STUFF MX FILM FESTIVAL: FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE INDEPENDIENTE (11)

Festival start: 22 August 2026      Festival end: 30 August 2026

The STUFF MX International Independent Film Festival in Mexico City celebrates its eleventh edition from August 22 to 30, 2026, and officially invites filmmakers, videographers, and audiovisual producers from around the world to submit all their film materials and music videos in all formats, genres, and categories of any length, including animation, documentary, and fiction. The call for entries will be open from September 1, 2025, until May 31, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. CST (Central Standard Time), Washington, D.C. time (CST), Mexico City time.

AWARDS

Entries will be evaluated by a jury composed of film directors, screenwriters, photographers, and renowned figures from the national and international film scene. The official selection will be announced on June 15, 2026.

The jury's decision is final.

The winners of the competing entries will receive the following prizes.

• Official Sutff Mx Film Festival Award as the official winner in their respective category.

• Various prizes awarded by our sponsors.

• The winning entries may participate as guests in the STUFF FILM FESTIVAL's partner festivals in Mexico and abroad.

COMPETITIONS

• International Competition (Live Action).
• Animation Competition
• Documentary Competition
• Work In Progress Competition
• LGTB+ Competition
• FILM AI Competition
• Music Video Competition
• Experimental Video Competition
• Horror / Gore Competition
• Mexican Short Film Competition
• International Feature Film
• Mexican Feature Film


CINEminutes.

Works made between January 2021 and May 2026 with a minimum duration of 30 seconds (including credits) and a maximum duration of 120 seconds (including credits) are eligible to participate.

SHORT FILMS.

Works made between January 2021 and May 2026, with a minimum duration of 3 minutes (including credits) and a maximum duration of 25 minutes (including credits), are eligible to participate. Live action, animation, or documentary.

WORKS MADE WITH AI

All works generated by artificial intelligence may participate, regardless of their duration. Works are considered to be generated by Artificial Intelligence when more than 80% of their production is done by AI. Works with retouching, chroma, or animations or images included in other works used as references are not included.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Works in progress may participate, provided they are 70% to 95% complete in terms of final editing, with or without color grading, final sound mixing, with or without completed visual effects, and with final or partial credits.

MULTIMEDIA FILMS

Works produced between January 2021 and May 2026, with a minimum duration of 25 minutes (including credits) and a maximum duration of 45 minutes (including credits), are eligible to participate. Live action, animation, documentary, and LGBT+.

FEATURE FILMS

Works produced between January 2021 and May 2026, with a minimum duration of 46 minutes (including credits) and a maximum duration of 120 minutes (including credits), are eligible. Live action, animation, or documentary.

Cineminutes, short films, medium-length films, and feature films produced between 2021 and 2026 are eligible to participate. The organizing committee, in collaboration with the programming department, may make exceptions to the indicated year of production.

Cineminutes, short films, medium-length films, and feature films shot digitally or filmed in 35mm, 16mm, or 8mm, in Blu-ray exhibition format, .mp4 video file in Full HD (1920 X 1080) will be selected.


RULES

By submitting their work, participants agree that if selected, their work will be presented on the festival dates. If participants are slow to respond to the notification, Stuff Mx will use the selection files from their registration platforms for screening on the festival dates.

It is not a requirement that international works have been released in Mexico; participating works may have been screened at any other festival in Mexico or around the world.

The official selection of the Stuff Mx Film Festival will be published on Tuesday, June 15, 2026, on our official website www.stuffmx.com.mx and on our various social media accounts.

Participants may submit an unlimited number of works. NO work may be withdrawn from the competition under any circumstances. Upon submitting a film, participants may only withdraw their entry without the right to a refund of the admission fee up to 48 hours before the announcement of the official selection.

Participants will be notified by email, and the authorization letter and the format for disseminating the work will be attached to the same message.

The legal representative or copyright owner of the work(s) must sign the authorization letter and approve the festival rules, otherwise the organizing committee will proceed with immediate disqualification.

No participant may announce their official selection before the festival makes it public on June 15, 2026. Otherwise, the organizing committee will immediately disqualify them.

* The festival does not return any copies of the works submitted.

• The festival will not pay for the screening of any of the participating works.

The festival will accept works in any video format, produced anywhere in the world.

• Participants may not withdraw their works once the Official Selection has been assigned.

• The festival does not guarantee the screening of a work simply because it has been entered in one of its competitions.

There are no restrictions on the format in which the work is made (it can be shot on anything from a smartphone to any type of camera).

All selected works will be preserved as part of the Stuff Mx Film Festival film archive.

Any situation not covered in this call for entries will be resolved by the organizing committee.