Festival rules

Competition rules of the International Comedy Film Festival 2026

Announcement of the competition: 1 June 2025
Deadline for applications: 31 December 2025
The competition is governed by the festival statues and competition rules.

Conditions of participation

Only films which meet the following conditions can be included in the competition:

Premiere: The film premiered in the period from 1 January to 31 December 2025.
An exception is made for films which have their premiere or advance screening directly at the International Comedy Film Festival 2026.
Type of film: We only accept live-action short (lasting up to 60 minutes) and feature-length (lasting more than 60 minutes) films.
Selection of films: The festival programme board decides which films are selected for inclusion in the competition.

Registration and delivery of materials

Materials required by the selection committee:

A preview video sent:

by post on an external storage device (USB, HDD) to the organiser’s address, or
electronically via www.uschovna.cz.

Trailer: A link to a trailer for the film (HD or 4K) posted on YouTube.
Specifications for the preview video:

format: MP4, AVI or MKV
resolution: HD (or comparable)
maximum bit rate: 6,000 kB/s
sound: stereo or 5.1

Information about selection:

Applicants will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by the end of January 2026. At the same time, they will be asked to send in a screening copy and additional materials.

The list of selected films will then be published on the official festival website www.icomfilmfest.com by the end of March 2026.

Technical requirements for the screening copy

Formats accepted for screening:

DCP (minimum bit rate 6,000 kB/s, stereo or 5.1 sound)
FULL HD video file (or comparable resolution) with a minimum bit rate of 6,000 kB/s and stereo or 5.1 sound
Backup copy: FULL HD video file with the same parameters as the main screening copy

Methods of delivering screening copies:

physically (USB / HDD) to the organiser’s postal address
online via www.uschovna.cz

Deadline for delivery of copies:
The screening and backup copy must be delivered no later than by 10 May 2026.
Adherence to this deadline is essential. Participants must follow the instructions of the organiser regarding the delivery of materials.