Participate in the short film competition "The Art of Weaving Stories": an invitation to create, tell, and transform

The Metropolitan University of Education, Science and Technology -UMECIT-, through the Department of University Welfare and the Coordination of Design and Communication, in collaboration with Innova Cine Panama, launches the short film competition "The Art of Weaving Stories". This initiative aims to foster audiovisual creativity among students from all locations, positioning cinema as a powerful tool educational, critical and cultural within the university environment.

Competition objectives:

• Encourage audiovisual production and active student participation.
• Promote focused content critical and proactive on topics cultural, social and community.
• Promoting new voices in university documentary filmmaking from a diverse academic perspective.

Category in competition:

• Documentary (non-fiction): It can be presented in traditional, animated, video essay or other creative formats.

Participation requirements:

• Be a regular student at UMECIT.
• Teams of up to 4 members (one documentary per team).
• Duration: between 1 and 5 minutes (including credits).
• Format: .MP4 or .MOV (H.264), Full HD resolution (1920×1080).
• Works unpublished, suitable for all audiences.
• Mandatory attendance of at least two members per group to each training workshop.

Contest stages:

1. Registration (July 21-31)
Online form with synopsis of the short film.
👉 Registration form

2. Training (mandatory):
Three in-person (Panama location) or hybrid classes, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, in the Fundadores Building – Conference Room:

• 📅 July 31st: Contest rules.
• 📅 August 7: Conceptual and technical tools.
• 📅 August 14: Audiovisual narrative and basic production.

3. Pre-selection (August 26 to September 6)
Evaluation of the short films by the jury.

4. Awards Ceremony (Saturday, October 4)
Final event where the winning short films will be announced.

Benefits and rights:

• The works will remain the property of their authors.
• UMECIT may display them for purposes educational and cultural, giving full credit to the creators.
• Free participation.
• Certification and institutional visibility.
• Opportunity to work with film and communication experts.

Jury:

The jury will be composed of professionals from the fields of film, culture, communications, and academia. Decisions will be final and binding.

Final considerations:

• The organization reserves the right to modify dates or conditions if necessary.
• If no project meets the criteria, the category may be declared void.

This contest is an invitation to weave stories that transform, through the critical and creative lenses of our students. Participate, create, and make your voice heard!