Festival de Málaga (29)

Festival start: 06 March 2026      Festival end: 15 March 2026

1. OBJECTIVES

The objectives of Festival de Malaga are to disseminate and promote Spanish films and their general cultural sphere. In this sense, the Festival is also a platform for Latin American film productions. Its functions include hosting an event for the different professional sectors of films in Spanish (construed as films produced in Spain and all of Latin America, including Brazil) to boost their development and promote international sales.

Festival de Málaga is recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers' Associations (FIAPF) (www.fiapf.org).

In compliance with these objectives, the 29th Edition of Festival de Málaga will be held from 6th to 15 th March 2026.

Cash Prizes: 56,000€

FEATURE FILMS OFICIAL COMPETITION

• Gold Biznaga for the BEST SPANISH FILM (*) with a cash prize 8,000 Euros
• Gold Biznaga for the BEST LATIN AMERICAN FILM with a cash prize of 8,000 Euros
• Silver Biznaga SPECIAL JURY AWARD
• Silver Biznaga for BEST DIRECTING
• Silver Biznaga for BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
• Silver Biznaga for BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
• Silver Biznaga for BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
• Silver Biznaga for BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
• Silver Biznaga for BEST SCREENPLAY
• Silver Biznaga for BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
• Silver Biznaga for BEST PHOTOGRAPHY
• Silver Biznaga for BEST FILM EDITING
• Silver Biznaga AUDIENCE AWARD (**)

OFFICIAL SECTION FEATURE FILMS OUT OF COMPETITION

• Silver Biznaga AUDIENCE AWARD for BEST FEATURE FILM (**)

ZONAZINE COMPETITION

• Silver Biznaga for BEST SPANISH FILM (*) with a cash prize of 4,000 Euros
• Silver Biznaga for BEST LATIN AMERICAN FILM with a cash prize of 4,000 Euros
• Silver Biznaga for BEST DIRECTING
• Silver Biznaga for BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
• Silver Biznaga for BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
• Silver Biznaga AUDIENCE AWARD (**)



DOCUMENTARIES COMPETITION

• Silver Biznaga for BEST DOCUMENTARY with cash prize of 4,000 euros
• Silver Biznaga for BEST DIRECTING
• Silver Biznaga SPECIAL JURY AWARD
• Silver Biznaga for AUDIENCE AWARD (*)

(*) The Organizers shall determine which films are to be considered Spanish depending on the degree of participation of Spanish production in the film.

FICTION SHORT FILMS COMPETITION

• Silver Biznaga for BEST SHORT FILM with cash prize of 2,000 euros
• Silver Biznaga for BEST DIRECTING
• Silver Biznaga for BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
• Silver Biznaga for BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
• Silver Biznaga AUDIENCE AWARD (**)


ANIMATED SHORT FILMS COMPETITION

• Silver Biznaga for BEST SHORT FILM with cash prize of 2,000 euros
• Silver Biznaga AUDIENCE AWARD (**)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS COMPETITION

• Silver Biznaga for BEST SHORT FILM with cash prize of 2,000 euros
• Silver Biznaga AUDIENCE AWARD (**)


MALAGA SHORT FILMS COMPETITION

The short films not included in the final selection of the previous categories produced by companies located in the province of Malaga and/or directed by directors born or currently
residing in the province of Malaga may be selected and programmed in the category ‘Malaga Short Films ', competing for the following awards:

• Silver Biznaga for BEST FICTION SHORT FILM with a cash prize of 2,000 euros
• Silver Biznaga AUDIENCE Award (**)

CINEMA COCINA COMPETITION

• Silver Biznaga for BEST FILM with a cash prize of 4,000 euros
• Silver Biznaga for BEST SHORT FILM with cash prize of 2,000 euros
• Silver Biznaga AUDIENCE AWARD for BEST FILM (**)
• Silver Biznaga AUDIENCE AWARD for BEST SHORT FILM (**)


MOSAICO INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

• Silver Biznaga AUDIENCE AWARD for BEST FILM with a cash prize of 8,000 euros

All films in Mosaico International Panorama section are candidates for an Audience Award destined to the film's distributor in Spain, which will be gived by the spectators who are attending the first screening of the film.

AMERICA, AMERICA SECTION

A total of 2,000 euros is to be given to the production companies of each film in this section, to contribute towards production costs and to promote future audiovisual projects of a similar nature.


(**) AUDIENCE AWARD: The Audience Award, in all the categories in which it is awarded, will be made at the first screenings of each film according to the votes cast by the audience attending screening.
This rule will not apply in the Official Feature Film Section, which will result from an average decision (50%) between a popular jury constituted for this purpose by the organisation, and the audience vote (whose score will also be the average of the votes cast), in the Cinema Cocina Section, which will be awarded by a popular jury, and in the Official Documentary Section, which has its own university jury for this purpose.

