i-Fest International Film Festival (6)

Festival start: 04 September 2025      Festival end: 14 September 2025

i-Fest International Film Festival is an international cultural event dedicated to Cinema and New Technologies, to date it is indicated among the most important and representative events of the Italian panorama and an essential innovative creative, educational and experiential appointment for the territories in which it takes place, Calabria and Palermo (Sicily).
i-Fest, a registered brand, is an original innovative cultural project, incredibly rich in artistic proposals and relevant cultural and experiential activities, multidisciplinary and transversal in the involvement of a vast territory and specific target audiences.
The uniqueness of i-Fest was born in the planning phase, it is in fact the Festival of the "5 i":
International/Innovation/Instruction/Information/Inspiration constitute the 5 fundamental principles, they tell the concept of the event and define its objectives: to spread the European and international cinematographic culture in the multiple forms of expression and in the different genres and styles through an analytical path and a experimental; tell the multiplicity of the cinematographic universe with a specific focus on international cinema; present an innovative, dynamic, stimulating and always attentive event of the most modern digital languages; spread the professions of cinema through a rich didactic and educational activity; involve new talents from the national, European and international film scene; transmitting positive values to young people, proposing activities in healthy, stimulating, creative environments and making the new generations aware of important environmental and social issues through specific dedicated activities; propose a literacy path for the younger generations through multiple dedicated activities; ensure cultural pluralism through a differentiated cinematographic and audiovisual offer; support and increase the involvement and development of different target audiences; present the most modern audiovisual technologies through a proposal of innovative experiences (VR, digital exhibitions, multimedia experiences); develop feelings of pride and a sense of belonging through broad and transversal involvement, describing the territory in its positive aspects, enhancing its qualities and transmitting quality, beauty and hospitality to the numerous national and international guests.

i-Fest is a constantly evolving and growing hub which, with a great sense of responsibility towards its audience, great love for its territory and constant and passionate work, offers from 2020 an event which, also in relation to the reference territory and thanks to its rapid growth, it has reached truly important dimensions. The 2024 edition presented 6 international competitions, 6 out-of-competition reviews (over 160 screenings), 20 national and international guests and a rich educational activity (15 masterclasses/educational meetings/workshops).

In recent editions the guests who took part in i-Fest: the Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr., the double Oscar winner Paul Haggis, the great Polish director Lech Majewski, the Spanish director Inés Paris (winner of several Goya awards), the American Heather Parisi (Italian exclusive), Ezio Greggio, the great Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini (Italian exclusive) who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the French director Éric Gravel Golden Lion at Venice and Cesar Award, the Romanian actress Madalina Ghenea, the myth of Italian cinema Sandra Milo, the directors Enrico Vanzina, Giorgio Verdelli, Alessandro Rossellini, the extraordinary Milena Vukotic, the oriental artists Tsai Ming liang, Kiki Sugino, Momi Yamashita, Franco Nero, Lino Banfi, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Milcho Manchevski, Albert Serra, Matteo Garrone, Michele Placido, Nino Frassica, Cristian Mungiu, Raoul Bova and many others.

AWARDS

i-Fest Award 2025 SHORT FILMS:
- Best Short Film - Rai Cinema Channel Award
- Best Director
- Best Original Screenplay - SIAE Award
- Best Actor/Best Actress
- Special Jury Prize

i-Fest Award 2025 FEATURE FILMS:
- Best Feature Film - Italian Film Institute Award
- Best Director
- Best Actor/Best Actress

i-Fest Award 2025 DOCUMENTARIES:
- Best Documentary
- Best Director

i-Fest Award 2025 ANIMATED SHORTS:
- Best Animated Short Film

i-Fest Award 2025 CINEMA WITHOUT BORDERS:
- Special Prize i-Fest PEOPLE "C.C. Rosetta Sisca"

Art. 1
Within the 2025 edition of i-Fest International Film Festival, the “Orizzonti” Contest is launched, a film competition dedicated to Feature Films, Short Films, Documentaries and Animated Short Films in media partnership with Rai Cinema Channel and in collaboration with Italian Film Institute.

Art. 2
The works must be sent through the FilmFreeway platform (https://filmfreeway.com/i-Fest) no later than August 15 2025.

Art. 3
All works (Feature Films, Short Films and Documentaries) of authors of any nationality in any language can be accepted.
Non-Italian works should be accompanied by Italian and/or english subtitles.
The works received will be divided into the following sections:
- Short films and Animated Short Films: maximum duration of 30 minutes, credits included. The theme is free and works already winning or participating in other festivals are allowed.
- Feature Films and Documentaries: no time limit. The theme is free and works already winning or participating in other festivals are allowed.
Pornographic projects are excluded or racial or ethnic violence is exempt, which is contrary to respect for human rights, animal rights, the security of persons and freedom of expression.

Art. 4
Each author can submit a maximum of n. 3 works.
Participation in the competition requires a registration fee for each work:
-
Early Fee: march 29 - may 15 > Euros 25,00 (or $ 21.95)
Regular Fee: may 16 - june 15 > Euros 30,00 (or $ 27.44)
Late Fee: june 16 - august 15 > Euros 35,00 (or $ 32.93)
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Physical media copies are not accepted and the Festival will not return any media received. In case of exclusion from the competition for the failure to comply with all the requirements, the registration fee will not be refunded.


Art. 5
Incomplete or illegible works will not be considered. The signatory of registration declares to be the owner of all the rights of use of the work and of each of its members; ensures that its contents are in its availability and do not violate existing laws or regulations or third party rights and in particular copyright, right to image, trademark and patents for industrial inventions; assures and declares, moreover, that the work has no defamatory content. In any case, the participant must arrange for any loss, damage, liability, costs and expenses of any kind that should be incurred due to the content of the work and its public screening.
The entries will not be returned and will be part of the archives of the i-Fest International Film Festival Organization. The works may be shown for cultural and educational purposes without profit. The Organization reserves the right to use the material received for any subsequent or previous events and reserves the right to select them also for the competitions of the editions that will be held in Palermo with the obligation to quote the source and inform the authors or rights holders in advance.

Art. 6
A preselection commission, composed of experts in the field, at its unquestionable judgment will choose the works to be presented in the official competition. The selection of the winning works will be carried out by the jury's insight and judgment. Participation in the official competition will be announced within one week before the Festival starts, via the contacts obligatory included in the registration form.

Art. 7
The Jury and the Festival Organization reserve the right not to award the prizes, to divide them ex-aequo among several participants, to set up other awards not specified in this regulation. The choices of the Jury and the Preselection Commission are unquestionable and unqualified. It will be possible to retire all the awards during the i-Fest International Film Festival final day; or the awards will be send to the winner at the expense of the recipient.

Art. 8
The Festival Organization reserves the right to make decisions regarding issues not specified in this regulation and may decide to cancel, postpone, reduce or interrupt the Festival's performance without being subject to complaint or claim.

Art. 9
Participants give, from now on, unconditional consent, pursuant to Law 675/96 on the protection of privacy, to the use of personal data for all initiatives related to the Competition.

Art. 10
Participation in the Contest implies the full acceptance of this Regulation, automatically accepted by the participants by simply forwarding the work to the Competition. The Festival Organization reserves the right to make decisions regarding issues not specified in this regulation and may decide to cancel, postpone, reduce or to stop the Festival's performance without being subject to complaint or complaint. The Competition Authority shall have the right to a final decision on any matter not specified in this Regulation. The courts of Cosenza shall be the competent forum on any dispute.