Kursaal Film Festival San Sebastián - KFFSS (6)

Festival start: 15 September 2025      Festival end: 05 October 2025

The Kursaal Film Festival San Sebastián (KFFSS) is an international short film festival that stands out for promoting the talent of filmmakers.

The "Filmmaker's Dragonheart Award" is recognized as the award for the talent and courage of filmmakers who, through their efforts, have managed to realize their dream.

PRIZES:

“FILMMAKER’S DRAGONHEART” TROPHY Award:

- CINEART KFFSS - Best FICTION short film.

- CINEART KFFSS - Best ANIMATED Short Film.

- CINEART KFFSS - Best DOCUMENTARY Short Film.

DIPLOMA ACCESSIT(will be selected from among the CINEART finalist nominees)

- HORROR KFFSS
- SCIFI KFFSS
- COMEDY KFFSS
- CHILDREN KFFSS
- SPORTS KFFSS
- MUSIC KFFSS
- DANCE KFFSS
- CULINARY KFFSS
- HUMAN RIGHTS(HHRR) KFFSS
- EXPERIMENTAL KFFSS

The “Kursaal Film Festival San Sebastián” (KFFSS) is an international short film festival promoted by the Kursaal Kino Cultural Association (A2K). The festival format is hybrid with online VOD exhibition (streaming) and projection of the award-winning films (screening).

By enrolling in the KFFSS, the participating filmmaker agrees to be bound by the following

RULES OF PARTICIPATION

1/.- GENERAL REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS:

• Genre of the films is free, within the framework established by these bases.

• duration from 1 to 30 minutes.

• Movies must be installed on Vimeo (with access key), accessible without age restrictions and with the embed option enabled.

• languages: Films in a language other than Spanish must have subtitles in Spanish, in selectable SRT format, preferably not burned in the video.

• Registration must be made by the director, the producer or by the legal representatives of the distribution of the short film (hereinafter filmmaker), who must have the rights to the contents of the work and the rest of the materials provided.

• They must be original artistic works, excluding mere reproductions of events of any kind and those of an advertising nature.

• As an international festival, works from any country are admitted.

• If the work has not been awarded in previous editions, it can be submitted again.

• Production deadline: There is no limitation.

• Maximum number of works by each author: There is no limitation.


2/.- PROGRAM:

a.- Registration from April 1 to June 30, 2025.

b.- Notification on July 20, 2025.

c.- Festival from September 15 to October 5, 2025.

d.- Closing gala of the festival on October 4, 2025.


3/.- prizes:

“FILMMAKER’S DRAGONHEART” CINEART TROPHY Award:

- CINEART FICTION KFFSS - Best FICTION short film.

- CINEART ANIMATION KFFSS - Best ANIMATED Short Film.

- CINEART DOCUMENTARY KFFSS - Best DOCUMENTARY Short Film.

ACCESSIT DIPLOMA (will be selected from among the CINEART finalist nominees)

- HORROR KFFSS

- SCIFI KFFSS

- COMEDY KFFSS

- CHILDREN KFFSS

- HUMAN RIGHTS(HHRR) KFFSS

- SPORTS KFFSS

- MUSIC KFFSS

- DANCE KFFSS

- CULINARY KFFSS

- EXPERIMENTAL KFFSS


4/.- REGISTRATION AND SELECTION PROCESS

The pre-registration and pre-selection will be carried out through the Festhome platform.

Once the short film has been pre-selected on Festhome platform, the filmmaker will be notified by email so that they can permanently register online on the KFFSS festival web platform as a requirement to enter the competition phase in "Officially Selected", and cannot be withdrawn. or changed the short film on Vimeo since then.

The filmmaker undertakes to keep his selected short film accessible to the KFFSS, on Vimeo (with access code), for the entire duration of the festival.

