OPEN FESTIVAL MARSEILLE (4)

Festival start: 16 October 2026      Festival end: 17 October 2026

The "Open Festival Marseille" association is organizing the Open Festival Marseille on Friday, October 16, 2026, at the PATHÉ Joliette cinema and on October 17, 2026, at the PATHÉ Madeleine cinema. This will be the fourth edition of a fiction film festival that is entirely free for the public.

The festival is open to all filmmakers, both amateur and professional. Films will be selected according to three criteria: fiction only, produced after January 1, 2023, and with a running time of 15 minutes or less. (Entry fee: €5 per film)

Five prizes will be awarded: Jury Prize, Audience Award, Coq Award (presented by Pathé), Young Talent Award (presented by film school students), and Club Award (for amateur or self-produced films).

For more information, please visit
https://www.openfestivalmarseille.com

Jury Prize: Cash prize (between €100 and €500) plus prizes offered by our partners.

Audience Award: Cash prize (between €100 and €300) plus prizes offered by our partners.

Young Talent Award: Cash prize (between €100 and €300) plus prizes offered by our partners.

Rooster Award: One month of screening as the opening feature of a film showing at the Pathé Madeleine cinema.

Club Award: Gifts from our partners.

OPEN FESTIVAL MARSEILLE 2026

THE RULES

ARTICLE 1 – ORGANIZATION

The OPEN FESTIVAL MARSEILLE, based in Marseille, is organizing the fourth edition of its film festival, "OPEN FESTIVAL MARSEILLE" (info@openfestivalmarseille.com). The main events for 2026 will take place in Marseille on Friday, October 16th at the PATHÉ Joliette cinema and on Saturday, October 17th at the PATHÉ Madeleine cinema. Admission is free with reservation, subject to availability. The "OPEN FESTIVAL MARSEILLE" is a festival of short fiction films under 15 minutes in French or with French subtitles.


1.Prizes will be awarded, including:The Jury Prize, awarded by a professional jury independent of the OPEN FESTIVAL MARSEILLE organizing body.

2.The Audience Award, awarded by the public after ballot counting.

3.The "Young Talent" Prize, awarded by film students from various institutions.

4.The "Coq" Prize awarded by PATHÉ Cinema Marseille.

5.The "Club" Prize, selected by the association's members, is intended to reward a self-produced film or one directed and produced by a non-profit organization.

The presence of the directors or their representatives whose films have been selected is strongly encouraged. A flat-rate allowance may be granted. Between screenings, time will be allotted for meetings and discussions between professionals, directors, actors, and the public.

ARTICLE 2 – CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

•Fiction films only

•Maximum film length: 15 minutes, including credits.

•French-language films or films in their original language with subtitles produced after January 1, 2023. Films with subtitles deemed to be of poor quality will not be considered.

•Registration deadline: April 30, 2026.

•Participation in the Festival is open to all: professionals, film students, videographer associations, amateurs, etc. Minors must include parental consent.

•An author may submit several films, but only two films will be selected for the final round.

•The organizers prefer that, whenever possible, films not have been previously made freely available on the internet.

•A technical and artistic statement may be requested.

•Each submitted film must be registered on the website https://www.openfestivalmarseille.com/inscription or on one of the following short film festival registration platforms : Festhome.

•For the selection committee to view the films, they must be accessible on a dedicated platform (festhome). The director will provide the link and, if applicable, the password. They also agree to provide their personal phone number or that of the rights holder to address any potential viewing issues.

•Any use of artificial intelligence tools in the film's creation (image, sound, script, editing, etc.) must be clearly indicated during registration. The festival reserves the right to request further information if necessary. Failure to declare or any misleading declaration may result in the film's exclusion from the selection.


ARTICLE 3 – REGISTRATION FEE

•The registration fee is €5 per film submitted for selection. Registration is considered complete only upon receipt of full payment.

•Payment is made at the time of film submission via the registration platform. If the film is submitted directly to the festival website, payment is made according to the terms specified on the registration page.

•Registration fees will not be refunded if a film is not selected or if its creator withdraws it. Only the cancellation of the Festival by its organizing committee will, if applicable, give rise to a refund of registration fees.


ARTICLE 4 – FILM SELECTION PROCEDURES

•The selection committee is composed of members of the OPEN FESTIVAL MARSEILLE Association and various stakeholders from the film, multimedia, and cultural sectors. Its decisions are final and cannot be appealed.

•All participants agree, if selected, that their film will be screened free of charge by the Festival during public screenings throughout the Festival.

•The directors whose film(s) are selected will be notified by email during the first two weeks of June 2026. They will then need to reply to the email with a brief synopsis of their film, a poster in JPEG format (300 DPI), and an HD version of their film for archiving purposes.

•Only the list of selected films will be published on our website on June 30th.

•The selected films must be submitted to us in DCP SMPTE (JPEG 2000) and "scope" format and comply with the EBU R99 standard regarding sound level, no later than July 10, 2026. (downloadable file, hard drive or USB key returned to the filmmakers present).


ARTICLE 5 – ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE FESTIVAL

•All participants agree to comply with image rights regulations and the use of borrowed music, sounds, or images.

•All participants agree to allow the organizers to use a few seconds (less than 60 seconds) of their film for promotional purposes related to the Festival.

•All participants declare that they are the rightful owners of the distribution, reproduction, and performance rights for their film. If the submitted film includes pre-existing works, they also declare that they have the authorization and/or exploitation rights.

•After the official announcement of the selection, no film may be withdrawn from the festival program.

•The organizers accept no responsibility in the event of any problems with the distribution of a film.

•The Festival is solely authorized to resolve any issues not covered by these regulations and to grant exceptions.

•Participation in the festival implies unreserved acceptance of the terms of these regulations.

•The Festival reserves the right to modify, extend, or cancel this Festival if circumstances require. It cannot be held liable in this regard.

•The organizing committee of the OPEN FESTIVAL MARSEILLE reserves the right to publish the list of selected films on social media, in print media, on radio, television channels, on websites, and with its partners.

These regulations comprise 5 articles, all of which are accepted by the participants.