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Introduction to the film festival

Film Festival Highlights

The Cinalfama Lisbon International Film Festival is an annual outdoor event located in the heart of Lisbon's historic neighborhood, Alfama. For a week, we occupy the street with independent films from around the world.

OPEN CALL
We welcome submissions from independent directors, screenwriters, and composers who want to see their work screened at the white walls of Alfama.

ABOUT CINALFAMA
Cinalfama Lisboa International Film Festival celebrates the rich cultural and historical tapestry of one of the city's most iconic areas, providing a unique platform for independent filmmakers worldwide.
We aim to promote cultural and artistic diversity through cinema, highlighting works that address relevant, innovative, and provocative themes. With a carefully curated selection of films, our goal is to offer the audience an engaging and diverse cinematic experience.

To believe in an independent film festival in the streets of one of Lisbon's historic neighborhoods inevitably absorbed by gentrification is to persist and pursue a community utopia where cinema plays a restorative role.
In this context, Cinalfama has been developing a pilot program to collect stories and orality from residents and spaces in the neighborhood, in an attempt to rescue the essence of this population.
Several of the directors who make up the Cinalfama team, such as Pedro Costa, Leonor Teles, and Pedro Cabeleira, are taking part in this pressing project, whose collections are being screened at the Cinalfama Lisboa International Film Festival.

Cinalfama holds a second Open Call for the Film Observatory - regular competitive sessions three times a year (January, April, and October) - with different categories.

Sfilmmaker is our contract submission platform in China, and we look forward to your films.

Awards

1. The winners and nominees will have the opportunity to publicly screen their films at the Cinalfama Lisbon International Film Festival, in July.

2. The winners will receive a laurel and a certificate of participation and distinction (PDF document).

3. A trophy will be awarded to the selected directors.

4. The winners will have a privileged viewing by the ÉCU selection committee, with the possibility of being selected and awarded by the Festival.

5. Promotional materials for the nominated and winning films will be shared on our website and on our social networks.

6. The winner of the Animalfama competition will be automatically selected for the Oscar Qualifying Festival Cinanima.

7. The Guest Country of the Lisbon International Film Festival in 2025 is Brazil and the winner and eventual recipients of honorable mentions will be able to receive financial assistance for travel and accommodation in Lisbon (more news soon).

8. The best films in the City in Film Award section may be screened at the Arquiteturas Festival, in Porto.

Rules

Genre ：Action Comedy War Science fiction Ethics Terror Thriller Violence Adventure Crime Family Music Love Magic Fantasy Shootout Suspense Youth Inspirational Literary Biography Western Drama others Documentary
Subject ：Unlimited
Video Format ：HDV MPEG4 MOV MPEG

The person responsible for submitting the film certifies that they have all the rights and all the authorizations necessary to submit the film, including but not limited to image rights, talent release, soundtrack, and music; and assumes all responsibility for their material.

Cinalfama will not accept responsibility, financial or otherwise, for any film submitted to the festival.

Every entry/submission will be judged on its acting, directing, technical, and artistic merits in relation to the submission. All decisions made by the jury will be considered final and incontestable.

We reserve the right not to award all the designated prizes if we feel we have not received entries that guarantee our quality standards.

Two ex aequo winners may be nominated in any of the categories if the jury so decides.

Cinalfama only accepts online screeners. Please submit your film via one of the Sfilmmaker online platform. We will not accept discs or any other downloadable files.

Cinalfama favors the projection of files exported in Pro Res.

Submission fees are non-refundable.

Multiple entries are authorized. You can submit more than one film in the same category.

All submitted films will be eligible for the next edition if they have not won awards in previous editions.

Submissions in languages other than English must be subtitled in English. These subtitles must be embedded in the film. We will not accept additional srt files.

Only films completed after 2021 will be accepted.

SUBMISSION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Short films will be considered films of up to 30 minutes and medium-length or feature films of more than 30 minutes.

Cinalfama reserves the right to disqualify any film whose submitter may be linked in any way to any illicit or criminal act, whether this link is proven or not.

Promotional materials for the selected, nominated, and awarded films will be announced and visible on our website and our social networks.

All submitted films will be eligible for the next edition if they have not been awarded in previous editions.

The rights holders of the winning films, in each category of all editions, hereby authorize the public screening of the film at Cinalfama events as well as the use of relevant content on our social media platforms. This authorization is indispensable for their inclusion in the festival’s official selection.


