Festival Internacional de Cine Corto de Cali (17)

Festival start: 23 September 2025      Festival end: 27 September 2025

The International Short Film Festival of Cali, with the opening of its call, is to be a space for the exhibition of professional and university short films from the city of Cali and the world to serve as a meeting point between the new filmmakers and the professionals of the short film.

The XVII International Short Film Festival of Cali will take place from september 23 to 27 of 2025, in the city of Santiago de Cali, Colombia.

The call for the competitive categories of the festival will be open from march 20 th of 2025 and we will close the registration period at midnight of 31 th may of 2025 Colombian local time (UTC-5).

Films sent to the following categories: National Official Selection, National Official University Selection, International Official Selection and International Official University Selection must have been completed after January 15, 2024.

The results of the call for the competitive categories will be announced on the festival’s official website www.cortoscali.com by july 31 th, 2025.

AWARDS

A jury composed of at least three (3) people will give the following prizes:

OFFICIAL SELECTION

A. Garra de Oro to the Best International Film.

B. Garra de Oro to the Best National Film.

C. Garra Intravenosa to the Best National University Film.

D. Garra Intravenosa to the Best International University Film.

Categories

Each category, although different, has the main objective of highlighting the work of amateur directors and professional directors thus generating a dialogue between works, between the eyes of the different regions of the country and the world, contributing to the exhibition of audiovisual pieces that can hardly find a physical audience.

COMPETING CATEGORIES

National Official University Selection: it’s the oldest section of the festival. It consists of different short films sent by film schools or universities with film related careers all over Colombia. Movies directed by Colombian citizens can also participate. The films should not last more than 30 minutes, the genre and the theme are freely chosen.

National Official Selection: it’s a category of national professional short films sent by young filmmakers who are emerging as exponents of the future of national cinema. Movies directed by Colombian citizens who are studying film or film related careers inside or outside Colombia can also participate. The films should not last more than 30 minutes, the genre and the theme are freely chosen.

International Official Selection: It consists of movies directed by citizens from any part of the world. The films should not last more than 30 minutes, the genre and the theme are freely chosen.

International Official University Selection: It consists of films directed by citizens of any part of the world who are studying cinema or similar careers. The films should not last more than 30 minutes, the genre and the theme are freely chosen.

*The selection committee may have some of the films sent to the Official Selection, to other categories or parallel non-competitive events.

*On the day of the results, the selection committee may declare any competing category as deserted.

Bases of the Call

You can only participate with one (1) short film as a director. In other roles you can participate several times.

If the film sent is not spoken in Spanish (english, French, German, etc.), it must be presented with its embedded subtitles.

The works should not last more than 30 minutes, gender and theme are freely chosen.

Only jobs that have been completed after January 15, 2023 will be received.

For the university typed categories, it is required for the films to have been produced within the academy.

Fill in the registration form digitally in Festhome and send the films through the same platform. The shipping cost will be 2 USD.

It is required to accept the rules of the XV International Short Film Festival of Cali when filling in the registration form.

Priority will be given to works that have NOT been released in Colombia. However, if the film was already screened at other film events in the country, you can still apply.

Technical specifications

In order to send the project, you must take into account the following technical specifications:
VIDEO
· File extensions: .mov or .mp4.
· Video Codec: H.264.
· BitRate: between 12000 and 20000 Kbps (12 and 20 Mbps).
· Recommended format: HD Video 1920x1080
· subtitles: Embedded in the video (if the film is not spoken in Spanish).
AUDIO
· Audio codec: MPEG-4 AAC / Stereo 44.1 KHz / 128 Kbps

Shipment
(APPLICABLE TO ALL CATEGORIES)

The following documentation must be attached to the film file:
A. Photograph of the director.
B. Photograph of the producer.
C. Still photography – Film frame (2 max. for the catalog).
D. Digital film’s poster.
E. Shooting photos (2 max. only if they exist).

ABOUT THE REGULATION
This regulation may have slight modifications in the course of the call.