Author International Film Festival - Festival Internacional De Cine De Autor (9)

Festival start: 20 November 2025      Festival end: 23 November 2025

The FIC AUTOR (Author's International Film Festival) is interested in unique and artistic films that exceed the limits of traditional storytelling. We look for Feature and Short Films that reflect the director's personal creative vision, and a style that is distinct enough to shine through the collective process.

WE ONLY CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU SHOW IN YOUR FILM, how CREATIVE you are and how you tell the story, that's it. We don't care if your film has recognized stars or unknown names, if it was shot with an Arri or a DSLR, if it has been accepted to a thousand festivals or none. We don’t base our decisions regarding your gender, sexual orientation, color of your skin, or ethnicity like other festivals. We are against the politics and bureaucracy that flood the film industry. 100% of the films accepted come from the submissions, we don't invite films. We want to be recognized as an objective festival with a tough competition and the most creative global cinema in our theaters!

We're partners with RAINDANCE Film School MX, so if you're one of our selected filmmakers, you will also screen your film there and have the chance to teach a masterclass in one of the most important film schools in the world and who knows, maybe be spotted by Elliot himself!

The FIC AUTOR will take place in November in Guadalajara, Jalisco, México and Tequila Jalisco. We will present the very best films from around the world, ranging from the most unexpected-creative low budget films from unknown filmmakers, to films made by experienced/well known directors. Mano a mano, this competition is tough! FIC AUTOR will strive to be one of the most important cultural events in the city. We aspire to become an international spotlight for new directors!

In the 7th edition we presented the first Honorary Ring to our 1st guest of honor, the Academy Award nominee actress Yalitza Aparicio ("Rome" dir. Alfonso Cuarón) We will continue inviting interesting talents from different fields.

-The 13 winning Authors will receive the WINNER LAUREL, plus FIC AUTOR trophy or rings.
-WINNERS will be announced one month before the award ceremony, so all the nominated filmmakers can decide beforehand whether they want to travel to the festival.
-The Cineforo is one of the biggest cinema theaters in the city with 440 seats, and is the most prestigious.

CATEGORIES:

Feature Films Categories:
-Fictional Feature Films.
-Documentary Feature Films.
-Experimental Feature Films.
-First-Time Filmmaker.
-Low Budget Feature Films Under 50K USD.
-Mexican Feature Films. (For Mexican directors only)

Medium Length Category:
-Medium Length Films. (Any kind)

Short Films Categories:
-Fictional Short Films.
-Documentary Short Films.
-Experimental Short Films.
-Animated Short Films.
-Mexican Short Films. (For Mexican directors only)
-Cineminuto 1 minute Short Films.

Cash Prizes: 8,800€

ONE FILM CAN BE AWARDED IN SEVERAL CATEGORIES IF IT APPLIES.

AWARDS:

Best Author's film! (The best of the best)
Winner will receive The Author's FICAT Trophy made of silver and semi-precious stones + Sponsor Prizes! (This tropphy could be won by any feature film, fictional, documentary, experimental, animated, etc.)

1- Best Fictional Feature Film.
Winner will receive The Author's FICAT Ring made of 100% silver + Representation to distribute the film in Mexico.

2- Best Documentary Feature Film.
Winner will receive The Author's DOCAT Ring made of 100% silver + Representation to distribute the film in Mexico.

3- Best Experimental Feature Film.
Winner will receive The Author's EXPERIMENCAT Ring made of 100% silver + Representation to distribute the film in Mexico.

4- Best First-Time Filmmaker.
Winner will receive the Author's VIRGINICAT Ring made of 100% silver + Representation to distribute the film in Mexico.

5- Best Low Budget Feature Film Under 250k USD.
Winner will receive the Author's ALLEY-CAT Ring made of 100% silver + Representation to distribute the film in Mexico.

6- Best Feature Film made in México.
Winner will receive the Author's MEXI-CAT Ring made of 100% silver + Representation to distribute the film in Mexico.

7- Best Author's Fictional Short Film.
Winner will receive the Author's FICAT SHORT Ring made of 100% silver.

8- Best Documentary Short Film.
Winner will receive the Author's DOCAT SHORT Ring made of 100% silver.

9- Best Experimental Short Film.
Winner will receive the Author's EXPERIMENCAT SHORT Ring made of 100% silver.

10- Best Animated Short Film.
Winner will receive the Author's ANICAT SHORT Ring made of 100% silver.

11- Best Short Film made in México.
Winner will receive the Author's MEXI-CAT SHORT Ring made of 100% silver.

12- Best Cineminuto – a 1-minute Short Film.
Winner will receive the Author's CLOCKAT Ring made of 100% silver.

13- Best Medium Length Film
Winner will receive the Author's HALF-CAT Ring made of 100% silver.

SPONSORS PRIZES:

InkTip: Where producers go for scripts and writers.

The 3 best films, will receive an InkTip Script Listing to promote themselves and their scripts to InkTip’s entire network of producers, managers, and agents.

Companies who are InkTip members include: ABC, Anonymous Content, APA, CBS Films, HBO Films, ICM, Paradigm, Paramount Pictures, Hallmark Channel, FX, Universal, WME, Echo Lake, Zero Gravity, Bad Robot, 20th Century Fox, and many more.

Producers have made more than 315 films from scripts and writers found through InkTip.

1- We only accept completed films. (No rough cuts)

2- Films can be already accepted or submitted to any other festivals.

3- Filmmaker must own all rights to their film and/or have secured rights.

4- We accept films from everywhere in the world!

5- The feature films must have a duration over 60 minutes.

6- The Medium Length films must have a duration between 30 and 60 minutes.

7- The short films must have a duration under 30 minutes.

8- ALL FILMS (Feature and shorts) MUST HAVE ENGLISH OR SPANISH SUBTITLES.

9- We only accept online entries. We don't accept hard copies.

10- If your film is accepted in the program, we will need a digital copy of your film in H264 codec with SPANISH subtitles. If you don't have Spanish subtitles we can make them for you for a small fee of 0.03 US cents per word.

11- The decision of the Jury is FINAL and can't be appealed.

12- Required Legal Stuff: The filmmaker releases the festival (FIC AUTOR) from any and all liability for damages or destruction of the entered DCP or BLURAY copy. The Filmmaker understands that the entered DCP or BLURAY will be retained in a secure facility by the festival, and every effort will be taken to protect and control the viewing of this production. The festival assumes no liability whatsoever for theft, copyright violations or piracy of the entry.

13- The Film Festival (FIC AUTOR) reserves the complete right to make changes in the program dates and times and to possibly not screen the film, despite its being selected for screening.

14- If the Award Winner can’t pick up his or her prize in person, they must pay for shipping and custom fees.