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On The Walls Young Documentary Film Award 2025

For the fifth edition of Castello di Potentino’s On The Walls Festival (7 - 10 August, 2025), documentaries will be showcased around the theme of "Communication."

This year, we have decided to launch an annual Award for young documentary filmmakers.

Budding creators under the age of 25 are invited to tell us their stories and explore their personal connection to the environment they live in through film. Whether urban, rural, or wild, films should capture their daily interactions, observations, and experiences with their surroundings—not distant landscapes, but the places they truly consider home.

Films can be in any style or genre but must be no longer than 10 minutes and align with the filmmakers award theme:

"My Nature."

Submission Deadline: 5pm, Monday 7 July 2025

About the Award

1. Under 18
2. 18-25
- Submission Deadline: 5pm, 7 July, 2025
- On The Walls Festival dates: 7 - 10 August, 2025
- Selection Process:
  - A preliminary selection of the top 3 films per category will be made by the festival hosts.
  - A complete screening of all selected films will take place during the festival every afternoon in the chapel.
  - The final winners in both categories will be chosen by a panel of directors and producers attending the festival and announced on the festival’s final night, Sunday 10 August 2025, and projected onto the courtyard wall.
- €250 cash prize to winner of each category
- On The Walls statuette
- Festival access (7-10 August 2025) for shortlisted contenders, including screenings of all films with winning films projected onto Castello di Potentino courtyard (weather permitting)
- Accommodation and travel is not included
Before submitting your film, please ensure you meet the following requirements:
- Age Requirement: The director(s), producer(s), and screenwriter(s) must have been 25 or under at the time of film completion.
- Film Length & Theme: Films can be any style or genre but must be no longer than 10 minutes and based on the theme: "My Nature."
- Production must have been completed within 24 months of Festival screening.
- Copyright Compliance: All images and soundtracks in your film must either be your own work or properly licensed.
- Language: Films in languages other than Italian or English must include English subtitles, unless dialogue is unnecessary for comprehension.
- Have not been screened publicly, either cinema, television, or online.
- Screening Permission: By submitting your film, you grant the festival the right to screen your film if selected.
- Selection Notification: Submission does not guarantee selection, but all applicants will be notified of their film’s status.
- Additional Materials: If selected, you must provide a screenshot image from your film to use in marketing material.
- Screening Fees: The festival does not pay license or screening fees for selected films.
Filmmakers must submit the following in the online form:
- Completed online entry form
- Film link or file in the original language (English subtitles required, except for Italian films in the pre-selection phase)
- Short synopsis on the film (100-200 words)
- Screenshot image from your film (if selected)