Festival Eszena (2)

Festival start: 18 April 2026      Festival end: 25 April 2026

ESZENA is the Young Film Festival of Aragón, with a distinctly Aragonese identity and a national impact. It is a meeting point for young people, by young people, which seeks to focus on the new voices, those who in the future will carry the weight of the industry on their shoulders in Spain.

A festival to award and showcase emerging talent in cinema, both in front of and behind the cameras. At the same time, it serves as a platform to generate a network of talent for the future of cinema in the country.

ESZENA is a film festival held between the months of March and April. The 2026 edition will be its second edition with an official selection. ESZENA screens short films directed and scripted by young people, granting awards in technical categories such as cinematography, art direction, acting, etc.

At ESZENA, we provide opportunities and spaces for new young filmmakers and creatives. We are creating a much-needed space in Aragón. We are showcasing the new cinema. BEFORE IT HAPPENS.

Cash Prizes: 1,000€

The Eszena Jury, comprised of audiovisual sector professionals, will be responsible for granting the prizes specified below.

OFFICIAL SECTION PRIZES The following awards are established for the Official Section of the Eszena 2026 Festival: ESZENA AWARD (BEST SHORT FILM) BEST ARAGONESE SHORT FILM AWARD YOUTH JURY AWARD BEST DIRECTION BEST SCREENPLAY BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY BEST YOUNG FEMALE PERFORMANCE BEST YOUNG MALE PERFORMANCE BEST COSTUME DESIGN BEST ART DIRECTION BEST POSTER BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK AUDIENCE AWARD

FINANCIAL ENDOWMENT Certain prize categories will have a financial endowment which will be established and announced by the Organizing Company. Said amounts will be subject to legally established tax withholdings, which will be applied by ASOCIACIÓN COLECTIVO Z in accordance with current legislation. Categories without an associated financial endowment will receive an honorary recognition or trophy.

AGE REQUIREMENT FOR NOMINEES The Eszena Festival aims to promote young talent. By virtue of this objective, individuals holding the following awarded roles must be between the ages of 18 and 30 YEARS at the time of the short film's production completion:

Director, Screenwriter, Cinematographer, Costume Designer, Art Director, Poster Designer, Original Soundtrack Composer, Actors and Actresses proposed for the Young Performance categories.

For the Best Young Female Performance and Best Young Male Performance categories, the performer's age must be between 16 and 30 YEARS at the time of production completion.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE RULING The irrevocable ruling of the Eszena Jury and the announcement of the winners will be made public at the ESZENA 2026 FESTIVAL CLOSING GALA.

LEGAL BASES OFFICIAL SECTION ESZENA 2026 FESTIVAL

ORGANIZING COMPANY

ASOCIACIÓN COLECTIVO Z with Tax ID G56439284 and address at Calle Antonio Leyva 17 2ºB organizes the short film festival Festival Eszena.

RULES OF PARTICIPATION

The festival is open to the participation of natural or legal persons of any nationality, provided that in the case of a natural person, they are between 18 and 30 years old. As for the short films, the age of the director(s) and screenwriter(s) at the time of production completion must have been between 18 and 30 years. Short films must have finished production after January 1, 2022, and must not have been selected in previous editions of this festival. The number of short films each participant can submit to the competition is unlimited. Short films within the videoclip category are not permitted. Short films in which any member of the Screening Committee, the Selection Committee, or the Eszena Jury has participated are expressly excluded from the competition.

REGISTRATION PROCESS

The festival has a single channel for submitting short films, which is done in two mandatory steps: Deposit the short film and technical data on the FESTHOME platform. Complete the formal registration on the official Festival Eszena website. Any registration that has not completed both steps within the deadline will not be considered valid.

CONTACT FOR QUESTIONS

Any questions or inquiries related to this call must be directed exclusively to the following email address: convocatoria.eszena@colectivoz.com.

DURATION OF SHORT FILMS

Short films must have a maximum duration of 30 minutes (30').

LANGUAGE

Regardless of the short film's original language, it is essential that it contains Spanish subtitles. If the original language is Spanish, it must have Spanish subtitles, to improve accessibility.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE

The call for the reception of short films will be open from Monday, October 3, 2025, until Sunday, February 1, 2026, at 23:59 (Spanish peninsular time). Short films submitted after this deadline will not be accepted.

VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY AND NOMINATIONS

Clarification Note: Only the director(s) and screenwriter(s) must mandatorily meet the age requirement (18 to 30 years) for the short film to be accepted into the competition. The following information is requested only to evaluate the possibility of nomination for specific age-limited categories (Technical and Young Performance Awards). Before the official selection, and in order to evaluate the possibilities of nomination for age-limited categories, the festival organization will contact the short film's representative. They will be asked to provide the names and dates of birth of the people who hold the following roles at the time of production completion: Director, Screenwriter, Cinematographer, Costume Designer, Art Director, Poster Designer, Original Soundtrack Composer, Actors and Actresses proposed for the Young Performance categories. This information is necessary to determine whether or not these individuals are nominable, according to the age ranges established in the Awards section.

SELECTION AND NOMINATIONS

A Screening Committee and a Selection Committee formed by members of Colectivo Z will be responsible for selecting the short films that will be part of the Official Section of the Eszena Festival. The organization will contact the selected short films on March 9, 2026. The organization will communicate the final nominations on March 23, 2026. The decision of the Screening Committee, the Selection Committee, and the Eszena Jury is final.

AWARDS

The Eszena Jury, composed of audiovisual sector professionals, will be responsible for granting the following awards: Eszena Award (Best Short Film), Best Aragonese Short Film Award, Youth Jury Award, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Young Female Performance, Best Young Male Performance, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, Best Poster, Best Original Soundtrack, Audience Award.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR AWARDS

Best Aragonese Short Film Award: Only those short films whose director was born in the Autonomous Community of Aragon or accredits their current residence in said community may opt for this award. Age Requirements for Technical Awards: For the categories of Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, Best Poster, and Best Original Soundtrack, the person holding the nominated role (for example, the Cinematographer) must be between 18 and 30 years old at the time of the short film's production completion. Requirements for Best Young Performance: One performer may be nominated for Best Young Female Performance and one performer for Best Young Male Performance, with a maximum of two performance nominations per short film (one per category). The age of the performer proposed for the nomination must be between 16 and 30 years old at the time of production completion. The winners will be announced at the Closing Gala of the Eszena 2026 Festival.

LEGAL ISSUES AND ASSIGNMENT OF RIGHTS

All participating short films must have the authorizations and assignments of copyright and other rights holders of pre-existing and original works incorporated therein. In this regard, participants guarantee that the short films do not violate any exploitation rights, nor rights to honor, privacy, and image, nor Intellectual and/or Industrial Property rights and/or any other third-party rights, and that they do not violate current legislation. The festival organization declines all legal responsibility for the films submitted to the competition and their content. The submission of short films to the competition implies, on the part of the author, the assignment of reproduction and public communication rights in favor of ASOCIACIÓN COLECTIVO Z, for the following purposes: Exclusive Assignment (Festival): The Eszena Festival will have the right to exhibit and disseminate the selected short films during the period of the Festival's celebration (from April 18 to 25, 2026). Non-Exclusive Assignment (Promotion): After the publication of the festival jury's decision (held during the Closing Gala on April 25, 2026), the assignment of the aforementioned rights in favor of Colectivo Z will be non-exclusive, with the power to assign to third parties, worldwide and for an indefinite period, allowing the broadcast and distribution of the short film or fragments thereof, through any means of communication and in any format, for the exclusive purpose of promoting the festival itself and, in general, for the dissemination and promotion of the cultural activities carried out by Colectivo Z. Any exploitation or commercial use of the short film will require the prior and express consent of the author, with the corresponding agreements being registered, if applicable. However, if the author does not want their short film to continue being exhibited after the publication of the festival jury's decision, they must communicate this via the email address eszena@colectivoz.com. From that moment, the organization will have a period of 30 business days to render the non-exclusive assignment of the rights referred to above ineffective. The authors of the short films authorize the Festival to use, reproduce, disclose, print, publish, and disseminate through any means of communication, the name of the director, performers, and technical team, their artistic names, photographs and images represented by any plastic means, biography, etc., so that acts of promotion and communication of the audiovisual works can be carried out, directly or indirectly.