These days, before the holidays, it’s the moment to review each short film’s strategy to qualify for the 2019 Goya Awards, especially if there are few selections left and you’re waiting for notifications from some festivals.
Keep in mind that we are two months away from the application deadline, which closes on September 27th.
If you have a certificate of nationality dated 2018, there is more time, as you could opt for the upcoming 2019 and 2020 Goya Awards. However, if the certificate is dated 2017, you only have these two months left to secure the necessary selections or awards.
In these cases, it’s important to do a last-minute review to see your options and be prepared.
Goya Short Film Awards Festival Requirements
To register, it is necessary to obtain six selections for fiction, or three for documentaries, in any of the national festivals on the list. For animation, this requirement no longer exists, and you can register without any festival selections.
It is also possible to qualify for the Goya Awards with a selection in international festivals on the list or with an award in one of the national festivals.
At this moment, the option of international festivals is more complicated, as most that have open calls with early or regular deadlines are held very late, and there isn’t enough time to know the selections before the end of September.
This type of strategy should start much earlier.
The Strategy to Qualify for the 2019 Goya Awards
Now the best option is selections in national festivals. Some still have open calls and announce their programming in September.
These festivals make a special effort to advance selection notifications, so let’s try; there are options if you still have some selections left, and even if you’re starting now, especially for documentaries.
Spanish Festivals with Open Calls
These are the festivals where you can still register, and with a bit of luck, they will announce selections before September 27th (I’ve added the month of celebration):
- Aguilar de Campoo Short Film Festival – December
- Zaragoza Film Festival – November
- Almería International Film Festival – November
- Mostra de Curtas Vila de Noia – November
- Alcine – National Competition – November
- Gijón Film Festival – November
- Vitoria-Gasteiz Festival – Cortada – November
- Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival – November
- Sitges Fantastic Film Festival – October
- Abycine – October
- Cortogenia (September session) – September
Within this list, it should be noted that the festivals of Cortada, Zaragoza, Almeria, and Noia did not announce in September last year, but they could do so this year. Although in cases like Noia, they haven’t opened the call yet.
In the cases of a selection at Seminci (which has an open call), Sitges, and Gijón, you would have to wait until next year, as they must be national premieres and it’s complicated to combine them with other festivals.
Despite this, we have the option of festivals that did announce in September last year, and are likely to do so again this year: Aguilar, Alcine, Abycine, Gijón, Huelva, and Cortogenia, in its September session.
These four selections can be decisive for fiction and especially for documentaries.
Festivals that also announce in September and have already closed their call for entries
If you have been distributing your short film for a few months, you have surely submitted it to all the Spanish Goya-qualifying festivals. Some of them also announce in September and you can also take them into account; these are:
- Ciudad de Soria Short Film Competition – November
- ZINEBI Bilbao – November
- L’Alternativa Film Festival – November
- Arnedo Short Film Competition Octubre Corto – October
- Madrid Film Festival – PNR – October
- Seminci – October
Even if you don’t have any selections for the Goya Awards today, you can still have options. In September, no less than 11 national festivals announce (with a bit of luck, there could be more), which is enough margin to plan an express strategy to qualify for the 2019 Goya Awards.
Prepare your registration
The problem with notifications from these festivals is that they leave little time to formalize registration, as they announce at the end of the month. You will have to rush the submission deadline until the last moment; it ends at 2:00 PM on September 27th.
You can start preparing the documentation and get as much work done as possible. Here are some tasks you can already do:
- Call the Film Academy and request a username and password to fill out the online form to generate the Official Credits Form, which must be filled out, signed, and printed when you can register. You can make this call now; if you can’t register later, it’s fine.
- Two DVD or Blu-ray copies that you can also have ready.
- USB drive with the technical sheet, poster, final reel, synopsis, credits, photography, trailer, and clips of the short film. You have all this material and can also prepare it.
- Make a copy of the certificate of nationality.
As soon as you are notified of a selection, you will have to prepare these materials very quickly:
- Fill out the form, which you already have access to, print it, and sign it.
- Request certificates from the festivals; for those you already know you’ve been selected for, request it now and have it ready.
As you can see, there are very few tasks you can leave until the last minute.
It’s important to be prepared. Last year, we had to register short films on the last day in the morning, as some festival notifications came in the late afternoon or evening of the day before.
I hope that if you are planning a strategy for the Goya Awards now, you will make it in time. Last year we learned not to give up until the last moment; several short films made it “in extremis.”
If you have any questions about the strategy for the Goya Short Film Awards, you can write to me through the comments and the website’s contact form.