2. SECTIONS

FEATURE FILMS, ZONAZINE AND DOCUMENTARIES COMPETITION

Fiction or animated feature films or documentaries from Spain or Latin American countries produced after the 1st of January 2025 that have not been commercially released on a regular basis in public cinemas, video, television or at an audiovisual event in Spain or on VOD (video on demand) platforms.

The selection committee reserves the exclusive right to determine the inclusion of a work in the Official Section of Feature Films in Competition or in the Official Section ZONAZINE, the latter oriented to more avant-garde and authorial proposals, and with a clear artistic intention.

SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Short films shall not last more than 30 minutes.

- SPANISH FICTION OR ANIMATED SHORT FILMS
Spanish fiction or animated short films produced after the 1st of January 2025 that have not been commercially released in public cinemas, video, television or on VOD (video on demand) platforms in Spain.

The selection committee shall choose the section in which the selected short films are to participate: SHORT FILMS OFFICIAL COMPETITION (FICTION or ANIMAZINE), or MALAGA SHORT FILMS OFFICIAL COMPETITION (only for short films that have been produced by companies located in the province of Malaga and/or directed by directors born or currently residing in the province of Malaga).

- DOCUMENTARIES SHORT FILMS COMPETITION
Documentary short films with Spanish or Latin American production and/or subject, produced after the 1st of January 2025 that have not been commercially released in public cinemas, video or television in Spain.

DOCUMENTARIES (FULL LENGTH AND SHORT FILMS) CINEMA COCINA COMPETITION

Documentary feature films and short films related to gastronomy are eligible, including productions that address sectors directly or indirectly related to this discipline.
Both films must be Spanish or from Latin American countries, made after 1st January 2025 and not commercially released in cinemas, on television, at audiovisual events in Spain or on VOD (video on demand) platforms.

Short films must not exceed 30 minutes in duration.

MOSAICO: INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA COMPETITION (films selected directly by the festival)

Selection of international feature films made after January 1st, 2025 unreleased in Spain, which have been critically acclaimed and/or awarded at other international festivals.

AMERICA, AMERICA SECTION:

A selection of feature films of any genre showcasing the richness and cultural diversity of indigenous and rural communities across the American continent (see the America, America Section Call for Entries).

SERIES (TV series selected directly by the festival)

A selection of Spanish TV series produced after 1 January 2025 that have not premiered in Spain.




3. SUBMISSION GENERAL RULES

Submissions for the 29th edition of the Festival de Málaga can only be made via the FESTHOME website (www.festhome.com) before the following deadlines:

November 8th 2025
• Full-length documentary films
• Fiction, animated or documetary short films
• Cinema Cocina (full length and short films)
• America, America

December 15th 2025
• Full-length fiction films

Films that do not comply with these instructions shall be excluded from the selection process.

Instructions to correctly complete the registration process for the Festival de Malaga through FESTHOME

For the registration of a work to be valid, it is essential to follow all the steps of the process:

1. Register on the FESTHOME platform (or log in if you already have an account).
2. Register the film on the platform, including all the required data and the viewing link.
3. Finalize the registration by selecting the Festival de Malaga within FESTHOME.

- To do so, access the festival search engine on the platform and locate the Festival de Malaga.
- Choose the category in which you wish to participate.
- Click on "Submit" to complete the process effectively.

*Important:
The simple uploading of the film in FESTHOME is not equivalent to an entry in Festival de Malaga.
The participation will only be valid if all the above mentioned requirements have been fulfilled.

If you have any doubts, please consult the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) at www.festivaldemalaga.com.

During the registration and/or selection process and due to Festival de Malaga commitment to parity and to support the presence of women in film production, we will request that the gender of the participants in the projects be indicated in order to prepare statistics with reliable and real data that will allow us to know the degree of participation of women in the audiovisual field.


SELECTED FILMS REQUIREMENTS

The invitation made to each film selected by the Festival de Malaga will remain strictly confidential between the Festival and the producers or representatives of the invited film until such time as the Festival decides to make an official announcement in this regard.

Once a film has been selected by the Festival for any of its sections and once the rightholder has accepted the selection, it cannot be withdrawn. Furthermore, the films selected shall not compete, be screened or submitted to participate in other Spanish festivals or similar events prior to being screened in Malaga.
This last prohibition shall not be applied to short films in any section.
Likewise, said production/distribution company undertakes that representatives of the technical and/or artistic team of the audiovisual selected will attend its official screening at Festival de Malaga. In this case, the Festival is empowered to remove it from the corresponding Official Selection if this obligation is not fulfilled.
All films selected for the 29th edition will receive a certificate of participation from Festival de Malaga management.
Registration of a film to compete in the 29th edition of the Festival de Malaga entails full acceptance of and compliance with these Participation Regulations and possible appendices.