Previous Shortlisted And Award-winning Films

Evaluation

Jury Profile
Jury Name Judge photos Jury Profile

Authorization type

    Exclusive Contract

Authorization Letter

Duration (several sessions)

    11

Film Festival Features

  • Red Carpet
  • Filmscreen
  • Trophy
  • Certificate

Dates & Deadlines

  • 2025-07-15
    Submission start time

  • 2025-08-15
    Earlybird Deadline

  • 2025-12-23
    Christmas Deadline

  • 2026-03-03
    Mid Deadline

  • 2026-04-13
    Late Deadline

  • 2026-05-14
    Extended Deadline

  • 2026-06-25
    Final Deadline

  • 2026-06-25
    Submission end time

  • 2026-07-01
    Finalist notification start time

  • 2026-07-01
    Finalist notification end time

  • 2026-07-27
    Award ceremony start time

  • 2026-07-31
    Award ceremony end time

Categories and fees

  • Cinalfama Grand Prize
    Video length ：31 - 120
    Cinalfama’s Grand Prize is the festival’s main award. We welcome films from all countries, genres, or durations.

    2025/08/15
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 9.5 Dollar

    Student： 9.5 Dollar

    2025/12/23
    Christmas Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 12 Dollar

    2026/03/03
    Mid Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 12 Dollar

    2026/04/13
    Late Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    2026/05/14
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 13 Dollar

    Student： 12 Dollar

    2026/06/25
    Final Deadline

    Standard: 13 Dollar

    Student： 12 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • City in Film Award
    Video length ：1 - 30
    Cinalfama’s City in Film Award welcomes all films that have the City has a key role in the narrative, theme or mood of the film.

    2025/08/15
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 10.5 Dollar

    Student： 10.5 Dollar

    2025/12/23
    Christmas Deadline

    Standard: 11 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    2026/03/03
    Mid Deadline

    Standard: 11.5 Dollar

    Student： 11.5 Dollar

    2026/04/13
    Late Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    2026/05/14
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    2026/06/25
    Final Deadline

    Standard: 13 Dollar

    Student： 12 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • Best Micro & No Budget Film
    Video length ：31 - 150
    Cinalfama’s Micro and No Budget Film section welcomes all films produced with few means and where self-sacrifice is turned into a strong cinematic catalyst. We are looking for the strength of cinematic ideas. We only accept films produced with a budget value of less 10.000€.

    2025/08/15
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 10 Dollar

    Student： 10 Dollar

    2025/12/23
    Christmas Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 12 Dollar

    2026/03/03
    Mid Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 12 Dollar

    2026/04/13
    Late Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    2026/05/14
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 13 Dollar

    Student： 12 Dollar

    2026/06/25
    Final Deadline

    Standard: 13 Dollar

    Student： 12 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • Best 1st Timers - Debut Film（Short）
    Video length ：1 - 30
    Cinalfama’s Lisbon 1st Timers section is an opening call to all debut filmmakers to amplify new cinematic voices.

    2025/08/15
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 10 Dollar

    Student： 10 Dollar

    2025/12/23
    Christmas Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    2026/03/03
    Mid Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    2026/04/13
    Late Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    2026/05/14
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 13 Dollar

    Student： 12 Dollar

    2026/06/25
    Final Deadline

    Standard: 14 Dollar

    Student： 13 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • Animalfama - Animated Films
    Video length ：00 - 30
    Cinalfama’s Animalfama is an international animation film section for a mature audience. Cinalfama will select 10 nominated and 1 winning film in this category.

    2025/08/15
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 9 Dollar

    Student： 8 Dollar

    2025/12/23
    Christmas Deadline

    Standard: 10 Dollar

    Student： 9 Dollar

    2026/03/03
    Mid Deadline

    Standard: 11 Dollar

    Student： 10 Dollar

    2026/04/13
    Late Deadline

    Standard: 11 Dollar

    Student： 10 Dollar

    2026/05/14
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    2026/06/25
    Final Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • Best Medium Length Film
    Video length ：31 - 200
    Cinalfama’s Medium Length Film section welcomes films with a 30 to 60 minutes duration: the type of work that doesn’t seem to fit the short film festival format nor the feature film valuable screening slots.

    2025/08/15
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 9 Dollar

    Student： 8 Dollar

    2025/12/23
    Christmas Deadline

    Standard: 10 Dollar

    Student： 9 Dollar

    2026/03/03
    Mid Deadline

    Standard: 11 Dollar

    Student： 10 Dollar

    2026/04/13
    Late Deadline

    Standard: 11 Dollar

    Student： 10 Dollar

    2026/05/14
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    2026/06/25
    Final Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • Best Original Soundtrack
    Video length ：1 - 150
    Rules - If music or additional film material used in your film is not original, then permission from the source must be obtained. The responsibility for this rests entirely with the filmmaker. Failure to obtain clearance could result in your film being withdrawn from the Festival. No separate sound files are allowed. Only music in the actual film, in its entirety, will be appraised.

    2025/08/15
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 9 Dollar

    Student： 8 Dollar

    2025/12/23
    Christmas Deadline

    Standard: 10 Dollar

    Student： 9 Dollar

    2026/03/03
    Mid Deadline

    Standard: 11 Dollar

    Student： 10 Dollar

    2026/04/13
    Late Deadline

    Standard: 11 Dollar

    Student： 10 Dollar

    2026/05/14
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    2026/06/25
    Final Deadline

    Standard: 12 Dollar

    Student： 11 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival

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