General Regulation

THE FESTIVAL

    • The Lisbon Sport Film Festival – International FICTS Festival is the only film festival in Portugal dedicated to Sport in all its disciplines and social and cultural aspects. The festival aims to promote, disseminate, encourage reflection on, and enhance world sport cinematography.
    • UESPT-PORTUGAL is the organizing entity, in partnership with the Fédération Internationale du Cinéma Télévision Sportifs (FICTS) and CINEFOOT.
    • FICTS, headquartered in Milan, brings together the most prestigious sport film festivals in the world, based in countries such as Italy, China, the United States of America, Nepal, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Uganda, Mexico, Serbia, Uzbekistan, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Iran, Brazil, among others, and Portugal has joined them since 2019 with the Lisbon Sport Film Festival.
    • CINEFOOT – Football Film Festival, based in Rio de Janeiro, is the first film festival in Brazil and a pioneer in Latin America, with exclusive conceptual and curatorial approaches to football. The festival aims to promote, disseminate, encourage reflection on, and enhance world football cinematography.
    • The programme of the Lisbon Sport Film Festival – International FICTS Festival 2027 consists of three competitive Sections: 1) Sport and Society, 2) CINEFOOT Portugal, and 3) Lisbon Sport Film Festival – Television.
    • The 2027 edition of the Lisbon Sport Film Festival – International FICTS Festival will take place in person, from 17 to 21 April 2027.
    • At the discretion of the Lisbon Sport Film Festival Organizing Committee, for the promotion of the event and the selected works, the festival may include the films in additional screenings within Portugal, with no commercial purposes.

MANAGEMENT

  • UESPT PORTUGAL organizes the Lisbon Sport Film Festival – International FICTS Festival. The Association values the democratization of sport and has as its primary mission the promotion and development of Sport for All.
  • Within the scope of its mission, UESPT PORTUGAL proposes, through the Lisbon Sport Film Festival – International FICTS Festival, to promote the values associated with Sport as a factor of personal and social development accessible to all. In particular, the promotion of social values through Sport in the following areas: Training and Literacies, Gender Equality, Development and Social Inclusion.

SUBMISSIONS

  • Submissions (submission of films to competition) are free of charge and will be open from 1 September 2026 until 24:00 on 30 November 2026.
  • The limit of titles per director/producer is three works.
  • In the “Sport and Society”, “CINEFOOT Portugal” and “LSFF-Television” sections, short (up to 30 minutes), medium-length or feature-length audiovisual works of any nationality may be submitted, provided that their main approach is the theme of “Sport”, regardless of their year of production/completion.
  • In the “Sport and Society” section, short films and feature films will be selected that reinforce the social vocation of Sport and reflect on the relationship between Sport and themes of society.
  • In the “CINEFOOT Portugal” section, resulting from a partnership with CINEFOOT Brazil, short films and feature films whose main theme is football will be selected.
  • In the “LSFF-Television” section, works about sport made for television will be selected, with no distinction as to duration.
  • The works must be completed at the time of submission.
  • https://filmfreeway.com/lisbonsportfilmfestivalThe director and/or person responsible for the submission must submit the film to competition through the Lisbon Sport Film Festival page on the FilmFreeway platform https://filmfreeway.com/lisbonsportfilmfestival
  • By submitting online, the person responsible for the submitted work declares that they agree with and accept the festival regulations in their entirety, with no possibility of contestation of any nature.
  • To be selected, the submitted work must be viewable (through a link or MP4 file) via the FilmFreeway platform.
  • International films must submit the copy of the entered work with English subtitles, even if spoken in English.
  • Only works that meet the requirements of these regulations will participate in the selection.
  • The submitted works will be sent for evaluation by the Selection Committee. This Committee will select the works that will participate in the competition.
  • Those responsible for the selected works must send a copy of the film in DCP format for screening in the cinema. Failure to comply with this rule may result in the film being excluded from the festival programme.
  • All submitted works may be used strictly for cultural purposes and always without commercial purposes.

