Festival Internacional De Cortometrajes Vitafest 2025 (7)

Festival start: 24 November 2025      Festival end: 01 December 2025

VITAFEST, Vitacura International Short Film Festival is a festival dedicated to national and international short films and a meeting point for diverse agents of the Chilean audiovisual industry.

Now in its sixth edition, VITAFEST has established itself as one of the main platforms for the short film format in Latin America, a meeting point for the various agents of the local audiovisual industry and an official showcase for the new local talented filmmakers.

Cash Prizes: 3,000€

Best fiction short film: CLP $1,200,000 + contest award.

Best documentary short film: CLP $700,000 + contest award.

Best video clip: CLP $300,000 + contest award.

Gender perspective: CLP $300,000 + contest award.

This award seeks to promote gender equality and diversity in cinema. This is a new award that is presented in the 6th version of the festival, which seeks to make visible and celebrate cinematographic works made by women, or that are seen from a feminine point of view, whether in direction, script, production or any other key role. within the production team.

B) International

Best fiction short film: recognition and direct participation in Vitafest 2025 + digital recognition of the contest.

C) Best acting performance: competition award.

Only a short film from the national competition with local production or co-production between two or more countries will win. They must belong to the fiction genre.

D) Audience Award: CLP $300,000 + digital recognition of the contest.

The short films belonging to the national nominations in competition will participate on the vitafest.vitacuracultura.cl website for the audience award, where the trailers of the selected films will be uploaded and you can vote for a single short film from each category. The short film that obtains the highest number of votes will be the winner.

1.- GENERAL RULES

- VITAFEST 2025, Vitacura International Short Film Festival, organized by the Vitacura Cultural Corporation through its Vitajoven program, who will be named in these rules as “the organization of VITAFEST 2025”.

Vitafest 2024 will hold its sixth version between November 24 and December 1, 2025, in the district of Vitacura.

- VITAFEST 2025 consists of two stages:

Official Short Film Competition: the national and international call for short film competition is open, where productions can apply in the different categories established for this year 2025: National Fiction, International Fiction, National Documentary and National Videoclip. A short film is understood as a form of audiovisual narrative of short duration, equal to or less than 30 minutes, which tells a story in a concise manner, and may address various genres and themes, according to point 1.3.
Festival: stage where the official selection of short films in competition is exhibited.

We have a team of programmers in charge of selecting the short films, which will be delivered to the jury commission to evaluate and select the winners of each category.

In the audience award stage, only one short film will win the prize, which is chosen by voting on the website vitafest.vitacuracultura.cl.

Only short films that are part of the official competition will participate in the audience award.

Vitafest has a website www.vitafest.vitacuracultura.cl where all the content of the festival is included. It will host the trailers, general information about the selected short films and additional content corresponding to the block “Exhibition of short films out of competition”.

On the website, it will be possible to vote for a favorite short film for the audience award, within the entire official selection made for the festival.

The trailers will be available for public viewing between November 15 and December 3, 2025.

The block “Exhibition of short films out of competition” will be available for public viewing between November 15 and December 3, 2025.

The Festival will be held in person in the Vitacura district between November 24 and December 1, 2025, where various activities will be held for the participants; some of them will be open to the public. The activities and their schedules will be announced 15 days prior to the beginning of the festival through the website vitafest.vitacuracultura.cl.

1.2 - VITAFEST 2025 reserves the right to decide whether the programmed activities will be carried out in person, through digital platforms or in a mixed manner.

1.3 - Entries are open for national and international short fiction films, documentaries and music videos. All productions must have been completed after June 1, 2023. There is no entry fee.

1.4 - Only one short film per director and a maximum of two short films per production company may be submitted.

1.5 - Exhibition formats for short films:
The accepted format for exhibition in competition is DCP 23,976 fps, Sound 5.1 or failing that 2.0 (must be notified), resolution from 1920 x 1080p (Full HD) to 3840 x 2160 (4K), subtitles of 44 characters per line (2 lines maximum per dialogue), use yellow range for texts according to the color correction of the video. Other formats will not be accepted.

