2027 Competition rules

2.1 The theme of the short films is free within the framework of a purely cinematographic narration. (no reports, no video clips, no documentaries, etc.)

2.2 Short films produced from 2025 onwards are accepted.

2.3 Short films that were edited and publicly distributed before 2025 and that then have undergone any modification since 2025 to get screened at the third edition of the Film’Ô festival are not admissible.

2.4 Short films that have already been screened at the various editions of the Film’Ô festival are not admissible.

2.5 Short films without sign language, nor those in which the characters and extras barely speak sign language, are not admissible, unless the absence of sign language is the central theme of the short film.

2.6 They must have a minimum duration of 5 minutes and a maximum of 20 minutes, including credits.

2.7 Short films with a maximum duration of 30 minutes could be accepted, according to the validation of the organization.

2.8 Short films must be original and in sign language. They must be exported in file formats: MOV, MP4 or AVI. With a minimum resolution of 1080p FullHD.

2.9 The subtitles, necessarily in French and English, must be separated from the film and placed in two following files with “.srt” :

– File named “Film_FR.srt” for French subtitles

– File named “Film_EN.srt” for English subtitlesExample: “Star Wars_FR.srt” and “Star Wars_EN.srt”

2.10 About subtitles: The quality of subtitles is essential because it allows the audience to fully appreciate a short film. Syntax errors hinder reading, or even make the story of the short film incoherent, especially since having the dialogues translated into French on the internet may contain errors that the director is unaware of.

To avoid this incident, a team of checkers is composed to reread the French subtitles of the films selected by the jury. Two possibilities are offered to the director who receives the warning of errors in the French subtitles of his selected film:

· This director will have to get the errors corrected in the coming month. If the deadline is not respected, the film will be removed from the selection list;

· This director can contact the programming managers to ask the team of checkers to correct errors.

—> If the film is French: the director must provide them the script in French.

—> If the film is foreign: the director must provide them the script correctly written in English.

3.1 Registration is subject to a fee. You are invited to find out the price on the FilmFreeWay platform.

3.2 The registration period begins on September 1^st, 2026 and ends on December 1^st, 2026. New registrations or modifications to the registrations already made will not be accepted after this opening period.

3.3 The short film must be submitted on the FilmFreeWay platform. The registration link of this platform can be found on the Film’Ô festival website https://www.festival-filmo.com.

3.4 The registration will be considered complete once all required requirements have been received.

4.1. The organizations reserve the right at any time to modify or cancel the competition, particularly in the event of emergency measures adopted by the government and linked to the coronavirus. 4.2. Their liability cannot be incurred as a result.

5.1. If your short film is not selected by the jury, it could be screened as non-competitive, according to the organization of the programming.

5.2. Once a non-competing short film is selected, the director concerned will be invited. You are invited to see the points 8.1 and 8.2 for the terms of the reimbursement of costs which are the same for the director of the non-competitive short film.

6.1. The following prizes will be awarded:

Award of the best French film	500  €	Recognition of a French film in French Sign Language whose team contributing to its production is predominantly deaf.
Award of the best foreign film	500  €	Recognition of a foreign film in foreign or international Sign Language whose team contributing to its production is predominantly deaf.
Revelation Award	300 €	Recognition of a deaf first-time director participating for the first time.
Award of the best deaf director (aged 30 and over)	250 €	Recognition of a deaf director who has demonstrated exceptional directing skills, based on the short film that he/she achieved.
Award of the best young deaf director (aged under 30)	250 €	Recognition of a young deaf director who has demonstrated exceptional directing skills, based on the short film that he/she achieved.
Award of the best deaf actor	100 €	Reward for the deaf and signing actor who demonstrated exceptional acting in the film in which he participated.
Award of the best deaf actress	100 €	Reward for the deaf and signing actress who demonstrated exceptional acting in the film in which she participated.
Award of the best signing* photography director	100 €	Award for the photography director who demonstrated excellent cinematography shots and lighting techniques, making the short film authentic.
Award of the best signing* editor	100 €	Reward for the editor who showed creativity and joined up shots, making the serie of the film shots fluid
Special Jury Mention	100 €	Award for a cinematographic element that does not fit into the prescribed categories
Award of the favorite short film from the public vote	200 €	The public votes for his favorite short film at the end of the screening of short films in competition during the Film’Ô festival.

