Cinefantasy – International Fantastic Film Festival (Cinefantasy – Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantástico)

Cinefantasy – International Fantastic Film Festival

Cinefantasy – Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantástico

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Cinefantasy is a São Paulo festival of fantastic cinema — horror, fantasy, science fiction and genre hybrids — held since 2006. Its programme is built around eight competitive sections: a feature competition open to fiction and documentary films, and short-film sections for animation, Brazilian fantastic cinema, student work, fantasy, Fantasteen, science fiction and horror. Winners receive the José Mojica Marins Trophy, named after the Brazilian filmmaker known as Coffin Joe, and selected titles are nominated for the FantLatam Grand Prize. The festival is organised by Fly Cow Produções and Studio Lang and directed by Eduardo Santana.

The dates of the 17th edition are 1–6 September 2026, with screenings at MIS (Museu da Imagem e do Som), CFC Tiradentes, Cine Olido and the Circuito Spcine public cinemas and online on Spcine Play and DARKFLIX+; that edition drew 1,569 submissions from 89 countries. A spin-off, Cinefantasy Rio, holds its third edition in Rio de Janeiro on 23–28 March 2027.

Country

Brazil

Focus

Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi

Categories

Animation, Documentary, Feature, Short, Student

Awards and prizes

José Mojica Marins Trophy, a tribute to the Brazilian filmmaker known as Coffin Joe, given by the juries of the competitive sections. Feature films: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Actor. Short films: best short in the Animation, Brazilian Fantastic, Student, Fantasy, Fantasteen, Science Fiction and Horror sections. Juries may also give honourable mentions. One feature and one short are nominated for the FantLatam Grand Prize. Partner prizes in post-production services, equipment rental and image finishing are awarded to selected feature and short films.

Festival rules

Only fantastic-genre films are eligible: horror, fantasy, science fiction and hybrid works. Directors, producers and distributors may submit. Films must have been produced within the previous 24 months and must not have been screened before at Cinefantasy or at other film festivals in the city of São Paulo. The feature competition is open to fiction and documentary features in any format. Short films may run up to 25 minutes. Submissions are made with online screener links (Vimeo, YouTube or similar; private links with a password). Download links such as WeTransfer are not accepted. Films in languages other than Portuguese must have Portuguese, English or Spanish subtitles. Multiple submissions are allowed. The festival director appoints the selection committee. No selected film is screened more than twice during the festival. The festival does not cover travel, accommodation or meals.

Contacts

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