Magara Film Festival (1)

Début du Festival: 31 juillet 2025      Fin du Festival: 03 août 2025

From 31 July to 3 August 2025 the Magara Film Festival (MFF) will enliven the historic center of San Fili as part of the event "Le Notti delle Magare - Festival of Popular Culture". Dedicated to independent cinema, the festival explores the myth of Magara, a mysterious figure of Calabrian folklore, guardian of ancient esoteric knowledge. Like the Janare Campania, the Piedmontese Masche and the Strie of Northern Italy, the Magara embodies the link between myth and reality, inspiring stories of magic, superstition and arcane charm. Open to emerging and established filmmakers, the MFF fosters cultural exchange between generations, celebrating the power of visual storytelling and the magic of timeless stories.

Prix ​​en espèces: 4,000€

Main prizes

• Best Film: €1,000.00 and Cine Magara statuette;

• “Ombra della Magara” Award: €1,000.00 and Cine Magara statuette;

• “Great Productions” Award: €1,000.00 and Cine Magara statuette;

• “Magara Challenge” prize: €500.00 and Cine Magara statuette;

• Best Calabrian Film: €500.00 and Cine Magara statuette (for works shot in Calabria and written by Calabrian authors who experience the difficulties and wonders of our land on a daily basis);

• Best Film in the School category: Cine Magara Statue;

• Audience Award: Cine Magara Statuette.

Technical and special prizes

The awards indicated below will be recognized with a prestigious statuette depicting Magara. However, the “Large Productions” and “Magara Challenge” categories are excluded from the award. This is because the organization intends to enhance independent talent, where each participant can compete on equal terms: an improvised actor, for example, cannot compete with a professional. Our goal is to celebrate the authentic creativity and limited means that bring great stories to life.

• Technical Awards: Best Director, Screenplay, Actor, Actress, Photography, Editing, Special Effects, Soundtrack;

• Special Awards: Young Jury Award (made up of young cinematography students), Best Animated Film, Best Short Film on a Social Theme (environment, gender violence, immigration, etc.), Special Mention from the Jury.

Art. 1 - Participation Requirements.

The Festival is dedicated to independent short films, with the aim of promoting new talents and emerging productions. In addition to the independent film section, special sections such as Calabrian Film, School, Magara Challenge and Shadow of the Magara, the Festival includes a section called “Great Productions” reserved for works with a registered production or public funding. In summary:

- Independent Cinema Section and Special Sections: reserved for short films produced without the involvement of registered production companies and without significant public or regional funding;

- Large Productions Section: reserved for short films made with the support of registered production companies or that have received public funding.

1.1 Detail Requirements

- Independent Cinema:

a. The film must not be produced by a registered production company;

b. Must not have received significant public funding (from regional, national or supranational bodies);

c. The director or producer must complete the declaration of independence, taking responsibility for the truthfulness of the information provided.

- Great Productions:

a. The film must be produced by a registered production company and/or have received documentable public funding;

b. Submission of one of the following documents is required:

1. Certificate of registration with the Register of Companies of the production house;

2. Official document attesting to the public funding received.

1.2 - Methods of Verification.

- The Organizing Committee reserves the right to verify the information declared by participants;

- In case of discrepancies or untrue information, the film may be disqualified at any time;

- Participation in the Festival implies acceptance of any checks on the data provided.

1.3 - Penalties.

- If a film declared as “independent” is recognized as being produced by a registered production company or with undeclared public funding, it will be immediately disqualified;

- In the event that a film in the “Major Productions” section does not submit the required documentation, the entry will be considered void.

1.4 - Final Provisions.

- Registration for the Festival implies full acceptance of these regulations;

- The Organizing Committee reserves the right to make changes to the regulations if necessary, subject to prior notice to participants.

Art. 2 - Technical requirements of the works.

The technical characteristics required for the acceptance of works are described below, broken down for each section of participation.

2.1 National Short Film Competition

- language: Italian (Italian subtitles mandatory for all works that use a dialect of the Italian language);

- duration: No longer than 6 minutes (excluding opening and closing credits);

- Format: During entry, contestants can upload their video directly or indicate a link to YouTube or Vimeo platforms. All necessary information is available in the entry form on Festhome.

