Festival start: 16 September 2025
Festival end: 21 September 2024
#NarrarelFuturo: XII Film & New Media Festival is a meeting point for exhibition, training and industry where local, national and regional industry professionals interested in filmmaking and audiovisual in its most recent and interesting narrative and technical trends within the digital environment meet; transmedia, web and interactive documentaries, virtual reality (VR/AR/XR), webseries, artificial intelligence, futurisms, narratives and crowdsourcing/funding, vertical video and other film and new media concepts are some of the Festival's thematic axes.
Similarly, during the event, development and creation scenarios are carried out such as the #NewMediaLab, Ibero-American laboratory for the development of new media projects and the #HackathonVR360, which this year reaches its eighth edition.
We also open the doors to the Colombian and international creative industry to create meeting and conversation points around ongoing projects: 10 tips to #NarrarElFuturo, speed networking sessions and the launch of the Hispanic American Projects Database and the new media industry manual are some of the activities in which attendees from the industry area will be able to participate in this new version.
During the 12th version -which takes place from September 16 to 21, 2025, in person at various venues in Bogota (Colombia)- attendees will enjoy more than 65 hours of film and digital content, 100 hours of training scenarios, 40 international and national guests and a broad and diverse spectrum of topics, processes and projects under construction and development.
The confirmed prizes to be offered to winners of each section are:
- Statuette #NarrarElFuturo (#NarrarElFuturo)
- Diploma and Certificate
- Consultancies with experts related to the project in development categories.
*Other possible prizes with partners in the process of management.
12th #NarrarElFuturo: Film & New Media Festival
(Bogotá, September 16–21, 2025)
INTRODUCTION
A recurring question each year regarding the curatorial approach and overall concept of our festival is: What is the future, really? The answers we uncover always lead us to new and better questions, fueling our curiosity and our desire to explore the unknown. The future remains a scenario to be collectively imagined, constructed, and redefined.
For us at #NarrarElFuturo, the future is a space for thought and construction—a physical and digital place narrated from the past and present, an unexplored, chaotic, fragmented yet magical and powerful realm. It is a platform for sharing visions, stories, and perspectives about what is to come, where creativity and imagination are our compasses, allowing us to approach the future from technological, social, cultural, and environmental angles.
With “THE FUTURE” as the structural foundation of our curatorial narrative, we maintain and strengthen our two main sections: “Stories of the Future” and “The Future is Now.”
Both sections accept live-action, animated, and hybrid formats and are open to any narrative genre.
2. SECTIONS
“STORIES OF THE FUTURE” SECTION (FILM AND SERIES)
"Stories of the Future" focuses on cinematic projects (short and feature-length films) and series. We seek films and serialized content that speak to and engage with the future in a variety of ways: fantasy, futurisms, and science fiction—of course—but also many other visions of the future through diverse formats, genres, and themes.
Entries must address the future, the many possibilities emerging in this new era, and all the potential universes born from the near-apocalypse we’ve collectively endured in recent years. We welcome speculative narratives, stories of innovation and technology that reflect on the human condition, society, and transformation. This section included 30 films in 2024.
AWARD CATEGORIES
– Best Colombian Film\*
– Best Fiction Feature
– Best Fiction Short
– Best Documentary Feature
– Best Documentary Short
– Best Impact Film\*
– Best Fiction Series
– Best Documentary Series
\*Features and shorts eligible.
“THE FUTURE IS NOW” SECTION (NEW MEDIA)
"The Future is Now" focuses on new media and digital narrative projects. This section welcomes projects that rely on and explore technology, trends, or formats aligned with the idea of "New Media": digital documentaries, web series, transmedia narratives, immersive experiences (VR/AR/MR), podcasts, vertical cinema, Afrofuturism, Indigenous futurisms, and collective projects (crowdfunding/crowdsourcing), among others. This section included 50 projects in 2024.
AWARD CATEGORIES
– Best Digital Documentary (Web/Interactive/Expanded)
– Best Web Series (Fiction and Documentary)
– Best Transmedia Narrative
– Best Immersive Experience (VR, AR, MR)
– Best Podcast (Fiction and Documentary)
– Best New Media Project in Development (Winner of #NewMediaLab)
– Best #NewMediaForGood Project
– Best Cinema & Artificial Intelligence Experience
– Best 180° Dome Film
3. PARTICIPATION GUIDELINES
– Projects for both sections must be submitted via Festhome or FilmFreeway. Submissions via email or other platforms will not be evaluated.
– Both sections accept live-action, animation, or hybrid content of any genre or duration, provided it aligns with the festival’s curatorial theme.
