The HISPASAT 4K International Short Film Festival Returns to Madrid for its third edition

Madrid, Spain, April 8, 2017--HISPASAT, the Spanish satellite telecommunications operator and leader in distribution of content in Spanish and Portuguese, has announced the call for entries for the third edition of its Hispasat 4K International Short Film Festival, one of the first contests in the world to exclusively feature short films shot and post-produced in 4K format.

The Festival is sponsored by the production company Cine365 Film, leading companies in the film production sector such as Dolby Laboratories, SGO, Fujifilm and the sound studio AdHoc Studios, as well as RTVE, the leading television broadcaster in this technological field in Spain, and Atreseries, which given its role as a distributor of audiovisual content, has joined the initiative this year. The joint collaboration makes this one-of-a-kind contest possible. The deadline for the submission of projects will be 14 June and the awards ceremony of this third edition will be held on 19 October at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid.

Categories and prizes for this edition

The excellent response by filmmakers and the industry to the Festival’s 2015 and 2016 editions, have made this year’s edition possible offering an award as important as that of Best Director, giving the winner the paid opportunity to direct a feature film in 2018, produced by Cine365.

In addition, the festival offers a new award given by Atreseries, the Atresmedia television channel that joins the festival this year as a sponsor and that will be awarding the prize for Best Short Film for TV, which includes channel broadcast and promotion of the winning film, as well as an interview with its filmmaker.

Finally, and in line with HISPASAT’s commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, the Festival jury will positively assess those short films whose topic is related in some way to any of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, and will award at least one of the prizes, in any of its categories, to a short film addressing these topics through any approach, genre, treatment or style.

The HISPASAT 4K International Short Film Festival is open to films produced in any country, in any genre, with a maximum duration of 25 minutes and shot and post-produced in 4K format. The following categories and awards have been established:

  • CINE365 FILM AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: Opportunity to direct a feature film.
  • HISPASAT AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM: €4,000.
  • DOLBY/ADHOC AWARD FOR BEST SOUND: €1,000 + Dolby Atmos mastering.
  • FUJIFILM/SGO AWARD FOR BEST PHOTOGRAPHY: €1,000 + professional photo camera.
  • RTVE AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM FROM A FILM ACADEMY: €1,000 + short film broadcast on the programme “Versión Española”, where its director will also be interviewed.
  • ATRESERIES AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM FOR TV: €1,000 + broadcast and promotion of the short film on Atreseries, including an interview with its director.

The official rules and regulations for the contest are available at: http://www.hispasat4kfest.es. Entry forms shall be submitted through the MOVIBETA site.

Leaders in promoting Ultra High Definition

4K, or Ultra High Definition (UHD), is the latest technological revolution in the audiovisual sector. The format constitutes a fourfold increase in the number of pixels of conventional high definition, allowing viewers to enjoy an unparalleled cinematic experience with never-before-seen image quality. The Hispasat 4K International Short Film Festival aims to inspire the creation and display of audiovisual content in this format.

HISPASAT has been at the forefront of driving the development and implementation of UHD, with the goal of making it available as soon as possible to film and television viewers. It was the first satellite operator to broadcast in Ultra High Definition in Latin America via the Amazonas 3 satellite, and since September 2013 it has broadcast its Hispasat 4K TV channel free-to-air in Europe, available to the industry as a means of promoting the use of this new technology. Since April of 2014, Hispasat 4K has also been available in North and Central America and is expected to broadcast in South America in the future. The initiative of the Hispasat 4K International Short Film Festival over the past two years has defined a new milestone in reinforcing HISPASAT’s role as a as a leader in this field.

The companies that join Hispasat in this initiative aimed at promoting innovation and technological development in the production and display of contents are also at the cutting edge of UHD. Cine365 Film has clearly committed to this technology, undertaking the commitment to produce all of its films in 4K. It is now finishing production of the film MAUS, directed by the winner of its 2015 Award for Best Director, Yayo Herrero, and it will soon begin shooting the film that will be directed by last year’s winner, Haritz Zubillaga.

Very early on, RTVE joined the ranks of Europe’s pioneering television stations in adopting different aspects of UHD and through La2 it has filmed and produced several documentaries about museums and Spanish cities, broadcasting its content with ground as well as satellite technology, and through the Botón Rojo of RTVE.es. Atresmedia is currently Spain’s largest communications group, a worldwide operator and a leader in television, radio and digital communications, and steadfast promoter of film production in Spain. Dolby Laboratories, SGO, Fujifilm and the sound studio AdHoc Studios are leading companies in different fields of film technology which have brought innovation to sound and video systems, film editing and post-production, the most advanced optical technologies and sound editing.