These days, we are constantly hearing news about the most important short film awards in our country. Last week, one day before the Goya Award nominees were announced, the rules for the second edition of the Forqué Short Film Awards, organized by EGEDA, were published.
These awards were held for the first time last year. They take the rules of the Goya Awards as a direct reference, but with several differences worth reviewing.
#1 Participation in the Forqué Awards
First, we must keep in mind that there is only one award for Best Short Film, with no distinction between fiction, animation, and documentary. All Spanish short films whose age rating certificate, issued by the ICAA or ICEC, is from 2015 and up to October 31, 2016, can participate.
A list of festivals is published along with the rules.
#2 The list of festivals
It is the same as the list of national and international festivals for the Goya Awards. However, there is no possibility of obtaining 6 selections for fiction short films and 3 selections for animation and documentary. This reduces the options; short films that could be submitted to the Goyas can no longer access the Forqué Awards.
On the other hand, and as one of the greatest advantages of these awards, the rules say nothing about the age rating having to be dated before the festivals take place. Many of the short films that were left out of the Goya Awards for this reason can now enter the Forqué Awards.
The international festivals are a mix of the Oscars and EFA (European Film Academy) lists. The national ones maintain the same awards.
The festival distribution strategy to reach these awards would be the same as the one I have been analyzing to reach the Goya Awards.
Let’s review the festival filter for participation:
I need to have a short film that has been selected at a festival on the international list or has won one of the awards on the national list.
#3 Prize money
Here we find one of the great advantages of the Forqué Awards. They have a prize of €3,000 for the Best Short Film (only if the producers are present at the gala).
The Goya Awards do not have prize money.
#4 Voting process
Again, an important difference. While the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does not publish statistics or lists of submitted short films, EGEDA will publish the list of short films participating in the voting on the awards website.
The system is based on a double vote. In the first round, “all EGEDA members” (not an internal committee as in the Goyas) will vote for the short films, which will be published on the website until December 5 at 11:00 AM.
The second vote is carried out using the same system once the finalists are known; the deadline for this second vote is December 21, 2016, at 11:00 AM.
#5 Registration and submission of short films
The rules do not make it clear what the submission and registration process for short films is, as there is no form, online form, or registration platform.
In principle, I imagine it will be enough to send the following to EGEDA by email:
- A technical and artistic data sheet.
- A copy of the rating license and certificate of nationality within the dates required by the rules.
- A certificate from the festival that grants access to enter the awards.
- A copy of the short film so they can upload it to VEOFORQUÉ, EGEDA’s own viewing platform mentioned in the rules.
Although it does not appear in the rules, the contact for the awards at EGEDA is Gemma Martínez, and her email for sending materials is gemma.martinez@egeda.com
Before submitting your short film, carefully check the festivals you have participated in and whether you can actually enter.
I hope this post has helped you learn about the Forqué Short Film Awards.
Good luck with the whole process!