Awards

AUDIOVISUAL WORK COMPETITION AWARDS (VIDEO)
*Note: The winners who attend the awards ceremony in San Sebastian will receive a Txapela and a Real Sociedad de Fútbol T-shirt.
DOCUMENTARIES (More than 15 minutes long. Recommended maximum: 40 minutes)

1st prize, with golden banister + REAL SOCIEDAD FUNDAZIOA Prize of 1,000€ + S.M.Y. ONDINA Prize, Cruise in Indonesia and 50% companion (valued at more than 6,000€) + FOOTAGE.film Prize, Pack 4K PRO, with licence to use film footage (valued at 990€).
2nd prize, with silver railing + 200€.
3rd prize, with bronze rail + 100€.

SHORT FILMS (Up to 15 minutes long)
Videos with voice-over
1st prize, with golden railing + S.M.Y. ONDINA Prize, Cruise in Indonesia and 50% companion (valued at more than 6,000€) + FOOTAGE.film Prize, HD CREATOR Pack, with licence to use film footage (valued at 290€).
2nd prize, with silver banister + 200€.
3rd prize, with bronze rail + 100€.
Music videos (without voice-over)
1st prize, with golden railing + ATMOSPHERE Resorts & Spa Prize, 4 nights in Deluxe Suite for 2 persons. Breakfast included. Package of 10 dives per person. Return transfers by plane Dumaguete-Atmosphere (valued at more than 2,500€) + FOOTAGE.film Prize, HD CREATOR Pack, with licence to use film footage (valued at 290€).
2nd prize, with a silver banister + 200€.
3rd prize, with bronze banister + 100€.

Special prizes:
CANTÁBRICO: Best work carried out in the Cantabrian Sea, with white railing + 300€.
ECOLOGICAL AWARENESS: Best work with ecological denunciation, with white banister + 300€.
JOURNALISTIC WORK: Best journalistic work, with white VASCO railing + 100€.
WOMAN VIDEOGRAPHER: Best work by a woman, with white banister + 100€.
YOUNG PROMISE: Best amateur work, with white railing + 100€.

The jury reserves the right, but not the obligation, to award further prizes for any reason of quality or interest of the works presented. These prizes will consist of a white handrail + the possibility, depending on the level provided, of a prize of up to €200.

PRIZES for the PHOTO CONTEST (Gallery of 5 photographs)
*Note: The winners who attend the awards ceremony in San Sebastian will receive a Txapela and a Real Sociedad de Fútbol T-shirt.
1st prize, with golden rail + BUCEO ANILAO Beach & Dive Resort Prize, 7 nights in Superior room with full board, 12 dives with Nitrox and Transfer Manila/Anilao/Manila. Accompanying person 50%. To be enjoyed in July, August or September (valued at more than 2,000€)
2nd prize, with silver banister + 200€.
3rd prize, with bronze railing + 100€.
Special prizes:
CANTÁBRICO: Best gallery of the Cantabrian Sea, with white railing + 200€.
ECOLOGICAL AWARENESS: Award for the most awareness-raising photograph, with white railing + 200€.
WOMAN PHOTOGRAPHER: Best gallery by a woman, with white banister + 100€.
YOUNG PROMISE: Best amateur gallery, with white banister + 100€.

The jury reserves the right, but not the obligation, to award further prizes for any reason of quality or interest of the works presented. These prizes will consist of a white handrail + the possibility, depending on the level provided, of a prize of up to €200.

Basis

Competition rules CIMASUB 2025
The 49th edition of the CIMASUB, San Sebastián International Underwater Film Festival, to be held on 13, 14 and 15 november 2025, is organised by the Subacuáticas Real Sociedad, and aims to raise awareness of the underwater world, and raise awareness of respect and care for our seas and oceans, through the dissemination of audiovisual works. The competition for photography, short films and documentaries is announced with the following rules:
All works must be submitted using the participation form or use the FilmFreeway platform. The deadline for submitting entries is 1 April to 15 September.
The list of winners will be published in October. The results will be communicated by email, on our website cimasub.com, social networks and in the media.

AUDIOVISUAL WORKS COMPETITION
Categories:
DOCUMENTARIES, over 15 minutes long. Recommended maximum: 40 minutes.
SHORT FILMS, up to 15 minutes long.
Videos with voice-over
Music videos (without voice-over)

What is valued:
The script: Originality, theme, argument, narrative, plot, message, etc.... The judges will especially value the adaptation of the script to show the underwater wealth or denounce the delicate situation of our oceans.
Fauna and flora: The quantity and variety of species that appear in the work, both fauna, flora and ecosystem of the area. Also the way in which they are integrated in the script and in the work.
Technique: The editing and post-production, image quality, lighting and resources used. Variety of shots, integration in the script, cadence, rhythm and integration of music, voice-over or effects.
Overall impression and artistic value: Effect on the viewer. The impact produced by the work will be valued.
Awareness-raising: The work must show ecologically denouncing content, showing the difficult situation of our oceans and their inhabitants. If possible with a positive message showing solutions to this problem.

Requirements:
The work should have a significant amount of underwater images or prominence of the sea.
Only MP4 files with a maximum size of 15 Gb and a minimum resolution of 1920x1080 (FullHD) and a frame rate of 25 fps are supported.
Each entrant may submit as many works as he/she wishes. To do so, the entry form must be completed and submitted once for each work submitted.
A synopsis must accompany the work in order to be able to add the text in the programme and in the publications on our website and social networks.
All works that are not voiced in Spanish must be accompanied by the script with the time code, for translation and subtitling. SRT format recommended.
The works must be original works by the author or the production company.
Works less than 2 years old are recommended. They will be better valued.
Scenes that are suspected of mistreatment or manipulation of the species will not be allowed.