SELECTION

  • The selection of the works that will participate in the Festival shall be the responsibility of a Selection Committee appointed by the Organizing Committee of the Lisbon Sport Film Festival. The Selection Committee shall consist of 3 members to be invited by UESPT PORTUGAL, from among members of the cinema, audiovisual, media and sport communities.
  • The works must be included in one of the 3 Sections: “Sport and Society”; “CINEFOOT Portugal”; “Lisbon Sport Film Festival – Television”.
  • lisbonsportfilmfestival.comThe selection result will be announced by 6 January 2027 on the festival’s official website www.lisbonsportfilmfestival.com
  • In addition to this announcement on the website, all selected participants will be officially informed by the Festival Organizing Committee.
  • The technical conditions of the screening materials, as well as the materials required for promotion, will be communicated to the selected participants.
  • The decision of the Lisbon Sport Film Festival Selection Committee is final and not subject to appeal.
  • The selected works must have an age rating assigned by the General Inspectorate for Cultural Activities (IGAC) or, if they do not have this indication, those responsible for the works must inform the Festival Organizing Committee of the intended age classification for the work.
  • Those responsible for the selected works must inform whether they contain musical works protected by copyright. If they do, they must inform the authors and the Copyright Association to which they are affiliated.

AWARDS

  • The Lisbon Sport Film Festival provides for the awarding of prizes to the best films by decision of the official Festival Jury. The Jury shall consist of representatives appointed by UESPT PORTUGAL, FICTS and CINEFOOT.
  • For each of the 3 Sections respectively “Sport and Society”, “CINEFOOT Portugal” and “Lisbon Sport Film Festival – Television”, the official Festival Jury shall award the Trophy – Lisbon Sport Film Festival 2027 – to the winners of the categories and may also award Honourable Mentions, if it so wishes, without being obliged to do so.
  • The results of the official Festival Jury will be announced during the Festival closing ceremony.
  • The Trophies awarded to the winning films will be presented in person to the winners, or to whoever is designated by them. The trophies will not be sent by mail.
  • The decisions of the official Festival Jury are final and not subject to appeal.
  • The LSFF Organizing Committee, together with the festival jury, will nominate films that stand out for their quality to the “Sport Movies & TV – Milano International FICTS Festival 2027”.

6.º  CONDITIONS FOR SCREENING THE WORKS

  • The custody and preservation of the selected works are the responsibility of the Lisbon Sport Film Festival (LSFF) and are intended exclusively for the 9th Edition of the Sport Film Festival, 2027.
  • The screening of the films will be free of charge in the cinema.

FINAL PROVISIONS

The submission of films implies acceptance of the following conditions:

  • The submitted and selected works are automatically authorized to be screened as an integral part of the entire Lisbon Sport Film Festival programme.
  • The directors and/or the person responsible for the selected films must submit the copy to be screened at the Lisbon Sport Film Festival, mandatorily in DCP format, by 5 March 2027.
  • UESPT-Portugal and the Organizing Committee of the Lisbon Sport Film Festival shall not be held responsible for matters relating to copyright, the right to use voice, image, soundtrack, age rating or “content localization”, as well as any other classifications relating to third-party intellectual property rights over the submitted works.
  • Participants automatically grant the Organizing Committee of the Lisbon Sport Film Festival the rights to broadcast excerpts of the selected works for the promotion of the event programme, as well as graphic and promotional materials (poster), synopsis and trailer or publicity materials.
  • The dates and times of the screenings of the participating films are decided according to programming criteria defined exclusively by the Organizing Committee of the Lisbon Sport Film Festival and communicated to the selected participants.
  • The submission procedures for the selection of films bind the participant to full acceptance of these regulations.
  • At the time of submission, the person responsible for the submission declares that the director of the work is the holder of all required rights, guaranteeing its screening at the Lisbon Sport Film Festival, and that all elements or any type of work used in the submitted work, including the soundtrack and archive images, do not violate any third-party image-use or intellectual property rights, with the person responsible for the submission therefore agreeing to assume exclusive legal responsibility for any claim, legal action or litigation, whether directly or indirectly arising from the screening or use of the works.
  • Any cases not covered herein shall be resolved by the Organizing Committee of the Lisbon Sport Film Festival.
  • The Trophies awarded to the winning films will be presented in person to the winners or to whoever is designated by them.

PARCERIAS DE CINEMA


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PARCERIAS INSTITUCIONAIS