Festival Internacional de Cine de Cuenca (22)

Festival start: 20 July 2026      Festival end: 25 July 2026

Cuenca International Film Festival 2026

Where the world's stories find their echo in the Andes.

The Cuenca International Film Festival (FICC) is one of the pioneering film events in Ecuador. With more than twenty years of history, it has become a strategic meeting point for international filmmakers, producers, distributors, and programmers, consolidating Cuenca as an epicenter of cinema in Latin America.

Throughout its history, the FICC has featured important figures, names that reaffirm the festival's mission to build bridges between the global industry and local narratives.

In 2022, the festival expanded its reach with the creation of Shortfest Cuenca, a platform specialized in short films that functions as a laboratory for narrative innovation and the discovery of new talent, thus consolidating its role in the international film ecosystem.

Competitive Sections 2026

• Latin American Feature Film Competition (a window to the region's cinema).

• International Feature Film Competition (works over 40 minutes, all themes, genres, and styles).

• International Short Film Competition (a space for experimentation and new voices).

• National Short Film Competition – Ecuador and Cuenca (a development engine for the local industry).

Non-Competitive Sections

• Fantastic Visions: dedicated to genre, fantasy, and horror films.

• Cinema and Human Rights: with a focus on ecology, feminism, and social justice, responding to the most pressing debates of our time.

FICC 2026 – A Platform for the Industry
The festival is not only an exhibition space, but also a networking and co-production platform, connecting Ecuadorian and Latin American cinema with international players: producers, distributors, platforms, and allied festivals.

Cuenca: City of Cinema

FICC 2026 will be held in July in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador. Declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO, Cuenca is transformed each year into a living cinematic stage, where tradition and modernity intertwine at every screening.

Best International Feature Film
Best Director
Male Performance
Female Performance
Best Photography
Best Screenplay

Best Latin American Film Award

Best International Short Film
Best Ecuadorian Short Film

RULES & TERMS

Entries for the Festival are open for national and international fiction, animation, documentary and experimental feature and short films.

Productions must have been completed as of January 1, 2024

Film submissions to the Festival are made through the event's official platforms.

Final term: The producer who owns the rights must submit the film to the Festival, before April 17, 2026.

Registration through the official platforms of the Festival will have the character of a sworn statement and in it you declare that you know and accept these regulations.

Registration for Ecuadorian films will be free.

No film will be considered submitted until the Festival receives the pre-selection copy online.

Copies with Spanish or English subtitles can be submitted for selection.

The Festival does not require a premiere condition but will give priority to films that have not been previously screened in the Republic of Ecuador.

Once registered and selected, the film cannot be withdrawn from the Festival's programming, nor can it be exhibited in Ecuadorian territory before its official presentation at the FICC.

SECTIONS

The Festival's programming will include competitive and non-competitive sections. The films scheduled will be included in the section that the selection committee deems appropriate.

For the selection, their duration will be taken into account: The festival considers feature films a minimum duration of 40 minutes and for short films up to a maximum of 39 minutes.

The Festival will have four competitive sections:

-International Feature Film Competition: National and international fiction, animation, documentary, and experimental films of 40 minutes or more are accepted.

-Latin American Feature Film Competition: National and Latin American fiction, animation, documentary, and experimental films of 40 minutes or more are accepted.

-International Short Film Competition: National and international fiction, animation, documentary, and experimental films of 39 minutes or less are accepted.

-Ecuadorian Short Film Competition: National (Ecuadorian) fiction, animation, documentary, and experimental films of 39 minutes or less are accepted.

OTHER SECTIONS

Humanist Cinema: Films that offer a new perspective on humanist, environmentalist, and human rights cinema.

Horror and Fantasy Cinema: Films that offer an innovative perspective on fantasy and horror cinema.

SELECTION

The Selection Committee will be made up of members of the FICC, who will carry out their work in accordance with the quality and creativity parameters previously established by the Festival Management.

In all cases, the screening copies will be sent over the Internet.

In the event that the film is selected, the person who made the registration will be notified and instructions will be given to send the screening copy through the official platforms of the Festival.

In addition to the screening copy, those responsible for the selected films must upload the following materials to our official platforms:

-2 (two) still images from the film, 300 DPI. Size 10 cm high by 15 cm wide colored. JPG format

-1 (one) photo of the director / s, 300 DPI. Size 10 cm high by 10 cm wide colored. JPG format

-Biofilmography of the director maximum 450 characters with spaces. In the following format, NAME, + 450 characters

-Synopsis of the film, maximum 600 characters with spaces.

-Film contact details
Contact person
DIRECTION
(CP / POBOX) Province, City, COUNTRY
Telephone
E-mail
Web

In addition, a dialogue list in original language and English (with time codes) and a digital file with the final cut of the film as projected will be required to prepare the subtitling.

FINAL CLAUSES

The organization of the festival presupposes that the producers or filmmakers who register through this call have the rights to exhibit their works, the FICC and the Ecuadorian Cinematographic Arts Corporation being exempt from any civil or criminal liability.

The people linked to the selected films undertake not to publicize their participation until their Organization announces the Festival's programming at a press conference.

Participation in the Festival implies acceptance of these regulations. Any conflict (of organization or operation) not foreseen in these regulations will be resolved by the Festival organization.

The presentation of the films implies the total acceptance of these bases. The interpretation, modification and application of the same corresponds to the organization of the FICC.

Registration fees will not be refunded in any case.