PROGRAMMING AND SCREENING RIGHTS

Throughout the duration of the Festival, no film entered in any of the sections may be screened more than a total of 5 screenings including the screening(s) reserved for journalists. In this respect, production companies shall assign the rights for the public screening of their films for the duration of the Festival at no cost for the latter and exempted
from payment of exhibition fees. For any additional screenings, the festival must obtain a prior written authorisation from the producer or alternatively, from his appointed representative.

The person in charge for the film entry form, hereby declares to have the reproduction, exhibition and dissemination rights for its commercial use in order to participate in Festival de Malaga.

Malaga Procultura disclaims any liability for the falsity, inaccuracy or imprecission of any of this data.

Likewise,the signatory expressly declares to have all the licenses, authorizations and administrative permits required for the peaceful participation in the Festival, committing to observe all the administrative formalities required by the applicable regulations in force.

Málaga Procultura recognises the person who signs this form as the sole representative in negotiating all aspects related to participation of the film in the event, and as the sole responsible as opposed to other companies or individuals to have participated in producing the film.

VERSIONS
All the screening copies of the audiovisuals selected in the different sections of the Festival will be presented in their original version:

- With Spanish subtitles, if the original version of the film is not in this language (totally or partially).
- With English subtitles, if the original version is in Spanish.

If the original version of the film is in any of the co-official languages of the Spanish State or in other languages, these must be subtitled in Spanish or English.
In these cases, the Festival will carry out, at its own expense, an additional electronic subtitling in the missing language after sending the list of subtitles in a file (online and downloadable) that will be exclusively for internal and confidential use.
The screening of this electronic subtitling will be carried out by the Festival's subtitling company.

Failure to comply with this condition may lead to the disqualification of the selected work.

SCREENING FORMATS
The screening copy for films selected must be submitted in DCP (Digital Cinema Package), together with a security copy.


DCP screening copies must comply with DCI standards, and will be kept by the Festival de Malaga until the Festival's last programmed screening finalises. Furthermore, the company that registered the film selected must certify that the copy works properly (audio/video synchronisation, colour, etc.) having tested it before shipment. Said company must also provide necessary KDMs to the technical department (with a minimum leeway of availability 48-hour before the screening and 24-hour after), assuming the costs arising from generating the KDMs and management of new KDMs (or DKDMs) if necessary.

The Festival reserves the right to no accept copies which, as a result of necessary technical verifications, are not deemed appropriate for screening, submitting a technical report in that regard to the film's representatives and requesting a new copy.

COPIES CIRCULATION
Selected films must send the DCP prior January 23rd 2026 choose out one of these methods:
• Physical shipment of the DCP together with a digital file that can be used as a backup copy.
Payment of shipping expenses (transport and insurance policy) arising from sending a copy of each film selected in any of the Festival sections from the place of shipment to the Festival's copy warehouse, shall be on account of the production companies.

For participating films, production companies must provide the Festival, prior January 23rd 2026, with screening copies, informing the Organisers of the date of shipment of the copies and the means of transport used.

All copies of participating films must indicate the information needed to return them. All copies will be returned within a deadline of fifteen days following the end of the Festival.

Payment of the transport expenses to return the copies of the films shall be on account of the Festival.

The insurance policy taken out by the Festival covers the risks of fire, loss, theft, damage and destruction of the copy for the period of time ranging from arrival at the Festival and return to the return address specified. The deadline to file any claim in respect to a copy shall be three months as of the date of return.

• Digital sending of the DCP to an FTP enabled for such use by the Festival. In this case, the DCP must be hosted uncompressed, not accepting ZIP or RAR files before January 23rd 2026. In addition to the DCP, a digital file must also be hosted as a backup, in H264, no larger than 50 GB, with subtitles (SRT) in English and Spanish and with a minimum resolution of full HD.

The Organization will destroy these files at the end of the edition.
Once the Copy Management Department has been informed of this method of sending the files (always before January 23rd 2026), the FTP access data will be provided.


In the event that a technical viewing during the festival in the auditorium is required, it can be requested before February 11th via email: gestiondecopias@malagaprocultura.com . After this date, technical viewings cannot be requested.