The DCP of the short film must be uploaded to the registration platform https://festhome.com/festival/vitafest-2025 so that in case of being selected for the competition, the copy will be available for downloading by the festival production.

1.6 - VITAFEST 2025 will give priority to premieres, both national and international, in the categories of national and international short fiction and documentary.

1.7 - Selected films will be screened in their original version:

For Chilean short films it will be required that the digital projection copy has english subtitles incorporated in the copy.


For foreign short films it will be required that the digital copy of the screening has Spanish subtitles incorporated in the copy.

2.- COMPETITIONS, JURIES and awards

2.1 - VITAFEST 2025 includes 4 official competition categories divided into:

National (fiction, documentary, videoclip) and 1 category of the International area (fiction).

There will be 1 out-of-competition category called “Out-of-competition short film exhibition”.

A) National:

Fiction: short films only of Chilean production or co-production with Chile (co-production being understood as a production that is made with a counterpart not belonging to Chile but that corresponds to a national project), with a maximum duration of the audiovisual piece of 30 minutes.

Documentary: Chilean short films only of local production or co-production with Chile (co-production means a production that is made with a non-Chilean counterpart but corresponds to a national project), with a maximum duration of the audiovisual piece of 30 minutes.

Videoclip: National music videoclips only of Chilean production and made by musical artists of the local scene, with a free theme and a maximum duration of the audiovisual piece of 15 minutes.

B) International
Fiction: short films of non-Chilean production, being nominated as projects not originating from the national territory.

C) Out-of-competition exhibition:

Only short films of Chilean production or co-production with Chile (understood by co-production as a production that is made with a non-Chilean counterpart but corresponds to a national project) that have not been selected for the official competition may apply.

The productions will be selected and their production team will be notified so that they can give the festival organization the authorization to be exhibited.

The short films will be geolocalized for Chilean territory. They will be exhibited on the festival's website www.vitafest.vitacuracultura.cl from November 15th to December 3rd, 2025.

With this category we seek to recognize and make visible works of national audiovisual filmmakers, reach larger audiences and encourage the viewing of short films nationwide.

The required format for this category is DCP 23,976 fps, Sound 5.1 or 2.0 (must be notified), resolution from 1920 x 1080p (Full HD) to 3840 x 2160 (4K), subtitles of 44 characters per line (2 lines maximum per dialogue), use a range of yellow for the texts according to the color correction of the video.

Other formats will not be accepted.

The DCP file format of the short film must be uploaded to the registration platform https://festhome.com/festival/vitafest-2025 so that in case of being selected for the competition, the copy will be available for downloading by the festival production.

2.2 - The jury of the competition will choose only one winner for each category, who will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held on December 1, 2025, at Sala Vitacura, Auditorio de la Municipalidad de Vitacura (Av. Bicentenario 3.800, Vitacura), at 7:30 pm.

2.3 - The organization of VITAFEST 2025 will program the short films of each category within the official program of the festival. The films in competition must specify if they will have their national premiere at VITAFEST 2025, since the premieres will have a special mention within the festival. The term “national premiere” is understood to mean productions in competition that are being presented for the first time at a national festival.

2.4 - The organization of VITAFEST 2025 will select the finalist short films, which will participate in the “audience award” and in the festival's activities. The organization of VITAFEST 2025 will also be in charge of appointing the members of the jury.

2.5 - Audience Award: once the call for entries has ended, the selection of short films that will participate in the festival's activities will be made. This selection is in charge of the festival's organization team. The selected trailers will be uploaded to vitafest.vitacuracultura.cl and the public will be able to register on the website to vote for a single short film in each category.

The short film that obtains the most votes among all the categories will be the winner of the “audience award”.

