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Festival start: 26 November 2025      Festival end: 29 November 2025

The Ajayu Film Association, in co-production with Sapa Inti Estudios, invites national and international filmmakers to participate in the 10th Ajayu International Animation Festival, to be held from November 26 to 29, 2025, in Puno, Peru.

Since its founding, Ajayu has established itself as one of the Peruvian festivals dedicated exclusively to animated film, and as an essential platform for the formation, circulation, and visibility of animated film from the southern Andean territories. On this tenth anniversary, the festival reaffirms its commitment to cultural decentralization, promoting a diverse, accessible audiovisual industry with its own identity.

The central theme of this edition is “Stories that narrate peace,” a curatorial axis that will guide part of the general programming and will be developed in a special section. However, this theme does not condition participation, as the call for entries is open to animated works of any theme.

Ajayu continues to be a space for meeting, exhibition, and reflection on animation as an artistic language and a means of social transformation. The selected works will be part of the festival's official exhibition and will be an active part of a curatorial process that celebrates ten years of history.

Cash Prizes: 850$

AWARDS

The awards will be divided as follows:

Ajayu Grand Jury Prize (Trophy and digital certificate)

Ajayu Hatun Soncco Award (digital certificate)

Best International Animated Short Film (Trophy and digital certificate)

Best Animated Short Film from Peru (Cash prize of three thousand soles - S/. 3000.000 -, Trophy and digital certificate, payment will be made via PayPal)

Best Animated Short Film from Latin America (Trophy and certificate)

Best Animated Short Film from Thesis or Graduation (digital certificate)

Best Animated Feature Film (Trophy and digital certificate)

Best Animated Series (Trophy and digital certificate)

Special Mentions from the Jury (digital certificate)

PARTICIPANTS

People over the age of 18 of any nationality may participate, either individually or collectively, except in the case of the “Short Films Made by Children” category, where participants must be under 18 years of age.

Productions in languages other than Spanish must include subtitles in .SRT or .pdf format in Spanish and/or english.

Up to three works per filmmaker will be accepted.
Registration for the categories: Peruvian Short Films, Latin American Short Films, and Feature Films from any country is free throughout the call for entries.

Animated productions that have been part of the Official Selection in competition or Exhibition in previous editions of the AJAYU Festival will be automatically disqualified.

Animated projects that have been completed as of May 30, 2022, are eligible to participate.

Deadlines:

The deadline for submissions is from July 20 to October 16, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. (Peru time).

Projects submitted after the deadline will not be considered unless the organization has decided to extend the call for entries.

The following deadlines will be taken into account:

Early registration until August 18, 2025.

Regular registration from August 19 to September 25, 2025.

Late registration from September 26 to October 16, 2025.


COMPETITION AND EXHIBITION CATEGORIES

3.1. Competition categories:

International animated short films.
Peruvian animated short films.
Latin American animated short films.
Animated thesis or graduation short films.
Animated feature films.
Animated series.

3.2. Categories IN EXHIBITION:

Animated short films made by children (Ajayito).
Productions selected by the festival

Considerations:

Productions may only compete in one category.

Short films must not exceed 20 (twenty) minutes.

Feature films must be longer than 60 (sixty) minutes.

In the case of series, only one episode may be selected, which must not exceed 30 (thirty) minutes.

In the case of the International Animated Short Films category, only works that do not belong to Latin America and Peru will be accepted.

The decision to screen works outside of the competition will be made by the organization.

The best productions will be eligible to compete for the Ajayu Grand Prize, the festival's most important award.


REGISTRATION

Entries may only be submitted online via the application platforms. The links can be found on our website: https://bit.ly/3XTDmMn


COMPETITION CONDITIONS

Animated productions received may be used to promote the Festival (using part of the video, not the entire video; teasers or trailers may also be used).

Those responsible for the application, such as directors, producers, and/or distributors, must have the rights to the work being submitted and agree not to submit audiovisual materials and/or photographs for which they do not have the rights of use.

The Festival organization is not responsible for the works or the improper use of intellectual property rights by the authors.

PRESELECTION

This preselection will be carried out as follows:

After the closing date for applications, the material received will be preselected by the Programming Team, appointed by the Festival's organizing committee.

The official selection is divided as follows:

Official Selection of International Short Films

Official Selection of National Short Films (Peruvian)

Official Selection of Latin American Short Films

Official Selection of Thesis or Graduation Short Films

Official Selection of Ajayu Grand Prize Short Films

Official Selection of Feature Films

Official Selection of Animated Series

Official Selection Hatun Soncco

Productions selected by the Festival Organization
A list of preselected films will be available before the results are published, and those selected will be notified by mail on October 28, 2025. It is important to note that the authorization form (document that will be sent along with the notification) must be sent, duly completed and signed by the person who officially represents the work. This document will confirm your participation and authorize the screening of the work on the festival's in-person platforms, as well as in traveling exhibitions organized by AJAYU and/or its partners, including thematic retrospectives. Inclusion in virtual screenings through CINE AJAYU will be optional, and if accepted, geolocation may be applied according to the preference of the person responsible for the work.

Submission of this authorization form will be a prerequisite for inclusion in the 2025 Official Selection.

SELECTED WORKS

Animated productions selected as part of the Festival's Official Selection must submit:
One or two images from the short film with a minimum quality of 300 dpi.

A photograph of the director(s). (not mandatory)
An image of the short film poster or still (not mandatory).

Trailer or teaser (not mandatory).

The representative of the work authorizes its inclusion in the AJAYU video library, as well as its participation in future traveling and retrospective exhibitions in person, organized by the festival and/or its partners. In addition, they may authorize free exhibition through exclusive virtual screenings by CINE AJAYU, carried out via the website www.ajayufest.com, with restricted access via registration and password, valid only during the days of the Festival. Participation in CINE AJAYU is optional, and in case of acceptance, geolocation may be applied according to the preference of the representative of the work.


Awards

The awards will be divided as follows:

Ajayu Grand Jury Prize (Trophy and digital certificate)

Ajayu Hatun Soncco Award (digital certificate)

Best International Animated Short Film (Trophy and digital certificate)

Best Animated Short Film from Peru (Cash prize of three thousand soles - S/. 3000.000 -, Trophy and digital certificate, payment will be made via PayPal)

Best Animated Short Film from Latin America (Trophy and certificate)

Best Animated Short Film from Thesis or Graduation (digital certificate)

Best Animated Feature Film (Trophy and digital certificate)

Best Animated Series (Trophy and digital certificate)

Special Mentions from the Jury (digital certificate)


SCORING

The categories in competition (see section VI) will be scored by a jury of renowned film and animation experts.

Special Mentions are at the discretion of the jury and the organization.

JURY

The jury will be established by the organization, among prominent figures in film and animation, who will decide the awards in the competitive categories.

The jury's decision will be final, and the awards may be declared void if they do not meet the quality standards established by the jury or if no consensus is reached.


PUBLICATION OF FINAL RESULTS

The Official Selection in Competition and Exhibition will be published on November 4, 2025, on the website www.ajayufest.com and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ajayufest, and the corresponding awards will be sent by email.


Awards CEREMONY
The awards ceremony will take place during the closing day of the Festival, on November 29, 2025. Winners may include the award they have won, accompanied by the Festival laurel, in their opening credits.

ACCEPTANCE OF THE RULES

Participation in this Festival implies acceptance of these rules. The absence of any important information in the registration form, as well as any accompanying material, and failure to meet the established deadlines may result in the corresponding work not being included in the Festival.

Sincerely,

THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
ajayufest@gmail.com