Pebbles Underground Film and Video Art (5)

Festival start: 21 June 2026      Festival end: 27 June 2026

ONLY EXPERIMENTAL FILMS AND VIDEO ART !

Pebbles Underground film and video art is an online platform focused on showcasing experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget moving image projects by artist-humans from all over the world. If you're making absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, queer, political, slow film, performance, dance films, or something no one has the name for yet – we're here for you!

The selection process is continuous, we don't wait for the last day to watch all the submissions, we watch them as they come in.


FORM/GENRE CRITERIA:

-Experimental, avant-garde, underground, surrealist films, animation, cgi, video art, and mixed techniques (any topic)

-Experimental, expanded, artistic documentaries, and mockumentaries (any topic)

-Web-based experimental and/or interactive projects; e.g. interactive films/videos, games (any topic)

-Screendance, experimental dance, video performance (any topic)

-Experimental works 30 minutes and over, any of the above mentioned category (any topic)



SCREENINGS AND NOTIFICATION OF RESULTS:

In 2026 we'll be hosting Summer and Winter Screenings, each encompassing multiple curated programs.

-Summer Screenings will be streaming from June 21 to 27

-Winter Screenings will be streaming December 13 to 19 (submission process will open after the Summer Screenings are over).

In addition to our online platform we cooperate with various art centers across the world to organize screenings with live audiences. However, at this time we only accept applications to our two online screenings.

The artists selected for the programs keep ALL the rights, and we ask for permission again to include the film in an online screening.

Attention! We will never include your work in the screening without your permission. If your work is selected, you will receive a lengthy email containing details regarding the program, and asking for your permission to screen the work.

DRM ENCRYPTED ONLINE SCREENING FORMAT

We are using a video hosting service with DRM encryption, to prevent illegal download of your art films during our online screenings. We are not using youtube, or vimeo.

ADDITIONAL INFO

All online programs will be FREE TO WATCH, so get ready for a delicious explosion of art!

If you are a filmmaker from Palestine, Georgia, Iran, Armenia, Syria, Lebanon, Belarus, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, South Sudan, Ukraine, Ethiopia, please write us for a submission discount or a fee waiver code. In your email, please include the link to the work you are planning to submit.

For questions: pebblesunderground@gmail.com
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Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.

All selected works are considered part of the Official Selection, and will be included in the Summer and Winter Screenings of 2026 edition.

If selected, your films will automatically enter the competition for Jury Award and Audience Award, to be granted for each program in the course of a screening.

REQUIREMENTS

-premiere status is not necessary, the work does not have to be recent

-all works in languages other than English MUST have English subtitles; please avoid barely readable fonts. We understand the aesthetic struggle artists are going through while making subs, but believe it or not, subs need to fulfill their purpose!

-if we select the work, we would ask you to send a screening copy, preferably 1080p. We don't need ProRes or archival copies, but at least a h264 copy with best possible quality settings, and 48kHz audio would be much appreciated; depending on the shooting equipment of the selected work, we can also accept 720p and 44kHz

-include a short bio of the artist (it will be published it if the work is selected)

-include a short description/ director's statement about the work (it will be published it if the work is selected)

-include description/synopsis of the work


EACH APPLICANT CONSENTS TO THE FOLLOWING:

-application does not guarantee selection, and fee is not refundable;

-the festival is unable to pay the screening fee at this time;

-if the work is selected, the festival has a right to present it online, as well as in a physical space;

-if the work is selected, the festival has a right to use a still or an extract of under 5 seconds from it for promotional purposes (all credits will be included in the video excerpt or still);

-after the season is finalized, the festival has no right to screen the selected films online or in a physical venue without additional permission from the artist;

-the selected films will remain in the archive of the festival;

-the artist keeps all the rights to the work;

-the artist/submitter must have the copyright to their work (no plagiarism), Pebbles Underground is not liable of any copyright infringement;

-if the work is submitted by a distributor, or any other third party, the latter must be given the permission to do so by the artist;

-submissions are accepted only through the online submission platform.