To register the film on the KFFSS web platform, we recommend that filmmakers have a presentation of their own prepared with three basic elements:

a/.- Photograph of the filmmaker, with the person centered, portrait format.

b/.- Video of the filmmaker greeting the spectators of the festival (3 minutes max.)

c/.- Video with the trailer of the film.

d/.- Video with the making of the film.

These three videos can be on Youtube or Vimeo, accessible to the public, without age restrictions and with the embed option enabled.

A Jury chosen by KFFSS will determine the final nominated short films and the winners of the different awards. The decisions of the jury will be secret and unappealable.

Award-winning films will be invited to send the festival a copy of their film, with recorded subtitles in Spanish, for screening.

5/.- FESTIVAL OFFICE:

Kursaal Kino Cultural Association (A2K)
San Sebastián (España/Spain)
email: kursaalffss @ gmail.com

6/.- GUARANTEES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PARTICIPANTS.
In order to respect the rights of third parties and to avoid anomalous situations in the development of the KFFSS, it is reported that:

6.a).- PROTECTION OF MINORS. KFFSS is a festival aimed at an adult audience (over the legal age or 18 years), so KFFSS and A2K cannot control the access of minors. For this reason, KFFSS and A2K cannot accept any responsibility in this regard, warning that parents and guardians will be the only ones responsible for controlling and assisting minors in browsing the pages of KFFSS and the festival website, and they will also be responsible for enabling any other necessary mechanisms that, where appropriate, prevent access by minors, not admitting KFFSS and A2K any responsibility or claim in this regard.

6.b).- CONTENT OF THE SHORT FILMS. The participating filmmaker who registers a short film in the KFFSS must have all the intellectual property rights (video, music, script, etc.), image rights and public distribution by any means necessary for this, and will be legally responsible for its content. They will be responsible for its content and for any declarations, obligations and responsibilities assumed by the fact of participation in accordance with the bases contained in this document. The short films may not contain any type of illegal material, or pornographic, or that violates any third-party rights. The participating filmmaker will be solely and exclusively responsible for the claims received by KFFSS, A2K or the jury for this reason, exempting them from any liability arising from their use and assuming any financial or other responsibilities that may arise.

6.c).- RIGHTS OF THE SHORT FILMS. Participation in the KFFSS supposes the free transfer by the participating filmmakers, without any territorial limitation and for the duration of the festival, of all the rights of reproduction, public communication, availability and distribution of the short films presented to the festival. (including fragments or trailers of the same and any type of graphic material of the short films, if required): (i) for its exhibition, inclusion and dissemination during the festival in screening and/or streaming mode; (ii) in other media of public and/or private entities that participate in collaborating with the festival. Participants assume that KFFSS may communicate the name of the winners by any means of communication.

7/.- VARIOUS.
In the event that: (i) there were no participants, (ii) the follow-up was less than expected, or (iii) the quality of the short films was not the minimum required by KFFSS and/or the Jury, the awards may be declared void or this edition of the festival may be cancelled. It may also be modified or cancelled, in whole or in part, and the festival may be postponed, even once it has started, due to circumstances of force majeure at the discretion of KFFSS.

KFFSS may withdraw from the festival any short film that does not meet the participation requirements set forth in these BASES or does not comply with them.

In case of translation of these Bases into any other language, the Spanish language version will always prevail.

The person responsible for the personal data provided as a result of participation in the KFFSS is A2K, which will treat them in accordance with the regulations applicable in Spain and according to the privacy policy of the KFFSS, which you can also find both in the registration forms at the KFFSS as a permanent link at the bottom of our website.

For any litigious matter that could arise from this festival, both KFFSS and the winners and other participants in it expressly waive any jurisdiction that may correspond to them, and expressly submit to the Courts and Tribunals of the city of San Sebastián (Spain).

THE ACT OF PARTICIPATING OR ATTEMPTING TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS EDITION OF THE FESTIVAL ASSUMES THE TOTAL ACCEPTANCE OF THESE RULES. IN CASE OF UNEXPECTED SITUATIONS, KFFSS WILL DECIDE AT ALL TIMES.