Calling all short films, film school films and début feature films: to find out whether your film is eligible for one of the prestigious Official Selection categories, please take a moment to read through the pre-selection rules and requirements.
It is not possible to submit a film for both La Cinef and Short Film Competition. A student film must be registered with La Cinef and cannot be submitted to the Short Film Competition.
The Camera D’or is not a specific category, it is an award. However, all selected first feature films compete for the Camera d’or, awarded to the best first film presented in the Official Selection (Competition, Out of Competition, Un Certain Regard), in the Director’s Fortnight or in the Semaine de la Critique.
The parallel section preselection rules and regulations can be found on the Directors’ Fortnight and La Semaine de la Critique websites.
To submit your first feature film to the Festival de Cannes, please take into consideration the preselection rules and regulations of the Official Selection.
All registration requests are made via the “My Account” registration portal.
Before submitting your film, please read the preselection conditions and rules for each section.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
The Selection Committee of the Festival de Cannes is exclusively in charge of the Official Selection and decides in which section a film can participate.
The non-official sections Director’s Fortnight and La Semaine de la Critique are independent of the Festival de Cannes. They are in charge of their own respective selections.
PRESELECTION CONDITIONS
Only feature films that meet the following conditions may be chosen for invitation to the Official Selection:
FILM DURATION
In order to be selected as a feature film, your film must be more than 60 minutes long.
The Festival de Cannes does not accept films with a duration of between 15 and 60 minutes.
DEADLINES
The registration deadline is March 14th, 2025. (By this date, the registration form below must have been filled out and validated).
One of the accepted formats submitted for preselection must be received by the Festival no later than March 21st, 2025.
MATERIAL
Whatever equipment used for shooting the film (mini DV, super 8, 35mm…), only the following will be accepted for the preselection:
Please send your film once only and in one format only.
NOTA BENE: It is possible to present a working copy of the film. When filling out the entry form, please state if your submission is the final version or a working version. Submission of a working copy does not allow for later submission of a final copy.
SUBTITLING
The Selection Committee will accept films:
SHIPPING
DCP / DVD / Blu-ray: they must be sent by mail directly to the Film Department at the Festival office (please find the address at the end of the entry form). If are sent through an express parcel service your package should read “For cultural purposes only” and “Without commercial value” on the package. For any materials sent by express parcel service, payment for delivery must have been made in full, including any duty and taxes. Otherwise, the Festival reserves the right not to accept the package.
It is also possible to make delivery in person or by courier. (Please check our office hours in advance.)
APPLICATION AND SCREENING FEE FOR THE PRESELECTION
The application and screening fee must be paid at the time of online registration (using the form below). The application and screening costs are borne by the producer or the sender.
MEANS OF PAYMENT
Only payment by credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard / Eurocard, and American Express is accepted. Your credit card will be debited on a secure website when filling in the entry form.
Payment validates the completion of registration. All payments must be made in euros.
RETURN
The return transport costs are borne by the producer or by the return consignee for the print. The total invoice (transport, screening, etc.) must be paid upon arrival of the print in order for us to release the print once the Selection Committee has screened it.
Other screening materials: Following the screening, the various materials received are not returned to the sender by the Festival. (Note however that materials may be picked up directly from the Festival offices until July 11th, 2025)
IF YOUR FILM IS SELECTED
RULES AND REGULATIONS
Short films must be directly uploaded during the registration process (cf. Technical Specifications below).
Any short film sent in other formats (DVD, BluRay, Mini DV, Beta, …) will be viewed. There is no fee for the short film submission and your film must only be uploaded once.
NOTA BENE: It is possible to present a working copy of the film. When filling out the entry form, please state if your submission is the final version or a working version. Submission of a working copy does not allow for later submission of a final copy.
CONDITIONS
Only films that meet the following conditions may be submitted for consideration by the Official Selection:
FILM DURATION
In order to be selected in the Short Films competition, your film must be under 15 minutes long (including credits).
The Festival de Cannes does not accept films with a duration of between 15 and 60 minutes.
Short films (between 1 and 35 minutes) can be registered for the SFC | Rendez-vous Industry: a meeting place dedicated to short films within the Festival de Cannes.
You can also contact the Director’s Fortnight or the Critics’ Week, which are parallel sections of the Festival de Cannes.
DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION
The deadline to submit short films is 3rd March 2025.
A submission sheet must be filled in online before this date on the My Account portal.
Short films must be uploaded online by 7th March 2025, midnight, at the latest.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
How to upload your film? (before March, 7th, 2025)
We are pretty much accepting any kinds of source files.
Accepted file formats (endings):
.mp4 /.mov / WMV/ .avi / FLV
Recommended codecs:
MJPEG
H264 (high bitrate if possible: minimum 2MBit/s and Uncompressed (very large files!)
Resolution :
PAL or NTSC (as well as SECAM) from 720x400px up to HD material of 1920x1080p
48kHz PCM (only uncompressed) )
MP3
AAC (if possible > 160 kBit/s)
We only accept multiplexed files (i.e. with audio, video and subtitles in a single file). Your film file should not exceed 8 GB. The higher the resolution, the better the quality of scanning. You can upload a film with a resolution of up to 1920×1080 pixels (HD), as long as it does not exceed 8 GB.
The Selection Committee will screen films:
For subtitled films, the subtitles must be integrated into the image.
Make sure that your film has no colour bars or any black sequences before the film starts or after it ends. Please also make sure you upload a progressive (deinterlaced) video file, without any horizontal lines across the image (an interlacing artefact known as “combing”), particularly visible during sequences with rapid movement.
The upload requires HTML 5 or Java (which can be downloaded here).
You will find the page in the user’s manual explaining how to rip a DVD or how to reencode your film in order to create a suitable film file for upload on our website. Apart from traditional professional software such as Final Cut or Premiere, we recommend the user-friendly freeware programmes HandBrake & MPEG Streamclip.
We recommend the use of Chrome or Firefox, but any browser should work. Caution: the heavier your file, the more you will need a very good Internet connection in order to be sure your film is uploaded properly and rapidly onto our server. If the upload does not work, please try again with a lighter encoding of your film and/or a faster and more stable Internet connection.
IF YOUR FILM IS SELECTED
ELIGIBILITY
Set up in 1998 to unveil emerging talent, La Cinef picks 15 to 20 short and medium-length films every year, made by young directors at film schools around the world. Previously called Cinéfondation, the name of the selection has changed in 2022 for La Cinef but its mission remains the same.
Unless a special dispensation is granted, a film must comply with the following conditions in order to be submitted:
NOTA BENE: It is possible to present a working copy of the film. When filling out the entry form, please state if your submission is the final version or a working version. Submission of a working copy does not allow for later submission of a final copy.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
Films made at Junior secondary school or High school level are not accepted for selection in this section of the Festival, only films produced in the context of a Film school or Film studies department of a University are eligible.
Documentaries are not accepted.
Films from film schools have to be registered with LA CINEF Selection and cannot be registered for the Short Film Competition.
Short films (from 1 to 35 min) can also be registered in the Short Film Corner: a meeting place dedicated to short films within the Festival de Cannes.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Please fill in the application form and upload your film online for 15th February 2025 at the latest.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
We accept all kinds of source files.
Video format requirements
Accepted file formats (endings): .mp4 /.mov / WMV/ .avi / FLV
Recommended codecs
Resolution: PAL or NTSC (as well as SECAM) from 720x400px up to HD material of 1920x1080px
Audio format requirements
File specifications
We only accept multiplexed files (i.e. with audio, video and subtitles in a single file). Your film file should not exceed 10 GB. The higher the resolution, the better the quality of scanning. You can upload a film with a resolution of up to 1920×1080 pixels (HD), as long as it does not exceed 10 GB.
Subtitles
LA CINEF selection Committee will screen films:
For subtitled films, the subtitles must be integrated into the image.
Preparation of the film
Make sure that your film has no colour bars or any black sequences before the film starts or after it ends. Please also make sure you upload a progressive (deinterlaced) video file, without any horizontal lines across the image (an interlacing artefact known as “combing”), particularly visible during sequences with rapid movement.
Helpful information
To reencode your film in order to create a suitable film file for upload on our website, apart from traditional professional software such as Final Cut or Premiere, we recommend the user-friendly freeware programmes HandBrake & MPEG Streamclip.
Browser & Internet Connection
We recommend the use of Chrome or Firefox, but any browser should work. Caution: the heavier your file, the more you will need a very good Internet connection in order to be sure your film is uploaded properly and rapidly onto our server. If the upload does not work, please try again with a lighter encoding of your film and/or a faster and more stable Internet connection.
REGISTRATION FEE
No registration fee is required to submit a short film to LA CINEF.
IF YOUR FILM IS SELECTED
You will be contacted before the official press conference.
You must supply us with a DCP (Digital Cinema Package) with a JPEG 2000 file.
The Festival de Cannes will send you all the necessary information in due time, but only if your film is selected.
Your film is not eligible for the Official Selection? It is still possible to enter it in the SFC | Rendez-vous Industry to join the Market Catalogue. A non-competitive section, it gathers the most promising short films from all over the world and in line with the expectations of the professionals present in Cannes.
The Cinéma de Demain teams are happy to welcome you for this new edition. To ensure that your stay is as pleasant as possible, please consult the practical guide on the Cannes Festival website.
