Festival Internacional de Cine de La Serena (12)

Festival start: 21 October 2026      Festival end: 24 October 2026

The eleventh La Serena International Film Festival (FECILS) is a competitive audiovisual event that will take place from October 21 to 24, 2026, in the Coquimbo region. It seeks to support the production and dissemination of regional, national, and Latin American audiovisual activities, thus contributing to decentralization by promoting the exchange and training of regional filmmakers and producers. Through these actions, FECILS seeks to establish itself as a cultural event that, in addition to generating film exhibition spaces in the Coquimbo region, focuses on generating new audiences. FECILS 2026 features an audiovisual outreach program that will reach various venues in the region's communes.

The Jury for the various official categories of FECILS 2026 will award the following prizes:

• Best Film and Special Jury Prize,
International Feature Film Category

• Best Film and Special Jury Prize,
National Feature Film Category

• Best Film and Special Jury Prize,
Regional Documentary Category

• Best Film and Special Jury Prize,
Regional Fiction Short Film Category

• Best Film and Special Jury Prize,
Metropolitan Fiction Short Film Category

• Best Film and Special Jury Prize, Animation Short Film Category.

It will be composed of figures from the audiovisual media, arts, industry, and culture at the international, national, and regional levels.

Persons directly related to the competing works and the FECILS organization are ineligible to serve on the jury.

The decision of the official jury is final.

All audiovisual works of national and international origin produced after January 2025 are eligible to participate.

The works received for pre-selection will be reviewed by the festival's programming team and prominent figures in the national audiovisual industry, who will select the films for the competition in their various categories.

Registration for the pre-selection is free.

The festival organizers reserve the right to make any decisions it deems appropriate for cases not covered in these rules.

PROCESS FOR SELECTED WORKS

The list of productions selected for the competition will be published on the festival's official website www.fecils.cl in September 2026.

Applicants for selected works must submit the following:

Audiovisual work in a digital version with the "Prores", "dnxhd", or "h264" codec (the latter in base quality for screening) and a .mov or .mp4 file extension. No other codecs or extensions will be accepted. If the film uses subtitles, they may be submitted as an ".srt" file or embedded within the file.

Official film trailer. If not available, the production company will request permission to create a teaser.

3 high-resolution promotional photos of the film (300 dpi or higher).

Official film poster (300 dpi or higher). If not available, the production company will request permission to use an image from the film as a promotional image.

Photograph of the director (or directors, if more than one is involved, ideally a single photo with both directors) in high resolution (300 dpi or higher).

The film trailer and promotional photos may be published on the festival's official website www.fecils.cl and on its social media platforms, solely for the festival's promotional purposes.

Filmmakers and producers classified in the Official Selection agree that their works may be exhibited in the exhibition spaces established by the festival or in subsequent activities held within the framework of the festival, whether national or international, with prior notice to the filmmaker. All exhibitions will be free of charge. All participation of the work in the festival is free of charge; that is, there will be no fee for authorization to use the selected works. Specifically, by submitting their application form, the applicant declares that they have the power and effectively authorize the public exhibition of the work during the festival period, which will be from October 21 to 24, 2026, in the Coquimbo region, in accordance with Chilean Law No. 17,336 on Intellectual Property, without any payment.

The submitted material will not be returned and will become part of the historical archive of FECILS, a non-profit organization.

All inquiries regarding the rules and application process will be received via email at contacto@fecils.cl with the subject line “FECILS 2026 CALL INQUIRY.”