– Selected works must be submitted in at least Full HD resolution (2D film/video), and a minimum of 4K for VR, 360 video, or other immersive formats.
– Producers or rights holders of selected works agree to participate in the 12th edition of #NarrarElFuturo and affiliated festivals without requiring screening fees.
– Films and new media projects submitted must not have premiered before January 1, 2022.
– Selected projects in languages other than Spanish must provide a version with Spanish subtitles or dubbing. All costs associated are the responsibility of the creators.
– Producers agree to sign exhibition release forms and to provide press materials such as posters, trailers, technical sheets, press kits, stills, etc.
– Selected Ibero-American participants agree to have their work and data included in the Ibero-American film and new media project database managed by #NarrarElFuturo.
– By submitting a project, creators authorize #NarrarElFuturo to use all submitted promotional materials (stills, synopsis, director bio, screening history, etc.) for publicity. Short fragments of selected works may be requested for TV or web promotion (max. 1 minute) with filmmaker approval. No full TV broadcast will occur without explicit consent.
– By submitting, the entrant confirms they possess the distribution and authorship rights. The festival relies on good faith and bears no responsibility for disputes regarding music rights, image rights, or authorship.
– We welcome diverse, bold, and complex content, but do not support works that promote or incite racism, sexism, misogyny, classism, or homophobia in any form. The future belongs to everyone, and at our festival, all human beings are valued equally.
4. TIMELINE
– Call opens: May 1, 2024
– First deadline: Sunday, June 1, 2025
– Final deadline: Sunday, June 29, 2025
– Official selection announcement: Friday, August 15, 2025
– Exhibition of selected works: September 16–21, 2025
– Winners announced: September 21, 2025
5. SUBMISSION FEES
In both sections, submission is free during the first period. In the second period, a fee of 8 USD applies, in the extended period a fee of 15 USD applies, the fees are payable through the chosen platform under their terms.
6. SELECTION PROCESS & JURY
After the call closes, all entries will be reviewed by a selection committee composed of experts in the relevant categories. Jurors will remain anonymous until the awards ceremony, where their identities and backgrounds will be revealed. Jury decisions are final.
“Stories of the Future”: Section focused on film projects (Short and Feature Films), where we are looking for films that talk about and connect with the future in many ways: fantasy films, futurism and science fiction - the most obvious ones - but also many other views of the future from the most varied formats, genres and themes.
The participating films must speak of the future, of the many possibilities that come in this new era, of all those possible universes that opened up with the quasi-end of the world that we have experienced globally in recent years, speculative narratives, stories of innovation and technology, and films that address and reflect on the most varied scenarios of human beings, society and its transformations.
COMPETITION CATEGORIES
- Best Colombian Film*.
- Best Fiction Feature Film
- Best Fiction Short Film
- Best Documentary Feature Film
- Best Documentary Short Film
- Best Impact Film*.
*Full-length and short films participate.
Festival Registration Fees
Section #StoriesOfTheFuture (Feature Films and Short Films) in the first stage (Closing June 21) registration is free of charge. In the second stage (Closing July 12) short and long films regardless of their format or length will pay a fee of 8 USD, this fee will be paid on the platform chosen to present your film with the conditions that each platform delimits.
#TheFutureIsNOW
Short and Feature Films (2021+)
Fee-8%
Standard0$0$
01 Jun 25
Late8$7.36$
29 Jun 25
Extended15$13.8$
13 Jul 25
Submissions deadline
13 Jul 25
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0$
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Section focusing on new media projects and digital narratives. This section includes projects that use technologies, trends or formats around the concept of "New Media": Digital Documentaries, Webseries, Transmedia Narratives, Immersive Experiences (VR/AR/MR), Podcast, vertical cinema, artificial intelligence and collective projects (Crowdfunding/Crowdsourcing).
COMPETITION CATEGORIES
- Best Digital Documentary (Web/Interactive/Expanded)
- Best Webseries (Fiction and Documentary)
- Best Transmedia Narrative
- Best Immersive Experience (VR, AR, MR)
- Best Podcast (Fiction and Documentary)
- Best New Media Project in Development (#NewMediaLab Winner) - Best Vertical Film (Fiction and Documentary)
- Best #NewMediaForGood Project
- Best Film and Artificial Intelligence experience
Festival Registration Fees
Section #TheFutureIsNow (New Media Projects)
In the first stage (closing date June 21) registration is free of charge. In the second stage (closing date July 12) new media projects regardless of their format will pay a fee of 8 USD, this fee will be paid on the platform chosen to present their film with the conditions that each platform delimits.
Festhome holds accountable fees festivals by holding the payment of the fees of most newer festivals until they have viewed the submissions, held their festivals and other methods.