Have an idea for a short film? QCinema needs your entries

Time to shoot your shot, film kids. If you’ve been wishing for your first big break, you might get your chance this year.

Announced on Jan. 23, the QCinema International Film Festival has opened its doors for QCShorts 2023 submissions, with six production grants worth ₱350,000 up for grabs. This is the perfect opportunity for aspiring filmmakers who have been polishing an idea and need some funding to bring their story to life.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by QCinema (@qcinemaph)

If you’re curious, here are the requirements:

1. 1. Logline (optional)
   2. Short synopsis (maximum of three paragraphs)
   3. Long synopsis (maximum one-page concept treatment)
   4. Full script (standard screenwriting format)
   5. Director’s statement
   6. Director’s profile
   7. Producer’s brief profile (and optional statement)
   8. Sample works (which should include project detail with link/s. Insert a line break for multiple projects and put access credentials for password-protected files).
   9. Proposed cast and crew
   10. Line item budget (covering pre-production, actual production, and post-production costs)
   11. Timeline of production (all requirements must be in PDF file)

One of the festival’s gems, “It’s Raining Frogs Outside” by Maria Estela Paiso, experienced overseas success in 2022 when it was screened at SeaShorts Film Festival, the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival, and the prestigious Berlinale International Film Festival. During its QCinema premiere, the film won the Gender Sensitivity Award. 

Should your entry be chosen, keep in mind that QCinema reserves the right to showcase your final film for the entire QCinema 2023 festival. It may also be screened at other events (with prior notice of course). You can submit your entries until Feb. 28, at 5 p.m.

For more information, email ​​[email protected] or head to their socials.

Read more:

Here’s where to watch the film that got Dolly de Leon a Golden Globe nom

This Filipina screenwriter went from writing plotless comics to writing history in Disney

It ‘rained frogs’ at Berlinale this year. We talked to its mastermind (a Filipino filmmaker)

Still from “i get so sad sometimes” trailer