Elipsis University Short Film Festival (10)

Festival start: 19 November 2026      Festival end: 30 November 2026

The Elipsis University Short Film Festival, part of the Guayaquil International Film Festival and produced by Kashu Artistic Vortex, LLC. (Vórtice Artístico Marañón, S.A.S.), is a platform dedicated to showcasing national and international student films. The festival highlights works created within academic and training environments and takes place across universities and cultural spaces in the cities of Esmeraldas, Guayaquil and Quito, with participating networks and screenings in Ecuador; additionally, this year’s edition includes countries like USA, Colombia, and Mexico.

Honorable mentions:

Best fiction short film.
Best documentary short film.
Best animated short film.

Our Vision:
The Elipsis University Short Film Festival is a sanctuary for youth cinema, dedicated to preserving the cinematic memory of a filmmaker’s formative years. We believe these early works capture a unique spark—an urgent need to explore the world through fresh eyes. Elipsis is a platform for the inquisitive, the bold, and the creative, honoring the diverse perspectives that drive the next generation of visual storytellers.

We embrace an inclusive and expansive gaze, welcoming all narrative, discursive, and recursive approaches. Our mission is to amplify the unique voice of every filmmaker, fostering an environment where innovative perspectives contribute to the evolution of film as an art form.

What’s New-Knowledge Expansion:
Celebrating our 10th Edition, Elipsis will integrate a series of Masterclasses designed to fuel continuous education. These sessions aim to empower participants and enthusiasts alike, providing new tools and deepening the intellectual resources available to our community.

Submission Guidelines & Categories:

Diverse Narratives: We are open to all themes, genres, and formats, including fiction, documentary, experimental, animation, and hybrid forms. Whether your work explores social realism, poetic abstraction, or genre-bending tropes, there is a place for it here.
Academic & Workshop Pathways: While we celebrate university productions from all semesters, Elipsis is also open to projects born within specialized workshops and independent training centers. We have established a dedicated category for these non-university formative projects to ensure every educational journey is recognized.

Technical Requirements: Maximum duration: 25 minutes.

Subtitling & Linguistic Inclusivity: Films in other languages must include Spanish subtitles to ensure accessibility for our primary audiences. However, works without Spanish subtitles are still eligible for submission and will be exclusively programmed for screenings in the United States or within cultural centers in participating countries where English is the primary language of instruction. Furthermore, Elipsis proudly welcomes works featuring languages of Abya Yala without Spanish subtitles; these films will be integrated into specialized educational spaces dedicated to the learning and preservation of these ancestral languages. In all cases, films provided with English subtitles are highly encouraged and warmly welcomed.

Mandatory Credits (Proof of Origin): To honor the pedagogical process, all films must include a final screen/frame indicating:
University Projects: Institution name, semester, and the specific subject/class for which it was developed.
Workshop Projects: Name of the organizing entity, and in place of "semester," the specific name of the workshop.

Commitment to Exhibition: Once a film is officially selected, it cannot be withdrawn from the program and will be screened as part of this year's circuit.


A Rotating Cultural Journey:
Elipsis is a traveling force, navigating throughout the year across universities and cultural hubs in Guayaquil, Esmeraldas, and Quito. We serve as a bridge between the classroom and the screen, creating a vital network for national and international student cinema.