2.6 - The jury's votes to choose the winners of each category will be secret and decisions will be taken by simple majority. A representative of VITAFEST 2025 will attend the jury's deliberations, but without the right to vote.

The members of the jury firmly undertake not to publicly express their opinions regarding the films submitted for their consideration, prior to the official announcement of the awards. Any conflict not foreseen in the present regulations will be resolved by the organization of VITAFEST 2025.

The composition of the jury, chosen by the festival organization, will be as follows:

15 members from outside the competing productions and at least 2/3 must be an active part of the local audiovisual circuit.

Each category will be reviewed by 3 members of the jury, who will be selected by the Vitafest production team according to the competencies and areas of expertise of each of them.

2.6 - The prizes to be awarded by the jury are as follows:

A) National

Best Fiction Short Film: CLP $1.200.000.- + competition award.

Best documentary short film: CLP $700.000.- + contest award.

Best music video: CLP $300,000.- + competition award.

Gender perspective: CLP $300,000 + contest award.

This award seeks to promote gender equality and diversity in film. This is a new award given in the 7th version of the festival, which seeks to make visible and celebrate the films made by women, or which are seen from a female point of view, whether in direction, screenplay, production or any other key role within the production team.

B) International
Best fiction short film: recognition and direct participation in Vitafest 2026 + digital recognition of the contest.

C) Best acting performance: contest award.

Only one short film from the national competition with local production or co-production between two or more countries will win. Must belong to the fiction genre.

D) Audience Award: CLP $300.000 + digital recognition of the competition.

The short films belonging to the national nominations in competition will participate in the website vitafest.vitacuracultura.cl for the audience award, where the trailers of the selected films will be uploaded and it will be possible to vote for only one trailer of the short film in each category. The short film with the highest number of votes will be the winner.

2.7 - There will be only one winner of the Audience Award, as well as one award for each category in competition.

The juries of the International Competition and the National Competition may propose only one special mention. No short film may receive more than two awards.

2.8 - The producers of short films that have received an award at VITAFEST 2025 must mention it in all publicity and press material, including the VITAFEST 2025 logo, which will be sent to them in due course.

2.9 - After accepting participation in any of the categories, the works in competition may not be withdrawn from VITAFEST 2025. Nor may they be exhibited in Chile on any platform other than Vitafest (this includes any broadcasting platform, such as the Internet or other than vitafest.vitacuracultura.cl) one month before the date of VITAFEST 2025.

3.0 - All short films in competition that win an award in their category must present a representative to attend the awards ceremony to receive the award. If they are unable to attend, they must notify the VITAFEST 2025 organization at least one week in advance. The ceremony is scheduled for Monday, December 2nd at Sala Vitacura - Centro Cívico Municipalidad de Vitacura (Av. Bicentenario 3800, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile), at 7:30 pm.

In case of no-show with the respective notice, the prize for that category will be declared void.

3.- INSCRIPTIONS AND REQUIRED MATERIALS

3.1 - VITAFEST 2025 has an application mechanism for short films, in which the applicant must send his/her material within the deadlines indicated below:

Opening of applications: April 28, 2025, at 9:00 am. On the platform www.festhome.com
Closing date for applications: June 23, 2025, until 23:59 hrs.

Publication of selected candidates: September 30, 2025, at 16:00 hrs.

Public voting on the web: from November 15 to November 24, 2025, until 23:59 hrs.

Awards: December 01, 2025, at 19:30 hrs.

3.2 - online film submission platform: The “FESTHOME: The online Film Festival Submission Center” platform, recognized worldwide, is a film distribution service (feature and short films) through the Internet that offers online viewing quality (up to 2000 kbps); this system will be available for automatic submission for Vitafest 2025. The producer will be able to register his film through the website https://festhome.com/festival/vitafest-2025, where he will find all the necessary information for his application.

Projects corresponding to the Videoclip category will be able to apply through a form that will be uploaded to the vitafest website on the festival registration dates.