If the work is selected, it is mandatory to upload the short film to Festhome (if not already done) following the recommended standards:

- Supported formats: all major video formats in Full HD quality (1920x1080), up to 10 GB;
- The platform transcodes videos to optimize compatibility and playback performance. To ensure the best quality, the following output settings are recommended:
- Maximum video bitrate: 4000 Kbps, H.264, MP4;
- Audio: 128 Kbps, AAC, 2-channel stereo;
- Proportions: maintained with a maximum video height of 1080 pixels.

- Originality: Only works without a regularly recorded production and no restrictions on date of creation are allowed;

- Exclusivity: A maximum of one film per artist will be selected, but each participant may submit more than one work;

- Genre: Free theme excluding mystery, folklore and folk legends related to the figure of the Magara.

2.2 “Ombra della Magara” Section.
- language: Italian (Italian subtitles mandatory for all works that use a dialect of the Italian language);

- duration: No longer than 6 minutes (excluding opening and closing credits);

- Format: During entry, contestants can upload their video directly or indicate a link to YouTube or Vimeo platforms. All necessary information is available in the entry form on Festhome.

If the work is selected, it is mandatory to upload the short film to Festhome (if not already done) following the recommended standards:

- Supported formats: all major video formats in Full HD quality (1920x1080), up to 10 GB;
- The platform transcodes videos to optimize compatibility and playback performance. To ensure the best quality, the following output settings are recommended:
- Maximum video bitrate: 4000 Kbps, H.264, MP4;
- Audio: 128 Kbps, AAC, 2-channel stereo;
- Proportions: maintained with a maximum video height of 1080 pixels.

- Originality: Only works without a regularly recorded production and no creation date restrictions are allowed;

- Exclusivity: A maximum of one film per artist will be selected, but each participant may submit more than one work;

- Genre: Mystery, folklore and popular legends linked to the figure of Magara, enigmatic guardian of ancient esoteric knowledge in Calabrian folklore, but also to other similar entities such as the Janare Campania, the Piedmontese Masche and the Strie of Northern Italy. The theme can extend to any figure who embodies the thin line between myth and reality, inspiring tales of magic, superstition and arcane fascination.

2.3 “Great Productions” Section
- language: Italian (Italian subtitles required for all works that use a dialect of the Italian language);

- duration: No longer than 12 minutes (including opening and closing credits);

- Format: During entry, contestants can upload their video directly or indicate a link to YouTube or Vimeo platforms. All necessary information is available in the entry form on Festhome.

If the work is selected, it is mandatory to upload the short film to Festhome (if not already done) following the recommended standards:

- Supported formats: all major video formats in Full HD quality (1920x1080), up to 10 GB;
- The platform transcodes videos to optimize compatibility and playback performance. To ensure the best quality, the following output settings are recommended:
- Maximum video bitrate: 4000 Kbps, H.264, MP4;
- Audio: 128 Kbps, AAC, 2-channel stereo;
- Proportions: maintained with a maximum video height of 1080 pixels.

- Originality: Only works produced by a duly registered production company (as stated in Article 1 of these regulations) are allowed;

- Exclusivity: A maximum of one film per artist will be selected, but each participant may submit more than one work;
- Genre: Free Theme.

2.4 “Schools” Section
- language: Italian (Italian subtitles required for all works that use a dialect of the Italian language);

- duration: No longer than 6 minutes (excluding opening and closing credits);

- Format: During entry, contestants can upload their video directly or indicate a link to YouTube or Vimeo platforms. All necessary information is available in the entry form on Festhome.

If the work is selected, it is mandatory to upload the short film to Festhome (if not already done) following the recommended standards:

- Supported formats: all major video formats in Full HD quality (1920x1080), up to 10 GB;
- The platform transcodes videos to optimize compatibility and playback performance. To ensure the best quality, the following output settings are recommended:
- Maximum video bitrate: 4000 Kbps, H.264, MP4;
- Audio: 128 Kbps, AAC, 2-channel stereo;
- Proportions: maintained with a maximum video height of 1080 pixels.

- Originality: Only works produced by school projects are allowed;

- Exclusivity: A maximum of one film per artist will be selected, but each participant may submit more than one work;

- Genre: Free Theme.

2.5 “Magara Challenge” Section
- language: Italian (Italian subtitles mandatory for all works that use a dialect of the Italian language);

- duration: No longer than 3 minutes (excluding opening and closing credits);

- Format: All major video formats in Full HD quality (1920x1080), up to 10 GB;

- Genre: Only theme of mystery, folklore and folk legends related to the figure of the Magara, shot exclusively in locations falling within the municipality of San Fili;

- Constraints:
- Actors present in the territory of San Fili may be used;
- Filming must take place exclusively on August 1 and 2;
- Completed works must be delivered to the Festival organization by 9 a.m. on August 3;
- Failure to comply with these constraints will result in automatic exclusion from the competition.

