Nicolas Winding Refn and Piccolo America — which runs both Rome’s largest open-air film festival and Europe’s first 24-hour movie theater — want to see your short films.
The second edition of Fondazione Piccolo America’s Corto Condorello, a short film festival for filmmakers under 35 from around the globe, will return to Cinema Troisi in Rome from December 11-13.
Submissions for all competitions are open November 6, exclusively through FilmFreeway, with a 10 euro submission fee for each short. Films must not exceed 20 minutes, including end credits, and must be completed on or after January 1, 2025, and made by directors born on or after January 1, 1992. No premiere status is required: films already screened at other festivals, distributed, or made available online are also eligible.
The festival will announce selected films at the end of November.
The international jury will be chaired by Nicolas Winding Refn, whose platform byNWR joins MUBI, the festival’s partner since its first edition. Among the films in competition, the jury will award the Golden Condorello and the audience will award the Silver Condorello; winners of both awards receive a one-year distribution deal on the Mubi platform. Films screening out of competition will compete for the Bronze Condorello, awarded by the audience, which includes a 500 euro voucher for the historic Bar San Calisto in Trastevere.
Alongside jury president Nicolas Winding Refn, judges include Chiara Costa, head of programs at Fondazione Prada; director Abel Ferrara; James Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade; fashion model and actress Laura Grassi; Demi Demitro and Baby Pottersmith of the band The Velveteers; and Elias Rønnenfelt, frontman of Iceage.
The first edition in November 2024 drew 2,000 entries from 86 countries. The first edition’s international jury, chaired by Paolo Sorrentino and made up of Willem Dafoe, Carla Bruni, Radu Mihăileanu, Debra Winger and Jan Komasa, awarded “Majonezë” by Giulia Grandinetti in the official competition; the film went on to win the Grand Prix at the Brussels Short Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at AFI Fest in Los Angeles, awards that qualified it for the 2026 Oscars.
New for 2026, the Pink Condorello is an online audience award created in partnership with byNWR and reserved for films in competition whose directors choose to publish them on the platform. byNWR users will decide the prize through an online vote. The online vote will open with the announcement of films through December 12. The winner will remain available on byNWR for one year.
Head to the festival’s website for all the details.