La Guarimba is a film festival and a cultural organisation situated in the southern Italian region of Calabria with the aim of bringing the cinema back to the people and the people back to the cinema.
We work with cinema and illustration using culture as a vehicle to promote our values of participatory democracy, integration and accessibility.
Guarimba, in venezuelan indigenous language, means “safe place”.
1. WHEN AND WHERE
-The 13th edition of La Guarimba International Film Festival will be held from 7th to 12th August 2025 in Amantea, Calabria, the wildest region of Italy.
2. TERMS AND CONDITIONS-Call for entries for Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Music Videos, Experimental, Dance Films and La Grotta dei Piccoli Children’s Animation is open.
-Short films of any nationality and language can participate.
-All themes are allowed.
-The maximum length will be 30 minutes (including credits).
-Only those films produced after January 1st of 2023 will be accepted.
-All formats will be accepted.
-There are no limits to the number of entries a filmmaker may enter, but these have to be submitted separately.
-La Guarimba does not require premiere status: your film can be online or can be in competition in other film festivals in Italy. Our goal is to bring the cinema back to the people and the people back to the cinema, which means that we want to reunite the audience with films and not to create obstacles in any way.
3. SUBMISSION FEES AND DATES
EARLY DEADLINE: September 30th of 2024
REGULAR DEADLINE: March 10th of 2025
LATE DEADLINE: March 31st of 2025
OFFICIAL SELECTION ANNOUNCEMENT: May 26th
FICTION
EARLY FEE: €7.5
REGULAR FEE: €15
LATE FEE: €30
ANIMATION
EARLY FEE: €7.5
REGULAR FEE: €15
LATE FEE: €30
DOCUMENTARY
EARLY FEE: €7.5
REGULAR FEE: €15
LATE FEE: €30
MUSIC VIDEOS
EARLY FEE: €7.5
REGULAR FEE: €10
LATE FEE: €30
LA GROTTA DEI PICCOLI – Children’s Animation
EARLY FEE: €7.5
REGULAR FEE: €10
LATE FEE: €30
INSOMNIA – EXPERIMENTAL
EARLY FEE: €7.5
REGULAR FEE: €15
LATE FEE: €30
-NOTE: If you are a distributor, please contact us before submitting.
-Submit your film with English subtitles* using one of our platforms:
-We are not accepting submissions by post or email.
-Any short films that do not meet the requirements will not be accepted.
-You are only considered for the category you submit your film to. If you submit your film in the wrong category, please contact us to make the change.
-You can submit your film to more than one category but each submission must be done separately.
-*This rule does not apply to music videos as they can be submitted without subtitles.
4. SELECTION PROCESS-Around 170 films will be selected to be screened at the festival and will be part of the following competitions: Fiction, Animation, Documentary, Music Videos, Dance Films and INSOMNIA – Experimental.
-In partnership with UNICEF ITALIA we will create La Grotta dei Piccoli Children’s Animation competition program for children.
-99% of the festival competition programme is made from the submissions we receive. Sometimes we offer waivers to films that we watch at other festivals but this is very unlikely.
-We don’t select films based on which awards or selections they had, nor how many social media followers the director or the actors have. We select films based on their quality.
-Selected filmmakers will be contacted via mail.
-Those short films that have been selected cannot leave the contest and they have to provide:
-The festival will not accept PenDrives and will not return any screener.
-Selected shorts will be provided with the selection laurel logo from La Guarimba International Film Festival. Directors are free to use it.
-The festival will notify if your film is not selected using the platforms Filmfreeway and/or Shortfilmdepot. Participants will find a selected list on our website, in the Italian press, in social networks and we will send by email a newsletter with all the information. We recommend you to subscribe it.
-The festival will invite and provide hosting and food to all the directors in the official competition. The festival does not cover travel expenses nor pays screening fees.
5. THE JURY-The jury will include professionals from the cinema world, television, media, teaching and there will always be a filmmaker.
-The jury’s decision will be irrevocable.
-The jury is committed to giving away the following prizes:
€800 + Trophy
Trophy
Trophy
€800 + Trophy
€300 + Trophy
Trophy
*The programmers of the festival give away an award to the best film
€800 + Trophy
€300 + Trophy
Trophy
*An award given by Nonna Saveria, the grandma of the festival
*Not selected animation films are still eligible for La Grotta dei Piccoli program, a children’s program in partnership with UNICEF ITALIA. But you can also participate in this category.
-The awards will be given away at La Guarimba International Film Festival‘s closure.
-Award winners that are NOT present will have their award(s) shipped to them at the festival’s expense.
6. MATERIAL AND RIGHTS-Excerpts of the short films will be used for promotional materials created by the festival such as the trailer and the video content to promote the collaborations in the festival on social media.
-All copies presented in this contest will not be returned and will be part of the contest archive and private video library. Directors may request the removal of the film in our video library and in our tour. Every year we organize La Guarimba On Tour showcasing the films in competition in other cities. La Guarimba Film Festival is committed to exclusively use these copies for cultural purposes and never in a commercial way.
NOTE: If you don’t want that you film take part in our tour, just tell at the moment you are selected and we will just take it off the tour. No biggies.
7. REGULATIONS ACCEPTANCE-By submitting, the participants agree to all regulations set out in these guidelines. Producers, distributors and other people or organizations submitting a film must ensure that any third parties connected to the production agree to its participation in the festival.
8. INFORMATIONIf you still have any doubts, please contact us at info@laguarimba.com
9. PAST EDITIONSFind out what happened last year in this link.
Take a look at the festival:
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