted to the contest may be voted on during the periods specified in these rules on the FUNDOS YouTube channel (@fundoscyl), which the FUNDOS organization will make available for this purpose.
12. The FUNDOS YouTube channel (@fundoscyl) will be open for public voting from January 18 until 10:00 a.m. on February 9, 2027. The winner of the People’s Choice Award will be announced via email.
13. The organization reserves the right to disqualify from the contest any entries where there are suspicions of fraudulent practices to obtain votes (through the use of programs or bot systems to automate or semi-automate the voting process, or any other irregularities that alter the nature of the contest).
14. The jury’s decision will be announced on Friday, March 5, 2027. The presentation of the winners and the awards ceremony will take place at the Jorge Manrique Performing Arts Center in Paredes de Nava.
15. Participants agree to the reproduction and distribution of the short films or portions thereof for informational, educational, or promotional purposes related to the contest.
16. Awards. A jury composed of FUNDOS and the MCIP will view the entries and, after evaluating various technical, narrative, and interpretive aspects of the short films in the competition, will award the ‘MicroSaberes’ Jury Prize for Best Microdocumentary, worth 2,000 euros. All works submitted to the competition will also be eligible for the ‘MicroSaberes’ Audience Award for Best Microdocumentary, with voting taking place via the YouTube channel (@fundoscyl). For this purpose, the total number of “likes” received by each entry will be counted as votes. This audience award will be worth 1,000 euros. The two awards are not cumulative.
17. The winning short films will be screened in a cinema during the closing session of the 36th edition of MCIP.
18. All communications regarding these rules can be found on the websites www.palenciamcip.com and www.canalsaber.es. All dissemination regarding these rules and other information will be carried out through the social media accounts of the MCIP, Canal Saber, and FUNDOS. For any other information or questions: muestradecinepalencia@gmail.com.
19. The winning entries grant the organization the right to screen said works—always for exclusively cultural and non-commercial purposes—throughout the year following the Festival during various special events held outside the official week. These screenings will always be free of charge to the public.
20. Entries may be viewed through a special section created on CanalSaber.es, the multimedia platform promoted by FUNDOS with over 33,000 subscribers and nearly 5 million views.
21. The jury and the organizers reserve the right to modify the rules or declare the competition void if they deem it appropriate for justified reasons. Participation in the competition implies acceptance of all its rules.
APPENDIX 1
Micro-documentary details
Title:
Production date:
Filming locations:
Subtitles YES NO
Film length: ............ min.
Director’s details
First and last name:
Address:
City:
Zip code:
Phone:
Email:
Credits:
Production:
Screenwriter:
Cinematography:
Editing:
Cast (featuring):
Synopsis of the film:
