CALL FOR ENTRIES #REGARD29

REGARD - Saguenay International Short Film Festival will hold its 29th edition from March 19 to 23 2025.

Call for entries for the 29th edition is now closed. For late submission requests, you can send an email to [email protected]

The early bird rate registration fee of $37 CAD is applicable until October 15. The regular fee of $52 will be charged from October 16th until November 1st.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
• Read and accept the rules.
• Complete the submission form.
• Pay the submission fee via PayPal.
• Submit the form electronically.

The person responsible for each submission will receive a response, positive or negative, on mid-febuary at the latest. 

Recognized as one of the largest festivals in North America dedicated exclusively to short films, REGARD's mission is to promote author's short films whose innovative spirit is the result of a quality artistic approach.

Screening nearly 200 films in five days, REGARD hosts an Official Competition, a Focus Competition, a Youth Competition and also presents a varied selection of thematic programs. The Festival is Oscar qualifying in addition to being one of the rare short film events to welcome a FIPRESCI jury. More than $120,000 in money and services are awarded to the winners of the competitions.

REGARD welcomes each edition more than 600 filmmakers and cinema professionals from all over the world. We are also the host of the only Short film market in Quebec where a bunch of networking activities, workshops and Masterclasses are offered free of charge for the public and professionals.

 

Rules

A. ELIGIBILITY

• Only short films with a runtime of 40 minutes or less are eligible;
• All genres (fiction, animation, documentary and experimental) are eligible;
• Priority to short films that have not been broadcast for free online;
• Student productions are eligible for all sections if they meet the above criteria;
• Films that are purely or mostly of a promotional and/or didactic nature are not eligible;
• The Festival may accept late registrations if the production timeline justifies a delay.
• The person in charge of the submission confirms that they hold all copyrights and clearances needed to screen the film at a festival

B. FESTIVAL SECTIONS

1- Official Competition
The Official Competition brings together 10 film programs of all genres, with both national and international shorts. All films are eligible for the jury prize, while only world, North American or Canadian premiere films are eligible for the Grand Prize and the Canadian Grand Prize, which are Oscar qualifying.

- Grand Prize (Oscar qualifying)
- Canadian Grand Prize (Oscar qualifying)
- Jury Award
- Best Animation Short Film Award
- Best Documentary Short Film Award
- Quebec Critic Award AQCC (for international shorts)
- International FIPRESCI Critics Award (for Canadian shorts)
- Public Award - Official Competition

2- Focus Competition
In its 5 different sections, the Focus Competition offers additional space for better representation. Shoot no matter what celebrates emergence and self-production, 100% Régions supports Quebec filmmakers out of Montreal, Short & Queer is an ode to sexual and gender diversity, Americana focuses on Latin American production, and Indigenous talents shines brightly in Indigenous Perspectives, whose film selection is ensured by a committee of indigenous programmers.

In an ongoing effort to repair, we invite all indigenous creators, producers and rights holders to write to [email protected] in order to be able to submit their films free of charge.

- Shoot No Matter What Award
- Philippe Belley Award (100% Regions)
- Indigenous Perspectives Award
- Short & Queer Award
- Americana Award
- Public Award - Focus Competition

3 - Youth Competition
The Youth Competition brings together 9 programs for kids aged 3 to 17. Regarderie offers a cultural outing for daycare centers and childcare services. P'tites vues (ages 3 to 7) are presented to families during the festival and to classes from preschool to 2nd grade. Grandes vues are also presented to families and 3rd to 6th grade classes. Two programs are planned for high school students, one for the first cycle and the other for the 2nd cycle, and Ici et maintenant presented at the Festival is programmed by teenagers, for teenagers. 100% English programs are also offered at primary and secondary levels.

** School screenings take place during the week of the Festival and continue in a tour of Lac-Saint-Jean schools. Then, teachers have access to the films online until mid-June for educational purposes. Additional royalties are paid for all the films included in school screenings.

