FESTIVAL INTERNAZIONALE DEL CINEMA DI SALERNO (80)

Début du Festival: 23 novembre 2026      Fin du Festival: 28 novembre 2026

1. ORGANISATION

The Salerno International Film Festival, with its registered office at Via Portacatena, 51 – 84121 Salerno (SA), tax code 80046160653, was founded in 1946 by CINECLUB SALERNO, and the Organising Committee (a non-profit organisation) is responsible for staging the annual editions.

2. OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES

Since its inception, the Salerno Film Festival has distinguished itself as a competitive event for Italian and international productions, thereby fostering ongoing dialogue on developments in world cinema.

The Festival attributes an important social function to cinema, and its aim is to constantly adapt its approach in line with the evolution of technology and new ‘audiovisual’ media.

The Festival fulfils its original mission of promoting and fostering film literacy, in keeping with its tradition, with a particular focus on independent works and technical and artistic innovation.


3. PROGRAMME

The 80th edition of the Salerno International Film Festival will take place in the city of Salerno from 23 to 28 November 2026 at the Cine-Teatro Augusteo.

In addition to the competitions for the various film sections, the Festival also features film programmes, retrospectives and side events (exhibitions, conferences, round-table discussions, etc.) as a contribution to raising awareness of the history of Italian and international cinema.

On the closing night of 28 November 2026, prizes will be awarded to the winning films and honours bestowed upon prominent figures in the artistic, social and cultural spheres. The Awards Ceremony may also be split into two separate evenings: one dedicated to ‘Specialised Cinema’ (documentaries, cartoons, etc.) and another dedicated to feature-length films and various other awards.

The films will be screened at the Cine-Teatro Augusteo, with the schedule to be determined at the discretion of the Festival Management, subject to the date of submission and the standard film entry procedures.

Both the side events and the awards ceremony will be streamed on the Festival’s social media channels.

The theme of the festival will be “Transitions: Cinema that Regenerates the Future”.

The 2026 edition takes place against a global backdrop marked by profound transitions: climatic, energy-related, technological, social, economic and cultural. These transformations are changing the way communities inhabit their territories, create value, communicate, consume resources, perceive the future and construct collective imaginaries. In this context, cinema cannot merely record reality; it can become a language capable of anticipating, interpreting and questioning it, while making complex processes understandable and accessible to all. The ecological transition, in particular, does not concern only the environment in a technical sense, but implies a shift in the way we conceive of the relationship between humanity, technology, the economy and nature. For this reason, the Festival proposes a cultural interpretation of sustainability: not merely a reduction in environmental impact, but a transformation of our perspective, narratives and social practices. Cinema thus becomes a driver of awareness and a catalyst for new collective responsibilities.

3 bis. AUDIENCE IN THE THEATRE
Audiences attending screenings during the festival will have the opportunity to cast a rating vote for each film they watch (votes are cast on a scale of 1 to 5, with an arithmetic mean calculated). These votes will determine the winner of the Audience Award.

AWARDS AND JURIES

Films will be assessed by a dedicated panel comprising members of the Festival Committee, which will decide, at its sole discretion, on the admission of the film to the competitions.
Admitted works will be submitted to a TECHNICAL JURY, which will award, at its sole discretion, the category trophies for the following sections:

FEATURE FILMS (ITALIAN AND FOREIGN)
SHORT FILMS (ITALIAN AND FOREIGN)
DOCUMENTARIES (ITALIAN AND FOREIGN)
ANIMATED FILMS (ITALIAN AND FOREIGN)

If no film stands out above the rest, the Category Trophy for that Section may not be awarded. For each section, the Jury may award one or more prizes in recognition of the film’s particular merits.

“IGNAZIO ROSSI” GULF OF SALERNO GRAND TROPHY for the best film overall.

Prizes relating to the other sections and competitions (Videoscuola, Discovery Campania, Cinema of the Future, Ecofilm, A Glance At The World) will be awarded by the Festival Committee. Furthermore, for each section or competition, the Jury may award one or more “Festival Prizes” in recognition of the work’s particular merits. Other prizes will be awarded as follows:

AUDIENCE AWARD, awarded by the audience present in the cinema on each occasion

PRESS AWARD, awarded by a jury comprising some of the most prominent journalists from Salerno and beyond.

The Festival Jury reserves the unquestionable right to award last-minute prizes in exceptional cases.