In case of no-show with the respective notice, the prize for that category will be declared void.

3.3 - Basic information required to be requested in the registration form:
Authors' contact telephone number.
Authors' contact e-mail address.
Country of origin and commune of the authors.
Date of creation.

Copyright statement (a document will be sent by mail to all short films selected to participate in Vitafest 2025).

If the short film uses third party material (music, script, etc.), it must declare that it has the corresponding permissions, as well as any payment for them, and be able to prove it within 5 working days after its application to Vitafest 2025. The Cultural Corporation will have no responsibility in the event that the participant does not present them, being the participant's responsibility to make the necessary arrangements for the declaration.

All short films that apply to the contest must have a DCP copy to be shown in theaters. This copy must be uploaded to festhome.com.

4.- SELECTED SHORT FILMS

4.1 - Catalog: in order to correctly edit the selection of short films that will be uploaded to the website www.vitafest.vitacuracultura.cl, VITAFEST 2025 will extract the material of each selected short film as specified in these rules, therefore it is mandatory that the following materials be attached to the entry form:

Synopsis of the film (600 characters max.)
Biofilmography of the director, including at least year, city and country of birth; and his or her released works.

High resolution portrait photography of the director.

Four or more photos of the audiovisual work, also in high resolution.

List of technical and artistic credits, including at least:

Director
Executive producers
Screenwriter
Director of photography
Art director
Editor or editor
Musician
Cast
Trailer -if any-.

4.2 - Decisions regarding the editorial content of the catalog are the responsibility of the Corporación Cultural de Vitacura, being the Corporation who decides which short films are exhibited, the days, the format and in which instances of the festival they are exhibited, among other possible options.

5. - EVALUATION

The jury of the competition will select the winning short films in each category; only one winning short film per category will be selected.

The short films that obtain the highest number of points will be selected.

The score goes from 0 to 3, where 0 means not selected - 1 average - 2 good - 3 excellent. The average score of the jurors will be used to select the winning short film.

In the event of a tie, preference will be given to those films that have obtained the highest score in the “story” criterion.

In the event of another tie, the VITAFEST 2025 organization will select the finalist short films.

5.1 - Evaluation criteria:
Story (and the way it is told).
Screenplay.
Quality of the characters.
Direction of actors.
The correct use of shots and angles.
Lighting.
Sound and music.
Editing.

5.2 - Evaluation table

(check at vitafest.vitacuracultura.cl)

6. - PRESS AND PUBLICITY

6.1 - From the applications received in the short film contest, the Vitafest production team will make an official selection of short films to participate in the festival.

VITAFEST 2025, the Cultural Corporation of Vitacura, its Vitajoven program and the Municipality of Vitacura, may use fragments of the films -of a maximum of 3 minutes- and photos (extra to those requested in the application), for promotional purposes. The websites and social networks of VITAFEST 2025, the Cultural Corporation of Vitacura, its Vitajoven program and the Municipality of Vitacura, may include graphic material and any promotional support they deem convenient. If the fragments are not available from the film producer, VITAFEST 2025 may copy one or more fragments of the film, only for promotional purposes and for use before, during and after VITAFEST 2025 and until December 2026.

6.2 - The producers of the selected films will be required to provide VITAFEST 2025 with a corresponding screener to be sent with embargo (or with specific key for viewing if required) to film critics and festival programmers who wish to view the film in advance of festival screenings; for promotional and dissemination purposes.

7.- ACCEPTANCE OF THE RULES

By the mere fact of applying to the Vitafest 2025 Short Film Contest, the participant accepts these rules.

In the case of being selected, all projects must attach the copyright assignment document duly signed by the director of the short film production. This document will be sent to all projects selected for the official competition.

In case of conflict, the organization of VITAFEST 2025 will resolve it in accordance with the regulations of the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) regarding international film events.

The organization of the event reserves the right to make the decisions it deems appropriate for those cases not foreseen in these rules.