4-Thematic programs
Carte blanche, retrospective, focus, genre films, experimental, more than 10 thematic programs are screened every year. The main goal behind these programs is to build bridges with other festivals and countries and to foster collaboration. The selection committee draws inspiration from recurring films and themes during the year to curate programs of short films in a variety of themed categories.

 

OFFICIAL COMPETITION RULES

• Only films completed in 2024-2025;
• Priority will be given to films that have not yet been made available online;
• Priority to short films that will be presented in Première;
• Only World, North American and Canadian Premieres are eligible for the Grand Prize and Canadian Grand Prize;
• Films nominated for the Canadian Grand Prize can also be eligible for the Grand Prize;
• All Canadian films are eligible for awards presented by the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI);
• All international films are eligible for awards presented by the Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma (AQCC);
• Films submitted to REGARD in previous years will not be considered.

 

FOCUS COMPETITION RULES

• Priority will be given to films completed in 2024-2025;
• Priority will be given to films that have not yet been made available online;
• Priority to short films that will be presented in premiere.

Shoot No Matter What

• Competition for independent Quebec shorts, produced without any grants or financial assistance from the institutions ;
• Priority will be given to emerging filmmakers.

100% Regions

• Competition for better representation of the entire Quebec territory ;
• At least one of the key positions related to the production or direction of the film is occupied by a person based outside of Montreal.

Indigenous Perspectives

• A competition exclusively for indigenous short films ;
• At least one of the key positions linked to the production or direction of the film is occupied by a person who is a member of an indigenous community.

Short & Queer

• Competition for films featuring the realities of LGBTQIA2S+ communities;
• Priority to films made by filmmakers from LGBTQIA2S+ communities.

Americana

• Competition exclusively dedicated to films produced and/or directed in Central and South America;
• The producer.s and/or filmmaker.s of the film are from or lives in Central and South America.

YOUTH COMPETITION RULES

• All the films selected for the youth section are eligible for the Best Youth Film Award (programs for 2 to 17 years old );
• A film selected in the Youth Competition can also be considered in both Official and/or Focus Competition.

 

C. SELECTION PROCESS

• All films considered part of the preselection are judged by the selection committee; the Programming Director will make the final decision. A selection committee whose function is strictly advisory will support the Programming Director in the pre-selection and selection of films for the Festival;
• The films considered to be part of the youth competition are judged by a selection committee specific to this competition, and the the director of the youth section will make the final decision;
• A film selected in the youth competition can also be considered in Official and/or Focus competition.
• The programmers reserve the right to assign submissions to an appropriate section, that’s why it’s important to answer questions concerning Focus and Youth Competitions and the film’s premiere status.

 

D. IN CASE OF SELECTION

• Once the selection has been announced to the right holder, the film cannot be removed from the program;
• The Festival reserves the right to use excerpts from selected works (max. 60 seconds), pictures and trailers, solely for the Festival’s promotional purposes;
• The Festival will pay rights for all Canadian films screened at the festival;
• The festival will pay rights for all shorts shown in school screenings.

 

E. SCREENING COPIES

• Films selected must be sent in Apple ProRes 422 HQ format, WITHOUT BURNT SUBTITLES;
• The person responsible for the film must provide an .srt file of the film's dialogues in French and/or English;
• In the case of a selection, you will find in the selection letter all the details concerning the screening copy;

 

F. ATTENDING THE FESTIVAL

• Our team will get in touch with each selected filmmaker to provide all details concerning transportation, accommodation and festival accreditation;
• It is desirable that each film be represented by its filmmaker or by a representative of the film during the event, up to the Awards Ceremony;
• The Festival will pay accommodations for filmmakers whose films were selected in any of our programming sections;
• Regarding the travel fees for filmmakers out of Quebec, the Festival can provide an official invitation letter to apply for travel grants.

To submit your short film, click here