Festival Internacional de Animación Ajayu - Perú (10)

Festival start: 26 November 2025      Festival end: 29 November 2025

Asociación Cinematográfica Ajayu (Ajayu Film Association) in co-production with Sapa Inti Studio invites national and international filmmakers to participate in the 10th Ajayu International Animation Festiva,l to be held from November 26 to 29, 2025, in Puno, Peru.
Now celebrating ten years, Ajayu has become one of Peru’s leading festivals dedicated exclusively to animated cinema, as well as a vital space for the development, circulation and visibility of animated works from the southern Andean territories. Marking this milestone, the festival reaffirms its commitment to cultural decentralization by promoting a diverse, accessible, and identity-driven audiovisual industry.
This year’s central theme is “Peace Narratives”, a curatorial focus for part of the programming and will be highlighted in a special section in the general program. However, this theme is not a submission requirement, as the call welcomes animated works on any topic.
Ajayu continues to be a space for gathering, exhibition, and reflection on animation as an artistic language and a tool for social transformation. The selected works will be part of the festival’s official showcase and will actively contribute to a curatorial vision that celebrates ten years of legacy.

Cash Prizes: 850$

AWARDS

The awards will be distributed as follows:

AJAYU Grand Jury Prize (Trophy and digital certificate)

AJAYU Hatun Soncco Award (Digital certificate)

Best International Animated Short Film (Trophy and digital certificate)

Best Peruvian Animated Short Film (Cash prize of three thousand soles – S/. 3,000.00 – Trophy and digital certificate. Payment will be made via PayPal)

Best Latin American Animated Short Film (Trophy and certificate)

Best Thesis or Graduation Animated Short Film (Digital certificate)

Best Animated Feature Film (Trophy and digital certificate)

Best Animated Series (Trophy and digital certificate)

Special Mentions from the Jury (Digital certificate)

PARTICIPANTS

Participants over 18 years of age, from any country, can participate on their own or as part of a group —except in the “Short Films Made by Children” category, which is open only to participants under 18.

All productions whose original language is not Spanish must include subtitles in .SRT or .PDF format in Spanish and/or english."

Up to three works per filmmaker will be accepted.
Throughout the entire call for entries, registration is free for Peruvian Short Films, Latin American Short Films, and Feature Films from any country.
Animated productions submitted that have been part of the Official Selection —either in Competition or Exhibition— in previous editions of the AJAYU Festival will be automatically disqualified.

Animated projects completed on or after May 30, 2022, are eligible to participate.


Deadlines

The call will be open from July 20 to October 16, 2025, closing at 11:59 p.m. (Peruvian time). Animated works received after the deadline will not be considered, unless an official extension is granted by the organizers.

Submission deadlines:

Early registration: through August 18, 2025
Regular registration: August 19 to September 25, 2025
Late registration: September 26 to October 16, 2025


COMPETITIVE AND NON-COMPETITIVE CATEGORIES

3.1. In Competition:
International Animated Short Films
Peruvian Animated Short Films
Latin American Animated Short Films
Animated Thesis or Graduation Short Films
Animated Feature Films
Animated Series

3.2. In Exhibition:
Animated Short Films made by children (Ajayito)
Productions selected by the Festival Organization
Requirements:

Productions are eligible to compete in only one category in length.

Short films must not exceed 20 (twenty) minutes in length.

Feature films must be longer than 60 (sixty) minutes.

For series, only one episode will be eligible for selection, and it must not exceed 30 (thirty) minutes in length.

Only works from outside Latin America (including Peru) will be accepted in the International Animated Short Films category.

The organization will decide whether to screen works outside the competition.

The best productions will be eligible to compete for the Ajayu Grand Prize, the festival’s highest distinction.


REGISTRATION

Entries may only be submitted online through the application platforms: Festhome.com


Animated productions provided to the Festival may be used for promotional purposes. This may include short clips from the work (not the full film), as well as teasers or trailers.

