The San Sebastian Festival and Loterías create a competition for short films related to social issues

The San Sebastian Festival and the Sociedad Estatal Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, the state-owned company that runs national lotery and other gambling games in Spain,(SELAE) have created a competition for short films related to social issues to come with a first prize of 10,000 euros for the winning film and 5,000 euros for the runner up. The submission period opened Tuesday and will close on 17 June.

Under an agreement to run for an initial period of 3 years, the aim of the new competition is to use the audiovisual medium to send positive and encouraging messages fostering the redistribution of wealth, the eradication of inequalities and the achieving of social justice.

According to the competition rules, the short films must be related to social issues such as well-being, beating loneliness and enhancing quality of life among the elderly, support for women victims of gender-based violence, people in a vulnerable situation and cancer patients in need of economic or social assistance. 

The short films, which can be submitted online via the Festival website, must have at least 51% of Spanish production and a maximum runtime of 10 minutes. The support used to submit the selected works must comply with the Festival’s technical requirements, which can be found in the competition rules and regulations.

The Loterías Award will be decided by a specifically constituted jury, chosen by the San Sebastian Festival and the SELAE, and made up of three representatives of the audiovisual and/or social worlds. The two winning films will be screened at the awards gala taking place during the 72^nd edition of the Festival, to run from 20-28 September 2024. 

As part of its commitment to culture, Loterías y Apuestas del Estado has collaborated closely with the San Sebastian Festival in recent years. In addition to running special screenings at the event, from 2019 to 2022 it sponsored ‘Zinemaldia 70. All possible stories’, the project concentrating on the Festival’s historical archive. Thanks to its backing, the Festival has been able to offer citizens access to more than 4,000 digital documents (photographs, posters, dailies, etc.) as well as a catalogue of more than 27,000 entries describing the materials available for examination by experts. This collaboration corresponds to the traditional connection with culture implemented by Loterías as a public body and its commitment to promoting and distributing elements of our culture that help us to progress as a society. 

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To access the Terms & Conditions and submit a project, click here.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: JUNE 17