PONTES - SEMANA DO CINEMA GALEGO E PORTUGUÊS (1)

Início do Festival: 07 Outubro 2025      Fim do Festival: 11 Outubro 2025

PONTES - Galician and Portuguese Film Week is a film event that celebrates the richness and diversity of audiovisual productions from Galicia and Portuguese-speaking countries, strengthening cultural and linguistic ties through the seventh art. Organized by Abella Producións, this festival is the evolution of the Ponte Coa Lusofonia exhibition, which has been held in Vigo since 2021, and has established itself as a benchmark in Galicia for Galician, Portuguese and Lusophone cinema.
From October 7 to 11, 2025, Vigo will host this film festival, which presents a wide selection of short and feature films that reflect the cultural diversity of these territories. In addition to the screenings, PONTES offers panel discussions on the film industry, cooperation, training and new technologies, promoting exchanges between filmmakers, programmers and audiences.
The festival aims to be a platform for new talent and a meeting point for established filmmakers, creating an active cultural network that fosters intercultural dialog and resistance through film. Vigo, with its maritime history and position as an Atlantic port, is the ideal setting for building bridges between territories united by language and culture.

For more information on the program and activities, visit our website.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

PONTES - Galician and Portuguese Film Week will award the following prizes and recognitions:

Audience Award

Awarded by vote of the audience attending the festival screenings.

Special Jury Award

Discretionary award that the jury can give to a work that stands out for some particular aspect.

Special Mentions

The jury may award special mentions to works that stand out in specific aspects such as interpretation, sound, music, editing, etc.

All prizes consist of an accreditation diploma and may include financial or in-kind donations, depending on the availability of sponsors and collaborators.

FILM SUBMISSION BASIS
PONTES - GALICAN AND PORTUGUESE FILM WEEK

V Edition - October 2025
Vigo (Galicia)
https://pontes.abella.gal/


1. SELECTION REQUIREMENTS
Any individual, company, association or non-formal group may take part, regardless of age, nationality or any other type of restriction.

Audiovisual works made in Galicia or by Galicians or from any of the countries that are part of the Community of Portuguese language Countries (CPLP; see member countries in Annex I) may choose to be shown and take part in the competition. Lusophone works must use Portuguese as their first language and be subtitled in Galician or Spanish.

Short films and feature films produced between the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 may participate. Exceptionally, the selection committee may consider works from previous years that are of special artistic or cultural interest.

2. REGISTRATION AND deadlineS
Registration to take part in the 5th edition of PONTES - Galician and Portuguese Film Week will be open from July 15 until August 20, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time).

Registration will take place exclusively through the Festhome platform (https://festhome.com).

The registration process is free for all categories and sections of the festival, as part of the organization's commitment to facilitating access for filmmakers from all participating countries, especially those with fewer economic resources.

3. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
In order to take part in PONTES - Galician and Portuguese Film Week, productions must meet the following eligibility criteria:

3.1 length
Short films must be no longer than 30 minutes, including credits. There is no minimum length.

Feature films must be longer than 30 minutes, including credits.

The selection committee may make occasional exceptions for works that slightly exceed this limit if their artistic value justifies it.

3.2. Geographical origin
Short films produced or co-produced in Galicia or in any of the Portuguese-speaking CPLP countries (Annex I): Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor and Macau.
Productions made by Galician or Lusophone filmmakers will also be accepted, regardless of the place of production.

3.3 language
The short films may be made in Galician, Portuguese or any of the official languages of the participating countries. Works in other languages must include subtitles in Galician.

Audiovisual material made in Galicia must be dialogued in Galician or Spanish, or subtitled in one of the two languages.

Audiovisual materials made in the CPLP must be subtitled in Galician or Spanish.

3.4. Format
Films made in any format (digital, 35mm, 16mm, 8mm, mobile devices, etc.) will be accepted. For the exhibition, the selected works must be provided in high quality digital format.

3.5. Number of entries
There is no limit to the number of short films each filmmaker or production company can submit.

4. REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION
Along with their work, participants must send the following documentation:

4.1. Complete technical file
Including title, duration, year of production, country of origin, director, producer, screenwriter, director of photography, editing, sound, music, main cast and synopsis in Galician and Portuguese.

