Open Call – Ermanno Olmi Award

The Ermanno Olmi Award for Best Short Film returns to Bergamo

The Ermanno Olmi Prize is a yearly film competition promoted by the City of Bergamo, and supported by Bergamo Film Meeting Onlus.

Its main goal is the promotion of young filmmakers and their works. To minimise its environmental impact, the Ermanno Olmi Prize operates in strict compliance of the “Green Friendly Event” guidelines approved with City Council, as part of the European Green Fest project financed by the LIFE program and co-financed by the Municipality of Bergamo.

The Prize is addressed to filmmakers of all nationalities and not older than 30 on the date of the submission deadline. For joint submissions, all participants must meet the age limitation. The maximum length of each entry (fiction, documentary or animation) must not exceed 15 minutes. All entries must be from 2023 or 2024.

A pre-selection of the entries will be made by the organisers. Based on its sole discretion, the jury may decide for an “ex aequo”, or not to award any prize. The jury self-regulates its operating methods.

The awards consists of three cash prizes made available by Bergamo Film Meeting Onlus:

1200€
600€
400€

There is also a special mention awarded on a theme chosen by the municipality administration, and which comes with a cash prize of 300€, offered by FIC-Federaziona Italiana Cineforum. For this year, the Cultural department has chosen “The Exercise of Peace” as its theme.

Participation guidelines
→ The filmmakers who want to submit their works for the Ermanno Olmi Prize selection must fill out the form from on FilmFreeway and provide a link to their film (with English subtitles, for languages other than Italian).
→ The call for submissions is set for June 21st, 2024.
→ The deadline for submissions is October 13th, 2024.
→ There is a €5 submission fee

The authors whose works get SELECTED must provide the following info/promotional material by November 17th, 2024:
→ Logline (in Italian and/or English);
→ Synopsis (in Italian and/or English);
→ Cast and crew list (in Italian and/or English);
→ A brief director’s note about the film (in Italian and/or English);
→ Director’s bio (in Italian and/or English);
→ List of the director’s complete works;
→ 1 director’s photo (HD, Res. 300 DPI);
→ 5 HD screenshots from the film;
→ English subtitles (with TimeCode);
→ Teaser/Trailer (30” max);
→ DCP for screening (or an HD file). The shortlisted films will be screened in the original version.
→ Other promo material if available
All mailing expenses for the film and promo material are to be borne by the production, distribution or the director.

All documentation must be e-mailed to: info@premioolmi.it
All physical material (posters, postcards, DCP, etc.) must be mailed to:
BERGAMO FILM MEETING
Via A. Ghislanzoni, 37
24121 Bergamo – Italy
Please specify “PREMIO ERMANNO OLMI 2024” on the package

Competition schedule
→ June 21st, 2024: call for submissions;
→ October 13th, 2024: submission deadline;
→ November 8th, 2024: public announcement (via official website and media outlets) of the Prize finalists.

Representatives of the Prize will contact the finalists by phone or e-mail.

→December 3rd, 2024: award ceremony for the Prize finalists at Sala dell’Orologio in Piazza della Libertà, Bergamo,
or another suitable venue.

The finalists will be invited to the Festival and granted hospitality in Bergamo for one night. The invitation is strictly personal. All travel expenses for the director will be refunded according to the limitations and guidelines established for the Prize.

Acceptance of Regulations
→ By submitting their work, the author and all the rights’ holders accept the present Regulation for the Ermanno
Olmi Prize.
→ Failing to comply with the present Regulation will result in the exclusion from the competition.
→ Participants give their consent according to D.lgs. 196/2003 and Reg. UE 2016/679 – GDPR on Privacy and data
handling, for all purposes connected with the Prize.

Any dispute that may arise will be governed by Italian law and shall be subject exclusively to the jurisdiction of the
Italian Court of Bergamo.

Confirmation on the FilmFreeway website of the reading of these Regulations implies acceptance in all its clauses.