Valdeolmos-Alalpardo Film Festival - Enrique Cerezo (2)

Festival start: 20 March 2026      Festival end: 21 March 2026

The VAFF Enrique Cerezo 2026 celebrates its second edition on March 20 and 21. The Valdeolmos-Alalpardo Film Festival is organized by the Valdeolmos-Alalpardo Town Council.

Its main objective is to expand its presence within the short film festival circuit of the Community of Madrid and to increase the participation of short filmmakers from across Spain and abroad, supporting cinema in the short film format.

With the patronage of Enrique Cerezo, one of Spain’s most prominent audiovisual producers, and the support of his companies EGEDA, FlixOlé, Platino Next Gen, and Iberseries, VAFF 2026 aims to become one of the must-attend short film festivals in today’s short film competition landscape.

Festival Award
Gift

II VALDEOLMOS–ALALPARDO FILM FESTIVAL – ENRIQUE CEREZO

Statement of Purpose

The Valdeolmos–Alalpardo Town Council, through its Department of Culture, announces the II Valdeolmos–Alalpardo Film Festival, organized under a system of competitive entry and aimed at promoting and fostering audiovisual creation in the short film format. Its goal is to become a benchmark in this field, stimulating and recognizing creativity as a form of cultural expression, while also supporting the film industry.

The purpose of this call is to grant various awards for audiovisual creation in the short film sector, which shall be governed by the following:

RULES
1. Participants

The Festival is open to creators of any nationality who meet the following requirements:

Natural persons over 18 years of age with tax residence in Spain.

Legal entities legally constituted and domiciled in Spain, whose corporate purpose falls within the scope of activities of the audiovisual sector (production, representation, exhibition, distribution, or teaching), and who hold the rights of exploitation, distribution, or exhibition of the work, or represent the natural person who holds such rights.

2. Rights and Ownership of the Work

Natural or legal persons registering an audiovisual work expressly undertake to comply with the following requirements and obligations:

To hold the rights of exploitation, distribution, or exhibition of the work, including the soundtrack, scripts and texts, voice-overs or subtitles, image rights of persons appearing in the work, and the contributions of camera operators, technicians, directors, screenwriters, costume designers, lighting technicians, or any other contributors, expressly releasing the Valdeolmos–Alalpardo Town Council from any claim by participants or third parties related to the aforementioned rights or any others connected with the work, without any time or territorial limitation. The Town Council reserves the right to request supporting documentation at any stage of the process.

The submitted work must be original in all its contents and must not be a total or partial copy or reproduction of any other work.

If the submitted work contains images of minors, the rights holder guarantees strict compliance with regulations governing the employment of minors in public entertainment and audiovisual activities, expressly releasing the Valdeolmos–Alalpardo Town Council from any related claims.

3. Obligations of Participants

Participants undertake to comply with the following obligations:

To complete registration correctly and within the established deadline, with no limit on the number of short films submitted.

If selected for the final phase, to collaborate—subject to availability—in promotional activities for both their work and any prize obtained, and to participate in events organized for this purpose.

If awarded one or more prizes, winners must include a written reference to the prize obtained at the beginning of all copies distributed for exhibition, as well as in all promotional materials, posters, dossiers, etc. This reference shall include the type of prize awarded and the official Festival laurel provided by the organization.

If the work is selected for the final phase, the director of the short film must attend the Awards Ceremony or, failing that, a member of the production team (actors, actresses, screenwriters, representatives, etc.) in order to collect the award if the work is selected as a winner.

4. Requirements for Short Films

Submitted works must not violate current legislation regarding fundamental human rights, nor include offensive, defamatory, or degrading content, nor obscene, violent, racist, or sexist material that could offend public sensibilities or promote illegal conduct. The Festival Organization, through the Selection Committee, reserves the right to reject works with any of these characteristics.

Works may be presented in any of Spain’s official languages, in both dialogue and narration. Works in languages other than Spanish must include Spanish subtitles. In line with the Town Council’s inclusion policy and with special consideration for the deaf community, Spanish subtitles are recommended for all works.