4.2. Promotional material
Official poster, filming or promotional photographs (minimum 3, maximum 10), trailer or teaser (optional but recommended).

4.3 Biography of the director
Biographical text of no more than 200 words in Galician and Portuguese.

4.4. Declaration of authorship
Document signed by the director or legal representative certifying that they own the rights to the work or that they have the corresponding authorization to show it.

4.5. Screening authorization
Signed document authorizing the screening of the short film at the festival and in related promotional activities.

5. TECHNICAL QUALITY AND RIGHTS
In the event that the selection committee considers that the quality of the image and/or sound reproduction of the material submitted does not meet a minimum standard, it may request that a new copy of higher quality be sent or the work may be left out of the selection process.

Any audiovisual material shortlisted for competition in which the applicant does not own the copyright or exhibition rights must attach a separate authorization in order to compete.

The information contained in the entry form will be taken as reliable and will be the basis for drawing up the Festival's catalog and broadcast program.

The PONTES Festival reserves the right to use sequences or promotional materials from the selected works and to broadcast or reproduce them on television, the Internet or any other medium for promotional or educational purposes. Participants retain the copyright of their works.

The works received will remain in the Festival's video fund. The PONTES Festival retains the right to reproduce the selected films for the promotion of the festival itself.

Registration is free.

6. SELECTION PROCESS
The selection process for the films that will form part of the official program of Mostra Pontes will take place in two phases:

6.1. First stage - Pre-selection
A pre-selection committee, made up of professionals from the audiovisual sector and specialists in Lusophone and Galician cinema, will carry out an initial screening of the entries, selecting those that meet the technical and artistic quality criteria established by the festival.

6.2 Second phase - Final selection
An international jury, made up of filmmakers, critics, programmers and other professionals from the audiovisual sector in the participating countries, will make the final selection of the short films that will form part of the festival's official program.

The selection criteria include artistic and technical quality, narrative originality, thematic relevance, cultural representativeness and contribution to intercultural dialog between the participating territories.

The list of selected films will be communicated to participants during the month of September 2025 via the email provided at registration and will be published on the festival's social networks and official website.

7. SECTIONS

7.1 Official competitive shorts section
This main section of the festival includes the short films that are up for the show's official awards. The works selected for this section will be assessed by an international jury made up of audiovisual professionals from the participating countries.

7.2. Feature Film Showcase
This section is dedicated to productions that seek to showcase the richness and diversity of contemporary cinematography. This section includes fiction, documentaries and animation produced in Galicia and other Portuguese-speaking countries.

8. awards AND RECOGNITIONS
PONTES - Galician and Portuguese Film Week will award the following prizes and recognitions:

8.1. Audience Award
Awarded by vote of the audience attending the festival screenings.

8.2. Special Jury Award
Discretionary award that the jury can give to a work that stands out for some particular aspect.

8.3. Special Mentions
The jury may award special mentions to works that stand out in specific aspects such as interpretation, sound, music, editing, etc.

All prizes consist of an accreditation diploma and may include financial or in-kind donations, depending on the availability of sponsors and collaborators.

9. JURY AND SELECTION COMMITTEE
The jury of PONTES - Galician and Portuguese Film Week will be made up of professionals of recognized prestige from the audiovisual sector of the participating countries, including filmmakers, film critics, festival programmers, academics and other specialists in Lusophone and Galician cinema.

The exact composition of the jury will be announced before the festival begins, guaranteeing the representativeness of the different participating territories and the diversity of professional and cultural perspectives.

The jury will meet during the festival to decide on the prizes, and its decisions will be final. The deliberation process will take place confidentially and the members of the jury undertake to maintain impartiality and objectivity in their assessments.

10. ADHERENCE TO THESE BASES
Submission of works to this competition implies full acceptance of the bases.

Issues not covered by these bases will be resolved at the discretion of the jury, the festival organizers and/or A.C. Abella Producións.

The jury's decisions are final. Participation in the Festival implies full acceptance of these regulations.

ANNEX I
LIST OF MEMBER COUNTRIES OF THE COMMUNITY OF PORTUGUESE-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor and Equatorial Guinea.