Submit your film

Deadline June 30 2025

22nd Salento International
Film Festival

Regulations

FESTIVAL DURATION
The 22nd Salento International Film Festival will take place from Tuesday, November 19 to Sunday, November 29, 2025, spanning a total of 6 days.

THE FESTIVAL
The Salento International Film Festival (SIFF) is dedicated to promoting knowledge, tolerance, and cultural diversity through cinema. The Festival aims to represent cultural diversity by showcasing a selection of films that highlight stories from around the world, offering audiences a glimpse into the richness of human experiences. SIFF supports cinema in any language, not only as an art form but also as a vehicle for intercultural understanding, emphasizing how linguistic diversity contributes to the richness of the cinematic landscape and global comprehension. Cinema is regarded as one of the most powerful tools for cultural communication and a bridge between cultures and people.

GENERAL REGULATIONS

OBJECTIVES

Salento Film Festival 2025: A Vision for the Future of Cinema
The Salento Film Festival serves as a creative hub and meeting point for new international cinema, capable of exploring fresh perspectives and bold artistic trends. With a special focus on emerging filmmakers, young talent, and independent cinema, the festival becomes a crossroads where unique stories and visions come to life. In its competitive sections, SIFF celebrates the discovery and promotion of works by new authors, highlighting films that stand out for their stylistic, narrative, and formal originality. Here, experimentation meets talent, offering both audiences and industry professionals a cinematic experience that inspires and challenges conventions.

Eligible Film Categories

The Festival features six competitive sections with an open theme:

  • Feature Films
  • Documentaries
  • Short Films, divided into:
    • Women in Cinema
    • International Shorts
    • Italian Shorts
    • Focus Iran
    • Non-competitive sections include tributes, special events, and discussions.

SELECTION RESULTS

The selection of films is the responsibility of the selection committee. Films chosen for SIFF will be placed in the section deemed most appropriate by the programming team.

The official Festival program is finalized and approved by the Artistic Direction.

The selection committee will notify participants via email and publish the results on the Festival’s website: www.salentofilmfestival.com.

SIFF does not cover rental fees for films selected in the two international competition sections. Participants are responsible for shipping costs of physical media (DVDs, USBs, or Hard Drives) to and from Tricase unless specific agreements are made with the Festival organization.

SELECTED FILMS

For selected films, the following materials must be provided to the email address: film@salentofilmfestival.com:

  • Short synopsis (maximum 150 words)
  • Full synopsis (700-1000 words)
  • Press kit
  • Director’s photo in HD
  • Director’s bio
  • 5 stills from the film in HD
  • English subtitle file in .srt format
  • Poster in PDF and/or JPG format
  • Film screening format
  • Trailer and film clips

To put it online it will be necessary to fill in and sign the specific release authorizing the Festival to transmit and publish and/or disseminate, in any form, the audio, video and photographic material of the selected work exclusively on the streaming platform associated with the Festival. Furthermore, you are authorized to publish only promotional material of the selected work on Siff’s social networks (Instagram, Facebook and YouTube). You will be able to choose between a geolocalization blocked to Italy only and an international geolocalization.

The permitted projection formats are: DCP, MP4/mov files.

It will be the festival’s responsibility to produce the DCP for screening in theaters

mov h264 files: the Festival accepts files in mov h264 format (AAC-AC3 audio-mpeg audio; maximum bitrate 15000 b/s).

MP4/mov files: the Festival accepts only the mp4/mov format for online screening with the following requirements; Resolution: 1920×1080 | Frame Rate: 23.976 / 24 FPS recommended | 25 FPS | Codec: H.264 | mp4 / Subtitle format: .srt

b) The selected film files can be sent: via downloadable link (Google Drive, WeTransfer or Vimeo services) to the email address ….

c) The Festival does not recognize rental costs for films selected in the sections of international competitions. The shipping costs of physical media (DVD, USB or Hard Disk) will be borne by the participants, unless specific agreements are made with the Festival organization .

d) Films in Italian language must be subtitled in English. In the event that the screening copy is not identical to the one sent for selection, it is required to send a new copy in file or DVD (for which the Festival does not cover shipping costs) for subtitling.

SCREENING RIGHTS

The responsibility for screening rights and music rights lies with the author. Participation in the call for submissions implies that the author grants cultural and distribution rights for non-profit screenings. Registration for the Festival authorizes the screening of the work during the event. For any further uses, the author will be contacted.

Acceptance of these regulations also implies that the person submitting the work possesses the legal rights to it.

Participants agree that the Festival may use photos or excerpts from their film (up to 3 minutes) for promotional purposes (press, TV, internet, etc.).

PRIVACY POLICY

By submitting their work and registering for the competition, participants consent to the processing of their personal data for competition purposes, in accordance with Legislative Decree No. 196/2003 and Article 13 of the European Regulation 2016/679 – GDPR.

The participant authorizes Associazione Fuori Rotta, or any entity designated by it, which organizes the Salento International Film Festival, to publish images, photographs, footage, and/or video recordings taken during the Festival on its website, in catalogs, and/or through other communication channels deemed appropriate, as well as at public and private dissemination events, without compromising personal dignity or decorum. The participant also declares that this authorization does not conflict with any contractual agreements and/or rights held by representation agencies, releasing Associazione Fuori Rotta from any third-party claims related to this rights concession. The participant authorizes the use of images and music free of charge.

In accordance with Legislative Decree 196/2003 and Article 13 of the European Regulation 2016/679 – GDPR, the participant declares to be fully informed of the purposes and methods of personal data processing as indicated on the form and authorizes the archiving of the submitted material in the Festival’s historical records.

All personal data and information protected under privacy laws will be processed in compliance with principles of fairness, legality, and transparency, safeguarding participants’ rights, and according to the purposes and methods described in the privacy policy of the Salento International Film Festival, the data controller.

The participant declares full ownership of the economic exploitation rights granted by Law 633/1941 on the cinematographic work submitted to this Festival.

The organization reserves the right to use all submitted materials and works evaluated by the juries, including finalists, for promotional purposes related to the Festival’s social message.

These materials may be publicly screened at promotional events or public presentations deemed of significant social importance by the Salento International Film Festival or any designated entity.

ARCHIVE RIGHTS

Works submitted for pre-selection will not be returned but will be used exclusively as archival material. The Association or its designated entity, as the creator and producer of the Festival, reserves the right to use archived materials for promotional purposes, strictly non-commercial. By submitting a participation request, the author and/or any rights holders of the work authorize its use for Festival screenings, study purposes, and showcases solely to promote the event.

By registering, the participant authorizes the Salento International Film Festival to retain the work, if selected for participation, in its archive and grants access to such archives to film and audiovisual industry professionals, as pre-approved by SIFF.

By agreeing to the regulations, the participant also grants the rights for the use of the work, both directly and indirectly, including through sublicensees, within the territory indicated in the regulations, exclusively for non-commercial/non-profit purposes (e.g., to promote the work and/or its authors, for cultural purposes, for institutional purposes of the licensee and/or its sublicensees, for educational initiatives in schools, etc.).