Cinefantasy - International Fantastic Film Festival (16)

Festival start: 02 September 2025      Festival end: 07 September 2025

Welcome to the 16th Cinefantasy!

We created CINEFANTASY – INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL to encourage, discuss, and promote fantastic cinema and its universe. Over fifteen editions, we have presented 1,500 films, held more than 100 educational activities, received 8,000 film submissions, and attracted an audience of over 90,000 people.

Now, in 2025, the 16th CINEFANTASY arrives in São Paulo from September 2 to 7, bringing a vibrant program with competitive screenings, special exhibitions, and immersive experiences for all genre lovers.

Come be enchanted, surprised, and celebrate this magical and extraordinary universe with us!

The trophies will be given only to the top prizes of each competitive.

Each qualified jury of the 15th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL will choose the winners of the following prizes:

Fiction Feature Film
a) Best Film
b) Best Feature film by the Popular Jury
c) Best Screenplay
d) Best Direction
e) Best Actress
f) Best Actor

Documentary Feature Film
a) Best Film

Short film
a) Best Film Amateur Session
b) Best Film Animation Session
c) Best Film Fantasteen Session
d) Best Film Fantastic Black Power Session
e) Best Film Fantastic Brazil Session
f) Best Film Fantastic Diversity Session
g) Best Film Fantastic Little Ones Session
h) Best Film Fantastic Spain
i) Best Film Fantastic Women Session
j) Best Film Fantasy Session
k) Best Film Horror Session
l) Best Film Science Fiction Session
m) Best Film Student Session
n) Best Film by the Popular Jury

16th CINEFANTASY
INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL

FLY COW PRODUÇÕES CULTURAIS presents the 16th edition of the festival, to be held from September 2 to 7, 2025 in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

With open submissions from November 30, 2024 to April 30, 2025.

REGULATION

I. ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

1. The 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL will accept films submitted by professional or non-professional directors, producers and/or distributors only.

2. The 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL submission implies acceptance that the film sent by the applicant, if selected by the curatorship, will be shown on the schedule from September 2 to 7, 2025, by the organization criteria.

3. The selected films for the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL may have short clips used, by the organization criteria, to promote the event in media venues, graphic material and on the website www.cinefantasy.com.br.

4. The applicants must guarantee that they are the holder of all the film rights, or have the holder's power of attorney.

5. The organization will not be responsible for any legal adversities regarding the submitted films.

6. Directors, producers, and distributors who submit films to the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL will be responsible for all licenses, permissions, rights, and permits there are or may be necessary for the film exhibition at the festival.

II. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. The 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL submission period is from Novembrer 30, 2024 to April 30, 2025.

2. The submission must be made with a link of the film hosted on an online video platform such as YouTube, Vimeo or similar. In case of a private link, the applicant must provide the necessary password to watch the film. The organization will not accept download links such as WeTransfer or similar.

3. Foreign language films must be subtitled in Portuguese, english or Spanish.

4. There is no limit to the number of films that can be submitted by Directors, Producers and/or Distributors.

5. The 2025 edition of the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL splits into the following competitive sessions:

5a. FICTION FEATURE FILM COMPETITION - films captured in any format, produced in the last 24 months and unreleased at Film Festivals held in the State of São Paulo - Brazil.

5b. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM COMPETITION - films captured in any format, produced in the last 24 months and unreleased at Film Festivals held in the State of São Paulo - Brazil.

5c. SHORT FILM COMPETITION - films captured in any format, produced in the last 24 months, with maximum 20 minutes length and unreleased at Film Festivals held in the State of São Paulo - Brazil, that may be submitted in the following categories:

a) ANIMATION COMPETITIVE SESSION
b) FANTASTEEN COMPETITIVE SESSION
c) FANTASTIC BLACK POWER COMPETITIVE SESSION
d) FANTASTIC DIVERSITY COMPETITIVE SESSION (LGBTQIAP+)
e) FANTASTIC LITTLE ONES COMPETITIVE SESSION
f) FANTASTIC SPAIN COMPETITIVE SESSION
g) FANTASTIC WOMEN COMPETITIVE SESSION
h) FANTASY COMPETITIVE SESSION
i) HORROR COMPETITIVE SESSION
j) SCIENCE FICTION COMPETITIVE SESSION
k) AMATEUR COMPETITIVE SESSION (Brazilian residents only)
l) FANTASTIC BRAZIL COMPETITIVE SESSION (Brazilian residents only)
m) STUDENT COMPETITIVE SESSION (Brazilian residents only)

5d. Sessions definition:

a) ANIMATION - session dedicated to all the animation techniques, from stop-motion to 3D.
b) FANTASTEEN - film session for teenage audience.
c) FANTASTIC - session for black filmmakers.
d) FANTASTIC DIVERSITY - LGBTQIAP+ themed film session.
e) FANTASTIC LITTLE ONES - session for children's audience from 5 years old.
f) FANTASTIC SPAIN - Spanish film session.
g) FANTASTIC WOMEN - session with films directed exclusively by women.
h) FANTASY - session with films of supernatural phenomena in imaginary worlds.
i) HORROR - film session of the horror subgenres: psychological, slash, gore, spiritual and the new horror.
j) SCIENCE FICTION - session dedicated to speculative fiction related to the future, science and technology, with their impacts and/or consequences.
k) AMATEUR - session made for non-professional Brazilian productions, produced by individuals, not producing companies.
l) FANTASTIC BRAZIL - Brazilian film session.
m) STUDENT COMPETITIVE - session of films made by Brazilian students of technical courses or higher education courses in the fields of cinema, radio and TV, audiovisual and communication.

