Opening Signal
A live welcome from the city, the edition manifesto and a first look at the films defining its creative signal.
INAUGURAL EDITION
CIRCUIT 35 / 52 · MAD · 2026
CIRCUIT 35 / 52 · MAD · 2026
● Europe · INAUGURAL EDITION · ONE DAY ONLINE
MADRID
AI CINEMA
FESTIVAL
Performance, Heat / New Frontiers. One global screen for cinema with authorship, craft and emotional force.
01 / THE CITY SIGNAL
A CREATIVE TERRITORY, NOT A TOURIST POSTCARD
PERFORMANCE, HEAT
NEW FRONTIERS
Madrid places performance at the centre—heat, humour, confrontation and emotional courage held in an unmistakable cinematic voice.
- Format
- One day, online worldwide
- Edition
- INAUGURAL EDITION
- Date
- Sunday, Aug 30, 2026
- Submission deadline
- Sunday, Aug 16, 2026
- Time zone
- Europe/Madrid
- Creative signal
- Performance, Heat / New Frontiers
MAD / 2026.08.30ONE DAY / ONE CITY SIGNAL / ONE GLOBAL SCREEN
THE
PROGRAMME
+
Competition Screens
Curated online programmes across narrative, animation, documentary, experimental work and future formats.
The Directors’ Room
Selected filmmakers discuss authorship, process, rights, responsible practice and the new language of cinema.
Award Gala — Live Online
The global audience reconnects for jury awards, the audience prize and the World Championship qualifier.
02 / CITY DESK
LOCAL EDITION / GLOBAL ONLINE DELIVERY
LOCAL
PRESENCE.
GLOBAL REACH.
MAD
Madrid Broadcast Desk
The city desk coordinates filmmaker access, programme communications, live-gala production and local partnerships. Audience screenings and the Award Gala are delivered online worldwide; registered guests receive access instructions directly.
Contact the Madrid desk ↗03 / THE AWARDS
CINEMA, JUDGED AS CINEMA
MADRID
AWARDS
More ways to recognise the whole film: story, direction, performance, image, sound, innovation and transparent human authorship.
CITY SIGNATURE AWARDMadrid Creative Signal — Performance, Heat / New Frontiers
01Grand Prizes
City Grand PrixBest AI FilmJury PrizeAudience AwardGlobal Championship Qualifier
02Formats
Narrative FeatureNarrative ShortAnimationDocumentaryExperimental FilmMusic VideoFashion FilmCommercial StorytellingSeries PilotMicro ShortVertical CinemaImmersive / XRInteractive FilmStudent FilmYouth Film
03Cinematic Craft
DirectionScreenplayCinematographyEditingProduction DesignVisual EffectsCharacter DesignAnimation CraftPerformanceVoice PerformanceSound DesignOriginal ScoreOriginal SongColourTitle SequenceWorld-BuildingCreature DesignAction Choreography
04Genre, Impact + Innovation
Science FictionFantasyHorrorComedyClimate StorytellingSocial ImpactHuman–AI CollaborationResponsible AI PracticeTechnical InnovationBreakthrough Filmmaker
MADRID / SUNDAY
AUG 30, 2026 / ONLINE WORLDWIDE
SUBMISSIONS CLOSE AUG 16, 2026
NO VIDEO UPLOAD · YOUTUBE OR GOOGLE DRIVE LINK