Mario Puzo Film Festival - Corto e a capo

2026 competition awards: Best Short / Premio Corto e a capo — trophy and EUR 500, with trophies for second and third place; “Inversione di tendenza” theme prize — trophy and EUR 200; Best Social Short / L’immaginale — trophy and EUR 100; Best School Short / School days; Environmental Sustainability — selected works receive a paid contract for the Educational Goal programme through the partnership with Officine Sostenibili; “Dettagli che fanno la differenza” — Slow Food award; DAENA fiction feature award — trophy and EUR 200; special DAENA documentary award — trophy and EUR 200; Mario Puzo screenplay trophy, awarded to a film for its narrative structure and writing. The programme also includes an audience award. No cash amount is specified for School days, the Slow Food award or the audience award.

2026 competition regulations Short films: animation, fiction, documentaries and music videos up to 15 minutes, in Italian or with Italian subtitles. Sections cover open-theme shorts, the edition theme “Inversione di tendenza”, social or psychological subjects (L’immaginale), school productions or youth/childhood themes (School days), environmental sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the Slow Food section “Dettagli che fanno la differenza”. Independent fiction features must exceed 52 minutes; documentaries in the special DAENA competition must exceed 20 minutes. The 2026 regulations require these longer works to be produced from 2025 onwards and to be in Italian or have Italian subtitles. Works submitted to previous editions are ineligible. Entries are accepted only through FilmFreeway. An active download link is required. The published entry fee is EUR 7 in the early period ending 15 February and EUR 14 from 16 February to 6 April 2026. School days is free; schools can request a waiver code. The regulations publish a common fee schedule rather than separate fees for individual categories. Participants pay delivery costs. The organisers disclaim liability for loss or damage despite taking care of the works. Selection is final and made by the organisers; a qualified appointed jury decides the section awards. The organisers may move works between sections and may withhold an award if participation is insufficient. Physical prizes are collected at the closing ceremony by the director or a delegate and are not shipped. The English regulations require a regular bank account for cash prizes. Festival management has the final decision on disputes and matters not covered by the regulations. Entrants are responsible for their works and authorise screenings at the festival and related cultural/promotional initiatives. Short extracts and frames may be used for non-profit festival promotion. Non-compliant entries are excluded. If needed, part of the festival may stream online after notification to entrants. Related screenings must be non-profit and appropriate to their context. Participant data is used only for competition administration and is not transferred to third parties. Official communications appear on the festival website.