6. For the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL competitive sessions of feature films and short films, only will be accepted works produced in the last 24 months, unreleased in Film Festivals held in the state of São Paulo - Brazil, whose theme is fantastic* (horror, science fiction or fantasy), which may be from the fiction, animation or documentary category, whether in terms of narrative content or the language and way of narrating with fantastic genre tools.

6a. Definition of fantastic film: stories that have supernatural elements, that are not real or produce doubts as to their nature, or that tangency issues of ancestry, spirituality and other cosmologies, folklores and origin myths and cosmogonies of native peoples, such as indigenous peoples and quilombolas.

7. Films screened in previous editions of the event cannot join the selection of the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL.

8. By registering, the applicant will accept all the rules of the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL.

III. SELECTION

1. The Chief Curator will appoint and coordinate the curatorships of each of the competitive sessions.

2. At least 36 short films and 10 feature films will be selected to integrate the competitive sessions of the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL.

3. The Curatorship will use the technical and artistic qualities as criteria to select the films.

4. The selected ones will be informed by email until July 31th, 2025, to provide any additional documentation if necessary.

5. The following documentation must be sent as soon as possible:

5a. Promotional material such as photos, posters, press-books, etc. All materials must be sent in high definition, so the film can be promoted. The 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL reserves the right to not return these materials. The acceptance of participation implies permission to use the names of the directors and the promotional materials for advertising and promotion purposes without any additional compensation.

5b. For foreign films, the applicant must send to the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL the list of dialogues with timecode in english, Spanish or Portuguese. For Portuguese language films, if available, a copy with Spanish subtitles is requested.

6. The organization will establish the schedule to show the selected films. No film selected will have more than 02 (two) screenings during the competitive sessions.

7. The selected films may be chosen to participate in special sessions and retrospectives in other festivals or events to promote the CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL.

IV. awards

1. The organization will appoint a three-member qualified jury to evaluate the feature films, and thirteen three-member qualified juries to evaluate the short films in competitive sessions at the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL.

2. Each qualified jury of the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL will choose the winners of the following prizes:

2a. Fiction Feature Film
a) Best Film
b) Best Feature film by the Popular Jury
c) Best Screenplay
d) Best Direction
e) Best Actress
f) Best Actor

2b. Documentary Feature Film
a) Best Film

2c. Short film
a) Best Film Amateur Session
b) Best Film Animation Session
c) Best Film Fantasteen Session
d) Best Film Fantastic Black Power Session
e) Best Film Fantastic Brazil Session
f) Best Film Fantastic Diversity Session
g) Best Film Fantastic Little Ones Session
h) Best Film Fantastic Spain
i) Best Film Fantastic Women Session
j) Best Film Fantasy Session
k) Best Film Horror Session
l) Best Film Science Fiction Session
m) Best Film Student Session
n) Best Film by the Popular Jury

3. Each qualified jury will decide the winners of each category by the following criteria: concept, execution, technical and artistic excellence, originality and innovation. The jury may grant special mentions.

4. Decisions will be taken by an absolute majority of the jury.

5. The decisions of the qualified jury are unappealable.

6. The categories of Best Feature Film and Best Short Film by the popular jury will be chosen by counting the ballots distributed to spectators before each competitive session, and their votes will be counted according to the weighted mean. The film that receives the highest percentage of votes will be the winner of the award.

7. In the event of a tie in any category, the qualified jury will decide the winner of the award observing the highest score in the following order as a tie-breaking criterion: technical and artistic excellence, originality.

8. The winner of each category will be announced at the closing ceremony and later on the Cinefantasy website, social media and/or email.

V. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The organization will NOT be responsible for the transportation, accommodation and food supply in order to grant that the selected applicants can follow the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL activities.

2. The organization will not be responsible for any loss or damage of any nature to people or properties, whether those are directly or indirectly linked to the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL.

3. The organization reserves the right to modify the dates, bases and conditions of the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL as long as there is a reason.

4. The organization reserves the right to mediate and to decide any uncertainty or complaint from the beginning to the end of the 16th CINEFANTASY - INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL.

5. The decisions of the Organization are unappealable.


Eduardo Santana
Filippo Pitanga
Monica Trigo
Organizers
CINEFANTASY – INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL