Rome Independent Film Festival - RIFF Awards

RIFF's official awards include Best Feature Film, Best Italian Documentary, Best International Documentary, Best International Short Film, Best Student Short Film and Best Animation, alongside an Italian-short award and the (r)evolution AI award for a film using artificial intelligence. The regulations also provide for an audience award. Separate writing competitions recognise feature screenplays, short screenplays and story concepts. The published 2026 partner prizes include Laser S. Film's three days of colour correction for the feature competition (stated value EUR 6,000); the Acting News [S]guardare award for a feature or documentary, comprising a year's subscription and coverage of the film and filmmakers; and DCP for ALL prizes for the Italian and international documentary competitions, comprising a 2K/4K feature DCP, a trailer DCP and a 15% discount on a distribution-deliverables package. The Rai Cinema Channel award for an Italian short is valued at EUR 1,500 and consists of a contract to acquire web and free-TV rights, with publication on Rai Cinema Channel and possible partner-site/RAI exposure. M74 provides three professional colour-correction sessions in Rome for the international-short competition. The feature-screenplay competition includes the Studiovity Award for Excellence in Screenwriting & Film Pre-Production. BeDi Produzioni provides a Red Komodo 6K kit with Canon lenses and cinema filters for five shooting days for the short-screenplay competition. The story-concept prize includes a EUR 2,000 voucher for a Rome International Film School summer course and an InkTip Script Listing to promote the script to producers and agents. The Italian screenplay rules also describe production development for the winning short script.

RIFF Awards 2026 — film, screenplay and story-concept competitions. The published deadline is 31 July 2026. The festival's announcement dated 6 August 2026 confirms that submissions for the 25th edition are closed. These are the published 2026 conditions, not an invitation to an open call. GENERAL ENTRY CONDITIONS Submit the appropriate online application and send the film link or screenplay PDF and the relevant fee to info@riff.it. RIFF also accepts entries through its linked FilmFreeway listing. Its listed categories include feature films, documentaries, (r)evolution AI, virtual reality, shorts, student shorts, documentary shorts, animation, screenplays, short scripts and story concepts. Each film application must include proof of payment. An online application does not need a paper copy. The film form requests technical and production information, a synopsis, director biography, poster or stills, a screening link and, where available, a trailer. Screenplay applicants upload their work to the form and email the PDF. Application includes consideration for RIFF Awards if selected, a listing of project information in the festival's online catalogue, and automatic membership of the Associazione Culturale Roma Independent Film Festival. The catalogue enables distributors, agents, web-content buyers and other industry professionals to contact participants. The association may pass submitting filmmakers' names and contacts to independent distributors, creative agencies, the press and internet companies. Submitted films and accompanying material are not returned and remain in the organisation's archive. Submitted promotional material may appear in the catalogue, website or media publicity; receipt is acknowledged by email or in writing. FILM ELIGIBILITY AND DELIVERY Films must date from January 2025 onwards. Features must run at least 52 minutes and shorts no more than 52 minutes. Every competition requires an Italian premiere. The Italian regulations allow works already shown in Italy to be considered out of competition. Competition films must not have television or web distribution, including cable and pay television, or commercial distribution in Italy. Non-English-language films require Italian or English subtitles. Entries are digital. Selected films must supply an HD file, Blu-ray or DCP at least two weeks before the festival; the English rules also mention DV master. Selected filmmakers provide a press kit, high-resolution black-and-white or colour photographs (the Italian rules specify 300 dpi), and posters (two in the Italian rules, two or more in English). The English rules state that RIFF Awards selection is notified by phone or email at least one month before the event; monthly-screening selections receive at least 30 days' notice. Producers agree to credit participation in Rome Independent Film Festival, the relevant section and any award in subsequent promotional material and use the official RIFF logo. The official FilmFreeway terms invite directors of competition features for three days, providing hotel accommodation and meals for one representative per film. Travel expenses are covered only exceptionally. A jury of film-industry professionals, including filmmakers, producers, actors, distributors, agents and journalists, determines RIFF Awards. Audience votes determine the audience award. The regulations state that awards are shared equally between the credited director and production company. SCREENPLAYS AND STORY CONCEPTS Scripts must be original, unpublished and owned by their author or authors; they cannot previously have been optioned, sold or produced. Italian and foreign authors of any age may enter, individually or jointly, and may submit more than one work. Works must be in Italian or English. The Italian rules exclude adaptations of another author's dramatic or literary work. Feature and short screenplays use American screenplay formatting: approximately 30 lines per page, Courier 12 or a similar font, with numbered pages and scenes. Feature scripts have a maximum of 150 pages; short scripts, 40 pages. The English rules also mention documentary scripts. The PDF must show the work's title without the writer's name. Upload a digital copy through the application form and email a PDF to the festival. Story concepts have a maximum of 12 pages and an entry fee of EUR 10. The Italian rules describe feature-film concepts; the English rules include both feature and short concepts. The jury awards the screenplay prize unanimously. The Italian regulations describe production development of the winning short screenplay by a film production company: the writer may apply to direct or nominate a trusted director, while the organisation may also consider other candidates. FEES, PAYMENT AND PUBLISHED DISCREPANCIES The main Italian submission page lists EUR 10 for story concepts, shorts and documentaries lasting 30 seconds–52 minutes; EUR 35 for features longer than 52 minutes; EUR 25 for Doc/it members submitting documentaries; EUR 35 for screenplays; and EUR 10 for all students. The film-regulations pages instead use a 75-minute boundary for their EUR 10/EUR 35 film fees. The English submission page includes short screenplays in its EUR 10 group, while the general screenplay fee is EUR 35. These inconsistent official fee descriptions are not resolved by the published text; confirm the applicable category and fee with the festival before any future submission rather than assuming a fee from runtime alone. Payment is by secure credit card through the festival's linked payment form or bank transfer to RIFF – Roma Independent Film Festival using the Unicredit details published on the official submission page. The English regulations exclude cash and postal orders. General submission questions go to info@riff.it or +39 06 45425050. The rules also publish +39 338 5848704 as an additional enquiry number. The Italian rules give a correspondence address at Via Filippo Casini 5, 00153 Rome, while the English rules retain Via Po 152, 00198 Rome; confirm the current postal address before sending physical material.