4. JURIES AND AWARDS

JURIES
The Board of Directors of the Festival, whose decisions cannot be appealed and do not have to be justified, shall designate the juries for the different sections in competition.
No person with an interest in the production, distribution or any other type of exploitation or participation in the films selected for the competition shall form part of the juries of the different sections in competition.

The juries of the different categories may grant, together with official awards, up to two special mentions for each category.

No award for any category shall be declared void, and no award entailing a cash prize shall be granted ex aequo. In the case of awards that do not include a cash prize, the juries of the different categories may grant a maximum of two ex aequo awards.

The awards for all categories cannot be declared void, and awards entailing a cash prize cannot be granted ex aequo. In the case of awards without a cash prize, the juries of the different categories may grant a maximum of two ex aequo awards.

The Juries of the different sections in competition undertake to not publicly express their considerations regarding the selection of the films for which they are expected to vote.

The Board of Directors of the Festival de Malaga may be present, with the right to participate but not vote, at the deliberations and announcements of the different juries.

PAYMENT OF PRIZES AND AWARD WINNING FILMS COMMITMENTS

For all categories, except in MOSAICO INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA section (in which payment is destined to the distribution company in Spain), the cash prize of the awards will be paid to the producer subject to presentation of a certificate showing that the film has been shown at another festival or audio-visual event in 2026 following its screening at the Festival de Malaga, or if fitting, indicating that the film has been screened at commercial cinemas. Said certificate will state that the corporate image (logo and name) of the Festival de Malaga appears at the beginning of the film, together with express reference to the award obtained.

This exhibition requirement is not applicable to the sections Malaga Short Films, Cinema Cocina, Mosaico International Panorama and America, America.

In the event that several producers participate in the financing of a film, the cash prizes shall be paid to the production company with the largest share of financing (which shall act as the representative of the production partnership), subject to submitting authorization from the other production companies for that purpose.

The cash prizes of the awards shall be subject to withholdings established by legislation in force at the time of payment by the Festival organization, and in any case shall be deemed to be included in the cash prize of said awards.

The production companies must send to the Festival de Malaga one copy (digital file, download link) of the award-winning films, including the written reference of the award received, as a prerequisite for the payment of the prizes contemplated in these Regulations.

The production and/or distribution companies of award-winning feature films, short films and documentaries must include a written reference to said award at the beginning of every single copy of the film they distribute for screening at commercial cinemas, at other film events, television or VOD (video on demand) platforms, and in all the printed information and promotion material (press-books, posters, etc.). Said reference shall consist of a text with the award granted, accompanied with the corporate image (logo and name) of the Festival de Malaga, which shall be provided together with the rules of use by the Festival organization.

The Festival organization reserves the right to include in its archives a copy of the award-winning films for non-profit cultural screenings. In order to carry out these additionalscreenings, the festival must obtain a prior written authorization from the producers of the films.

IMAGE COMPENSATION

Participation in any of the sections of Festival de Malaga shall allow for the production/distribution companies to include, in the heading of the films, the Festival's logo with the indication 29th Edition. Said logo and indication can also be included in all insertions in written media.
For the correct inclusion of the logo, which in no case may be altered or adapted, please read the Festival's style manual at www.festivaldemalaga.com or, in case of doubt, contact with the organization.
Likewise, prizes in cash granted to films shall entail correct compliance of the public image compensations specified in the section "Obligations of award-winning films", which must be satisfied in order to have said payments validated by Festival de Malaga.

CATALOGUE AND DOCUMENTATION

Once an audiovisual is confirmed to participate in the festival, an online form will be sent exclusively for each film that must be completed with the contents required for its programming.
The documentation requested by the Festival for the official catalogue, programme guide and website (synopsis, filmography, artistic and technical credits, photos of the director, trailer, etc.) shall be taken from the online registration form, which must be filled out prior to January 23rd for all categories.


PRESS AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL

The Festival's Department of Publications shall contact the respective production and/or distribution companies of the films selected to specify all the material they must send, which will be available for the press and accredited entities on the website's "Press Room".

The production and/or distribution companies of the selected feature films, short films and documentaries authorize, upon acceptance of their participation, the use of one or more fragments of their title for dissemination as informative material in any media.

ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS

These participation regulations may be supplemented or modified by means of any number of appendices the Organisers deem appropriate prior to the date on which the 29th Edition of the Festival de Malaga.


The right to interpret these Regulations shall correspond exclusively to the Festival's Board of Directors.


5. CONTACT
FESTIVAL DE MALAGA
DEPARTAMENTO DE INSCRIPCIONES
Teatro Cervantes
C/ Ramos Marín S/N. 29012. Malaga (España)
T. (+34) 952 224 109
inscripciones@festivaldemalaga.com
www.festivaldemalaga.com
www.malagaprocultura.com