Short films may belong to any genre, must be original, and may address any subject.

Maximum running time: 15 minutes, including opening and closing credits.

Works must have been produced between January 1, 2023, and the registration submission date.

Works submitted to the first edition of the Festival will not be accepted.

Digital files must meet the following specifications:

File type: .mp4

Video codec: H.264

Audio codec: AAC

Resolution: Preferably Full HD 1920×1080 (minimum 1280×720)

5. Exclusions

As stated in Section 4, the Festival Organization reserves the right to exclude from the selection process any work whose content is obscene, violent, racist, offensive, or sexist, or that violates fundamental human rights.

Any natural or legal person directly related to the organization of the Festival or to any of its members is excluded from participation.

6. Categories and Awards

The Festival comprises the following categories:

Best Short Film Award – trophy + gift

Best Director Award – trophy + gift

Best Actor Award – trophy + gift

Best Actress Award – trophy + gift

Best Screenplay Award – trophy + gift

Best Original Score Award – trophy + gift

Best Cinematography Award – trophy + gift

Audience Award – trophy + gift

Best Health-Themed Short Film Award – trophy + gift

Best Short Film Award for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities, consisting of a trophy + gift.

Best Sports-Themed Short Film Award – trophy + gift

7. General Provisions for Awarding Prizes

The Audience Award will be granted to the work receiving the highest number of votes from spectators during Official Section screenings.

The Organization reserves the right to grant honorable mentions.

Prizes may be cumulative.

In the event of joint awards (ex aequo), the prize will be shared equally among the winners.

8. Selection Committee and Jury

The organization of the contest will be handled by Rocío Doñoro, David Muñoz and the production companies El Destino Producciones and Eleventh Floor.

Selection Committee
Appointed by the Festival Organization and composed of at least five qualified professionals responsible for preselecting finalist and alternate works.

Expert Jury
Composed of at least five recognized film professionals. The Jury will select the winning works from those preselected by the Selection Committee, except for the Audience Award.
Jury decisions are final and not subject to appeal.

The jury’s verdict and the presentation of all awards will take place during the Awards Ceremony, held at the Casa de Cultura – Sala Al Artis in Alalpardo.

9. Evaluation Criteria

Both the Selection Committee and the Jury will assess works based on quality, suitability, and artistic and technical merit.

10. Registration Period and Procedure

Registration will be open from January 7 to February 28, 2026.

Applications will be published simultaneously on:

The official website of the II VAFF – Enrique Cerezo

Festhome

Registration must be completed through the Festhome free submission platform.

11. Exhibition Conditions

Finalist short films will be screened publicly on March 21, 2026, in municipal venues and/or local cinemas, in order to determine the Audience Award.
The Awards Ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 21, 2026.
Award-winning short films will be screened in designated municipal venues.

The Valdeolmos–Alalpardo Town Council reserves the right to screen selected works for cultural, non-profit purposes and to use excerpts for promotional and communication activities, always crediting the author.
For exhibition, dissemination, and promotion within the Festival, authors and/or rights holders expressly authorize the Town Council to use the works for these purposes.

12. Acceptance of the Rules

Participation implies full acceptance of these rules. Failure to comply with any requirement will result in exclusion from the Festival, both from competition and exhibition, if applicable.

13. Legal Relations and Applicable Law

Participation does not create any associative, contractual, commercial, or employment relationship between the Valdeolmos–Alalpardo Town Council and the authors or rights holders.

The Festival Organization is authorized to resolve any issue or doubt that may arise, always in the interest of the proper development of the Festival. Its decisions in this regard shall be final.

Personal data will be processed confidentially in accordance with EU Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR).

Data Controller: Valdeolmos–Alalpardo Town Council

Purpose: Management of grant-related competencies

Legal Basis: Legal obligation and consent of the data subjects

Recipients: No data will be transferred to third parties unless legally required

Rights: Access, rectification, objection, and other rights detailed in additional information

Additional Information: Available on the Town Council website