- Troupe: Each troupe may consist of a maximum of 3 people, equipped with all the necessary equipment to shoot and edit the short film. The organization will offer only room and board for July 31 and August 1, 2, 3 and 4 (check-in 31/07 - check-out 04/08);

- Participants: 3 technical crews will be selected from the applications received, based on the technical/artistic curriculum submitted. Submission of scene/backstage photos of previous work is appreciated but not mandatory.

Art. 3 - Method of enrollment
- Registration through the Festhome portal (https://festhome.com/festival/magara-film-festival);

- Registration fee: 10.00 €;

- Reduced entry fee for schools: 5.00 €;

- Registration fee for “Great Productions”: 50.00 €;

- Entry fee for “Magara Challenge”: 30.00 €;

- deadline for registration: June 30, 2025;

- Materials required:
- Video file or youtube/vimeo link;
- Synopsis of short film (max 300 words);
- Stage photo and poster/poster (required);
- Statement of authorship of the work and release.

Art. 4 - Exclusions.

Works will not be accepted that:

- Contain offensive, vulgar or discriminatory content, including messages of hatred, incitement to violence, racism, sexism or any form of intolerance;

- Present explicitly pornographic material, gratuitous nude scenes or uncontextualized and unjustified violence;

- Do not respect the themes of the festival, being out of context with the mission and values of the event;

- Violate copyright or intellectual property rights, including unauthorized use of music, images, text or other content belonging to third parties;

- Promote illegal or immoral activities, such as substance abuse, crime, or dangerous behavior without a clear narrative or critical purpose.

The organization reserves the right to exclude any work that, in its sole discretion, does not meet the above criteria or may damage the image of the festival.

Art. 5 - Jury, awards and Hospitality

• Composition of the jury: The jury will be made up of professionals from the film sector, authors and notable critics. The names will be announced later on the official festival page and through dedicated social channels;

• Public involvement: The public will have an active role in the awarding of the Public Prize. During the screenings, voting cards will be distributed by the staff, allowing spectators to express their preferences. As a gesture of thanks, the organization will draw a lucky spectator on the final evening who will win a dinner for two people in one of the restaurants in the municipality of San Fili;

• Jury decisions: The jury reserves the right not to award prizes if the works presented do not meet the quality standards required by the regulations;

• Exclusively for the Main prizes section of the competition, each representative of the winning short film will be entitled to free hospitality, exclusively including room and board, on 2, 3 and 4 August (check-in 02/08 - check-out 04/08), to participate in the awards ceremony and collect the prize. The organization undertakes to provide logistical details to the winners after the official announcement.

Art. 6 - Promotion and Rights

• The authors grant the MFF the rights to screen and use the short films for promotional purposes related to the festival;

• All material sent will not be returned and can be used to promote the festival on different channels (social media, press, etc.).

Art. 7 - Methods of Conduct

• 31 July 2025: Inaugural conference with the participation of authorities, jury members and special guests;

• 1-2 August 2025: Screening of the short films in the two main locations of San Fili. A convivial atmosphere will be guaranteed with food stands and dedicated areas;

• 3 August 2025: awards evening with shows and speeches by the award-winning authors.

Art. 8 - Decline of responsibilities

The organization of the festival assumes no responsibility for:

• Any violations of copyright or intellectual property rights by participants. The authors of the works are solely responsible for the legality of the materials presented;

• Offensive, inappropriate or controversial contents present in the works sent, which remain under the complete responsibility of the respective authors;

• Loss, damage or technical problems that may occur while uploading or managing sent files. Participants are advised to keep backup copies of their works;

• Any legal dispute arising from the use of images, music, or other copyrighted materials without the necessary authorizations;

• Damage or inconvenience resulting from unexpected situations during the festival or associated events.

By participating, the authors fully accept the regulations and relieve the organization from any legal or financial responsibility linked to the presentation and screening of the works.

Art. 9 - Legal Clauses

• Participation implies acceptance of this regulation;

• The organization reserves the right to change the program, prizes or other clauses for organizational reasons or force majeure;

• Any dispute will be resolved at the discretion of the organization.

The Magara Film Festival 2025 is a unique opportunity to celebrate tradition and independent cinema. We are waiting for your works to create an unforgettable event together!