Catch the Moon – International Children & Youth Animated Film Festival

Catch the Moon – International Children & Youth Animated Film Festival

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Catch the Moon – International Children & Youth Animated Film Festival is an animation festival for young audiences in Naples, Campania. It grows out of a school-year education project: video-animation workshops and image-literacy courses for pupils lead to an international competition of animated shorts for children and teenagers. School juries watch and vote on the films in cinemas and online, alongside a technical jury of animation professionals, and the competition is divided by age, with 7+ and 11+ sections in recent editions. The festival is organised by the association Gioco Immagine e Parole within the National Plan for Cinema and Images in Schools of the Italian Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Education and Merit.

The festival dates back to its first edition on 14–20 December 2020. The fourth edition spans the 2025–2026 school year, with 17 shorts selected from 1,183 submissions from 126 countries and screenings in Naples and other towns; its award ceremony is on 17 April 2026 at Cinema Pierrot in Naples.

Country

Italy

Focus

Animation, For Kids

Categories

Animation, Short

Awards and prizes

Catch the Moon Awards, chosen by a technical jury of animation and film professionals: Best Animated Short Film for Children (7+) Best Animated Short Film for Children (11+) Audience Awards, chosen by school juries of pupils: Best Animated Short Film for Children Audience Award (7+) Best Animated Short Film for Children Audience Award (11+) The juries may also give special mentions.

Festival rules

Animated short films for children and young people. Films must have been made after January 2024 (current call). The duration must not exceed 20 minutes. All films must be subtitled in Italian. Files must be submitted in 1080p, MP4 or MOV H.264, via a file-sharing service. A registration form must accompany each submission. Submitted material remains in the festival's historical archive. Selected works are notified by email and on the festival website. The decisions of the selection committee and the jury are final. Producers agree to mention participation in Catch the Moon, the section and any award, with the official festival logo, in future promotion.

Contacts

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