Levante: Dove L’Oriente Incontra L’Occidente (10)

Festival start: 01 December 2026      Festival end: 13 December 2026

The MOSTRA DEL CINEMA DI TARANTO is organized by the Levante International Film Festival Cultural Association with the collaboration and contribution of public and private institutions and sponsors. ThIS Edition will take place in Taranto, on its territory in the winter 2026 and with online support, with public communication from the management.

2. OBJECTIVES
The MOSTRA DEL CINEMA DI TARANTO is a special event, an occasion for the international world of independent film production to meet and exchange ideas. Its objective is promoting and making a serious contribution for the film’s diffusion produced all over the world, particularly favoring the Mediterranean area and the countries influenced by it. Special focus is given to films that express innovative themes and subjects and that offer a contribution for the research into innovative cinematographic forms and languages.

3. FESTIVAL SECTION
The films in competition (features, shorts, docs) will be selected by a specially constituted committee. They will be chosen among those identified by the Festival Direction and among all those who will apply through the dedicated portals, as well as that of the MOSTRA DEL CINEMA DI TARANTO. Finally, they must have been produced between 2022 and 2026. The number will be no more than thirty (30) and they will enter the Contemporary Section. An International Jury, composed of personalities from the cinema and culture world, will award the Prize, for each of the 3 categories, for Best Film,Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Lead Actor or Actress. There is also an Audience Award who will be able to make their choice both online and in person.

Cash Prizes: 3,000€

PRIZES

The winning film will receive a contribution of € 1,500.00 for the Best Feature Film, € 1,000.00 for the Best Documentary, € 500.00 for the Best Short Film. The winners of these and other categories will receive the symbol trophy of the exhibition. The sums must be intended for the distribution/promotion of the winning works.

a) Registration can be made online, through web portals dedicated to cinema festivals: Festhome.

b) The entry form is downloadable from websites www.mostracinemataranto.com, www.levantefilmfest.com and from Facebook pages Mostra del Cinema di Taranto, Levante International Film Festival or explicitly requested to the email mostracinemataranto@gmail.com.

c) The application form must be fill in all its parts and must indicate the link of the registered work. If the film is not in Italian, it must be with English or Italian subtitles.

Furthermore, the entry form must be furnished, under penalty of exclusion, with the synopsis and dialogue list in English or Italian and a statement of the director, his biography and filmography, cast and credits, actor’s biographies, photographs of the director and the actors, scenes from the movie in black and white and/or colour, in addition a director short commentary of the film and any other documentation that may be useful for the selection of the film.

All must be sent by September 30, 2026.

d) Any submission that does not comply with the rules laid down will not be accepted.

e) To the works selected to participate, under penalty of esclusion, will be required to send, in DVD or in BR or PEN DRIVE format, a copy of the film with italian or english subtitles (if not recited in the english language).

f) Copies of the films selected or not for
the competition will not be returned and will become part of the LevanteInternational Film Festival/Mostra del Cinema di Taranto Archive, open to public consultation, exclusively for research and study reasons, without any commercial purpose.

5. FILM SCREENINGS

a) The program and screening times will be set exclusively by the Festival management. The projections will be made from copies made by the organization downloaded, at the best possible resolution, from the links sent and placed on the hard disk.

b) All selected films will be published on the websites www.mostracinemataranto.com and on Facebook pages Mostra del Cinema di Taranto and Levante International Film Festival by 30 October, 2026.

7. GENERAL RULES

a) All costs of transportation of the film are the responsibility of the proposers.

b) It is the responsibility of the presenter’s insurance costs for the delivery of the works and the accompanying material.

c) By entering the Contest each author is responsible for the content of his works,releasing the Festival management from any liability. The Festivalmanagement can make decisions on matters not provided in this Regulation and to waive the regulation in specific motivated circumstances.

d) The judges' decision is final.

e) The selected works will be publicly viewable online twice just after the live programming. Those entitled must allow the use of their works online with a specific release.

f) The registration of a work at the MOSTRA DEL CINEMA DI TARANTO requires the unconditional acceptance of these regulations, which must be signed at the bottom by the production or distribution manager, as well as attached to the application. The person submitting the work must make the necessary arrangements to any third parties involved in the film broadcast during the festival.

g) The festival management does not assume responsibility for any eventual movement of the Event to another period of 2026 or to the following year, due to force mejeure (pandemic, meteorological events of objective gravity, environmental disaster, etc.), in any case maintaining the characteristics set out in this regulation.

6. PRIZES
The winning film will receive a contribution of € 1,500.00 for the Best Feature Film, € 1,000.00 for the Best Documentary, € 500.00 for the Best Short Film. The winners of these and other categories will receive the symbol trophy of the exhibition. The sums must be intended for the distribution/promotion of the winning works.