6.2. *Signing: The “signing” person is a deaf person, a CODA or with a significant level of sign language, including the cultural and community aspect, who participates in the creation of a short film.

6.3 Any foreign competitor will participate in the competition for the best foreign film when the organization receives at least 2 foreign short films.

6.4. Receipt of the prize:

· The amount for each award will be paid by bank transfer to the bank account of the person responsible for the creation of the short film. This same person will be responsible to give the amount to the winners.

· For short films created by young directors, the person responsible for the creation of the short film must be of legal age to receive the amount paid by bank transfer.

· If the person responsible for the creation of the short film is a minor, an adult (parent or legal representative) will let the programing managers know he/she will receive the amount of the reward and give it to the minor.

· If neither director nor representative of the same short film attends the award ceremony, the prize amount will be reduced by 50%. The amount will be sent by bank transfer to the bank account of the person responsible for the creation of the short film.

· If the winner is absent from the awards ceremony, the trophy will be sent to him/her by post at his expense.

6.5 The jury members do not have to provide any explanation regarding the films selected or not selected for the short film competition, nor regarding the awarding of prizes, whether it concerns the winners or the non-prize-winning nominees.

7.1. By registering for the competition, the participant undertakes to ensure that the cinematographic work complies with all current legislation, which means that it · Respects public order and is not contrary to good morals. · Respects the intellectual property rights of third parties. · Does not harm the reputation, privacy or image of third parties. · Does not contain defamatory, aggressive or insulting disparaging remarks. · Contains neither content linked to a clearly commercial interest or promotional purpose, nor mentions of registered trademarks. · Does not present a pedophilic character. · Does not contain messages or information of a partisan political, religious, pornographic, xenophobic nature or which may offend the sensibilities of minors or the majority. · Does not harm the security or integrity of any State or territory. · Does not incite discrimination, whether based on sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, age or political opinions. · Does not incite crime, hatred, violence, suicide and racism. · Does not incite to commit a crime, misdemeanor or act of terrorism. · Was not broadcast on social networks until the day of the Film’Ô Festival 7.2. In addition, the person who registers the registration for the competition undertakes to provide all the correct information concerning his/her registration (date of birth, “deaf or hearing”, etc.) and the short film (date of the film, ,production date, ...). 7.3 If one of these commitments is not respected, the film will be automatically disqualified from the competition. In this regard, the participants will have no recourse against the Illumination Studio association (that is responsible for the Film’Ô Festival) or the Film’Ô Festival, nor against the members of the jury.

8.1. The organization will pay for the stay for each selected director:

– the dinner on Friday June 4th, 2025

– the night of Friday June 4th and Saturday June 5th, 2025 – the entry to the cinema on Saturday June 5th, 2025 – the post-festival reception on Saturday June 5th, 2025 8.2 The organization will not cover for each selected director: - the transportation costs – the night party from Saturday June 5th to Sunday June 6th, 2025 (Film’Ô Party) 8.3. If the unavailable director is replaced by a representative, this representative will have the terms of coverage of costs in the same way as the selected director. The only condition imposed is that this representative must be informed about the selected short film that he will represent during the Film’Ô Festival.  

9.1 By his/her participation and for the exclusive needs of the Film’Ô Festival, the author-director authorizes Film’Ô to represent his audiovisual work during the Film’Ô Festival.

10.1 During the festival, the 12 selected short films will be screened in a festival location on June 5^th, 2027. They will be kept for two months and deleted on August 5^th, 2027.