Applicants — including directors, producers, and/or distributors — must hold the rights to the submitted work and agree not to include any audiovisual materials or photographs they do not have permission to use.

The Festival organizers are not responsible for the submitted works or for any improper use of intellectual property rights by the authors.


PRESELECTION

This preselection process will be carried out as follows:

After the submission deadline, the received materials will be reviewed and preselected by the Programming Team, appointed by the Festival’s Organizing Committee.

The official selection is divided as follows:

Official Selection – In Competition:

Official Selection – International Short Films
Official Selection – National Short Films (Peruvian)
Official Selection – Latin American Short Films
Official Selection – Thesis or Graduation Short Films
Official Selection – Ajayu Grand Jury Prize Short Films
Official Selection – Feature Films
Official Selection – Animated Series
Official Selection – Hatun Soncco
Official Selection – In Exhibition:
Official Selection – Exhibition of Short Films made by children (Ajayito)

Productions selected by the Festival Organization
A list of pre-selected films will be shared before the final results are announced. Selected participants will be notified by email on October 28, 2025. Along with the notification, you’ll receive an authorization form that must be filled out and signed by the official representative of the film.

This document confirms your participation and grants permission for the film to be screened during the in-person events of the festival, as well as in any traveling showcases organized by AJAYU and its partners, including thematic retrospectives.

Participation in virtual screenings via CINE AJAYU is optional. If you agree, we can apply geolocation restrictions according to your preference.

Please note: submitting the signed authorization form is required in order to be part of the 2025 Official Selection.

SELECTED WORKS

Animated productions selected as part of the Festival's Official Selection must submit:
One or two stills from the short film with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.

A photograph of the director(s) (optional).
A poster or still image from the short film (optional).
A trailer or teaser (optional).

The film’s representative authorizes its inclusion in the AJAYU video library, as well as its participation in future in-person traveling showcases and retrospective programs organized by the festival and/or its partners. They may also grant permission for the work to be featured in exclusive online screenings by CINE AJAYU through the website www.ajayufest.com, with access limited to registered viewers via password protection, and available only during the official dates of the Festival.
Participation in CINE AJAYU is optional, and geolocation restrictions may be applied based on the representative's preferences.

Awards

The awards will be distributed as follows:
AJAYU Grand Jury Prize (Trophy and digital certificate)

AJAYU Hatun Soncco Award (Digital certificate)
Best International Animated Short Film (Trophy and digital certificate)

Best Peruvian Animated Short Film (Cash prize of three thousand soles – S/. 3,000.00 – Trophy and digital certificate. Payment will be made via PayPal)
Best Latin American Animated Short Film (Trophy and certificate)

Best Thesis or Graduation Animated Short Film (Digital certificate)

Best Animated Feature Film (Trophy and digital certificate)

Best Animated Series (Trophy and digital certificate)
Special Mentions from the Jury (Digital certificate)


JUDGING

Competition categories (see Section VI) will be evaluated by a panel of renowned film and animation professionals.

Special Mentions may be awarded at the discretion of the jury and the festival team.


JURY

The jury will be appointed by the festival organizers and will consist of leading professionals from the fields of film and animation. They will decide the winners in the competitive categories.

All jury decisions are final. awards may be withheld if submissions do not meet the quality standards set by the jury or if a consensus cannot be reached.


FINAL RESULTS ANNOUNCEMENT

The Official Selection in Competition and Exhibition will be announced on November 4, 2025, on our website www.ajayufest.com and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ajayufest. Official laurels will be sent via email.


Awards CEREMONY

The awards ceremony will take place during the Festival’s closing day, on November 29, 2025. Winners may include the prize and official Festival laurel in the opening credits of their work.


ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Participation in this Festival implies full acceptance of these terms and conditions. Missing key information in the application, the absence of required supporting materials, or failure to meet the established deadlines may result in the disqualification of the submitted work.

Sincerely,
THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
ajayufest@gmail.com