Zinemaldia Startup Challenge is a European competition open to entrepreneurs and recently created startups proposing new business projects incorporating new technologies and aimed at the audiovisual field.

The following rules and regulations establish the rules of participation in the competition and the participation in the call for submissions implies the acceptance of them, with neither exceptions nor conditioning factors, and of any decisions potentially made in this respect.

Projects submitted to the Zinemaldia Startup Challenge, whether European or Spanish, must meet the following conditions:

ARTICLE 1. Participants and requirements

The competition is mainly intended for:

• Entrepreneurs older than 18 years on 31/12/2025 and with legal residence in a European country.
• Startups constituted after 31/12/2020 in a European country.

The proposals can be business projects presented by entrepreneurs or startups on the application of new technologies to one of the links in the value chain of the audiovisual industry.

Proposals involving the production of audiovisual content (e.g. proposals for short films, screenplays, documentaries, etc.) will not be accepted.

Selected projects in earlier editions of the competition will not be accepted.

ARTICLE 2. Project submissions

To submit a project, participants must complete the form with the information requested, and attach a brief video explaining the idea. The video must be hosted by an online platform (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) and you must indicate the link in the corresponding field of the form.

Once the complete documentation has been received, and upon revision, an email will be sent validating the registration to participate in the competition.

The projects can be presented in Spanish, Basque or English.

ARTICLE 3. Project selection procedure

The submitted projects will be evaluated by an expert committee, which will pre-select a maximum of 10 finalist projects (5 projects at the European competition and 5 at the Spanish one), based on criteria such as the degree of innovation of the service or product, its fit within the audiovisual sector, and the viability or potential of the project, among others.

The submissions rejected for the next stage will be informed of the decision by means of the email address provided on the application.

The 10 finalist projects will be evaluated by a jury, depending on the category in which they compete, made up of professionals from the audiovisual, technological and business fields during the pitching session. The projects can be presented in Spanish, Basque or English, and will take place as part of the event Zinemaldia & Technology, during the Festival.

The selection of the project in the Zinemaldia Startup Challenge is subject to the participation of one of the representatives to present the project during the September session.

ARTICLE 4. Awards

The 10 selected projects will be eligible for the following awards:

• BEST SPANISH PROJECT
  
  10,000 euros gross for a project presented by a Spanish startup or entrepreneur.
   
• BEST EUROPEAN PROJECT
  
  10,000 euros gross for a project presented by a European startup or entrepreneur.
   
• SPECIAL MENTION TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  
  3,000 euros gross for a project selected from both Spanish and European competitions.

The winning projects will be announced at the Zinemaldia & Technology event.

The representatives of the award-winning projects shall include the following mention in the award-winning project website: Zinemaldia Startup Challenge Award - San Sebastian International Film Festival.

ARTICLE 5. Contents

The participants undertake to accept and obey the competition rules and regulations. Submitting a business project implies the express and formal acceptance of the requirements and obligations expressed herein.

The intellectual and material property of the projects or ideas developed belong to the promoters of the project; the same applies to their industrial exploitation.

The participants guarantee that the works and their contents voluntarily submitted to the competition (including the different summaries or presentations) do not violate the rights of third parties, or have, where appropriate, all of the authorisations necessary to participate in the competition. 

ARTICLE 6. Communications and complaints

All notifications related to the Zinemaldia Startup Challenge competition, including the list of finalist projects and the winning projects, will be published on the Festival's website.

Any doubts arising from the interpretation of these regulations will be solved by the San Sebastian Festival Management.