4. FESTIVAL SECTIONS

The Festival’s Film Competitions are divided into various sections, namely:

1) Feature Film Section
2) Short Films Section
3) Animated Films Section
4) The “VIDESCUOLA” Competition, reserved for films made by pupils at schools of all levels.
5) “DISCOVERY CAMPANIA” Section. This section features films (both documentaries and fiction) aimed at promoting places of social, cultural and tourist interest in the Campania region
6) “A GLANCE AT THE WORLD” Section, dedicated to works (feature films, short films or documentaries) whose main themes are human rights, inclusion, gender equality, peace and social justice
7) Competition: “ECO FILM”
Feature films, short films and documentaries on environmental themes
8) DOCUMENTARY Competition
9) Competition: “CINEMA OF THE FUTURE”
Section dedicated exclusively to short films created using artificial intelligence, deep learning or emerging production tools (smartphones, drones, AI)


5. FILM DETAILS

Feature films must have a minimum running time of 60 minutes

Short films must have a maximum duration of 30 minutes

Animated films have no duration limit

Documentaries must have a maximum running time of 90 minutes

Films in foreign languages (other than english) must be subtitled in Italian or english for the purposes of assessment by the juries

Foreign-language films selected for screening at the Augusteo cinema-theatre must be subtitleD IN ITALIAN

Works produced before 1 January 2024 are not eligible for selection. Works previously submitted to previous editions may not be entered.


7. ENTRY PROCEDURES

Entries for the Festival’s competitions may only be submitted via the platform indicated (Festhome).

An entry fee of €25.00 must be paid for each film to cover administrative costs. Films will not be accepted unless the entry fee has been paid.

The deadline for registration and the submission of films to the Competitions is 30 September 2026.


8. FILM SUBMISSION AND ADMISSION TO THE COMPETITIONS

Films must be uploaded online via the platforms used for registration (HD or 4K files in H.264 codec, .mov or .mp4 format, bitrate 20 Mbps), and must not exceed 10 gigabytes.

To complete the upload process, you must allow the file to remain available for download until the end of the Festival, i.e. until 28 November 2026.

Should a film be withdrawn from the competition, the entry fee will not be refunded.

An Artistic Committee, appointed by the Organisers, will assess the submitted works and select those admitted to the official cinema screenings. The Committee’s decision is final.
If selected, the contact person for the film will receive official notification from the Festival secretariat specifying the screening dates and times.


9. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1) In the event of an incomplete entry form, admission to the Competition is decided at the sole discretion of the Festival’s artistic direction.

2) Each participant may submit one or more films. The entry fee must be paid for each film entered

3) All films entered will form part of the Salerno International Film Festival archive and may be used for cultural, educational and other such purposes, including public screenings and/or television broadcasts. Commercial use is excluded.

4) Winners will be notified by the Festival organisers via email or telephone.

5) Participation in the competition implies unconditional acceptance of these rules.

6) These regulations are drawn up in Italian and english. In the event of any discrepancy in interpretation, the Italian version shall prevail.

8) The final programme of the event, listing the works admitted to the Competition, will be available prior to the start of the event on the website: http://www.festivaldelcinema.it/

9) For any matters not covered by these rules, the Festival Management reserves the right to make decisions at its sole discretion.

10) In the event of any disputes or controversies, the Court of Salerno shall have jurisdiction and shall rule on the basis of the Italian text of these regulations.

11) By entering the work in the Festival, the author or rights holder guarantees that they hold all the rights necessary for participation, including any musical, image and performance rights that may be involved.

12) The Organisers are exempt from any liability arising from disputes relating to the rights to the work raised by third parties.

13) The author/rights holder authorises the Organisers, free of charge, to screen the work during the Festival and at any future promotional events linked to the Festival, as well as to publish extracts from the work (max. 3 mins) for promotional purposes on TV, the web, social media and in the press.

14) Personal data provided by participants will be processed in accordance with European Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) and subsequent amendments.

15) The data controller is the Salerno International Film Festival.

16) The data will be used exclusively for purposes related to the organisation, communication and promotion of the Festival.

17) The data subject may, at any time, exercise the rights provided for in Articles 15–22 of the GDPR (access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection, data portability) by writing to info@festivaldelcinema.it

18) The data will not be disclosed to third parties or made public, except where necessary for the management of the event.

19) The Organisers reserve the right to amend these regulations in the event of force majeure or to improve the running of the event. Any amendments will be promptly communicated on the official website.

20) Members of the audience present in the hall authorise any current and future use of photographic, audio and video recordings. All those interviewed consent to the use of their image for promotional purposes.

All correspondence should be addressed to:
SALERNO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
c/o De Cesare Viaggi Conference Centre – Via Roma 296 – 84121 SALERNO) Tel: 089/231953, email: iscrizione@festivaldelcinema.it