PHOTO COMPETITION
What is valued:
Variety: The variety of the 5 photographs in the gallery. In other words, the 5 photographs should be as different as possible from each other. The variety of species or subjects presented, the variety of techniques used, etc.
Technique: The quality and style of all the photographs. Lighting, focus, filters, etc.
Style: Aesthetics, creativity, originality, spectacularity and difficulty in taking the photographs.
Awareness: That the gallery contains some photograph with ecological denunciation, showing the damage that the human species is causing to our oceans and their inhabitants.

Requirements:
5 photographs must be submitted for each gallery. Up to 3 galleries can be submitted, i.e. 3 entries per author. The entry form must be completed and submitted once for each gallery submitted.
The photographs must be originals by the author.
All photographic works must be of underwater motifs and/or taken underwater.
They shall be submitted in JPEG format and in a minimum size of 10 Megapixels, recommended 20 Mp.
Photographs less than 2 years old are recommended. They will be better valued.
They must not have any kind of signature and/or identification.
Scenes that are suspected of mistreatment or manipulation of the species will not be allowed.
In the event of suspicion that any of the winning photographs may involve some kind of fraud, the jury reserves the right to ask the author for the RAW file for verification.

RULES OF PROCEDURE
Enrolment in the competition will be final after receipt of the entry form or use the FilmFreeway platform.
The jury is sovereign in the awarding of prizes. The prizes may be modified according to the news provided by the sponsors of the event.
Entries considered by the jury to be advertising or of insufficient quality will not be accepted. If there are no entries of sufficient quality in any of the categories, these may be declared void and the corresponding prize will not be awarded. If several entries are submitted in the same category, as a general rule, the prize will be awarded to the best-placed entry. Those works with images already submitted in previous editions may subtract points from the final evaluation. If necessary, the winning authors will have to prove the authorship of their works at the request of the jury.
The jury reserves the right, but not the obligation, to award further prizes on the grounds of the quality or interest of the works submitted. These prizes will consist of a white handrail + the possibility, depending on the level provided, of a prize of up to €200. Special prizes are not compulsory, the jury reserves the right not to award them if it sees no reason to award them or if the works to be awarded one of the special prizes have already been awarded a higher prize.
For organisational reasons and with the aim of improving communication between the organisation and the participants, the latter will be automatically subscribed to the blog of our website www.cimasub.com when they fill in the participation form, both on our website and on the Filmfreeway platform. In this way, they will receive all the latest news and updates of this edition of CIMASUB in the email address they have used to participate in the competition.
The organisers, in accordance with the rules established by copyright law, consider that the works presented at CIMASUB - Ciclo Internacional de Cine Submarino de Donostia - San Sebastián are free of any artistic property rights or any other rights that a third party may have. By virtue of their participation in CIMASUB, the authors undertake to guarantee to the organisers that the works presented are free of copyright. The responsibility for any claim that may be brought against the works submitted is solely and exclusively that of the authors. The organisers of CIMASUB can in no way be held responsible in case of dispute or litigation.
Participants authorise the duplication of their works in the CIMASUB archives and their use during the competition in Donostia-San Sebastián and to use them totally or partially in the different towns where our competition is held throughout the year, as well as to use them to promote CIMASUB and/or the underwater, social and/or educational activities related to CIMASUB. Always citing the name of the author, but without giving rise to payment of royalties or compensation of any kind.
The jury's decisions are final. Participation in the CIMASUB - Donostia - San Sebastian International Underwater Film Festival implies acceptance of all the conditions set out in these Regulations.
The trophies and txapelas will be awarded to the winners attending the event on the last day at the closing gala. In the event of not attending the event, the trophy will be sent by post. The winners who visit us are invited to the two dinners that we will hold, if the situation allows it, during the event (invitation for two persons):
Friday, intimate cocktail dinner for award winners and sponsors.
Saturday, closing dinner/party for organisers, award winners, guests, sponsors and institutions.
The prizes in products or services offered by the sponsors cannot be exchanged for their economic value.
In the event of cancellation of the event for reasons beyond the responsibility of the organisers and/or force majeure, or if any of the sponsors do not comply with the agreement established with the Ciclo Internacional de Cine Submarino, the prizes may be suspended. In the event of such a possibility, they may be postponed or replaced by others.

DATA PROTECTION POLICY
In compliance with the provisions of Organic Law 15/1999, of 13 December, on the Protection of Personal Data, CIMASUB - International Underwater Film Series of Donostia - San Sebastian guarantees the security and confidentiality of the data provided herein.
In this way, it undertakes to comply with its obligation to maintain the secrecy of personal data and its duty to protect them and to adopt all necessary measures to prevent their alteration, loss, processing or unauthorised use. Therefore, this information will not be passed on to third parties.
You have the right to access, rectify, cancel and oppose the processing of your data, which you may exercise by sending a request to CIMASUB - Ciclo Internacional de Cine Submarino de Donostia - San Sebastián indicating the reference "data protection".

Generic information

The Donostia-San Sebastián International Underwater Film Series, also known as CIMASUB, is a non-profit association whose aim is to raise awareness of the seabed and transmit respect and love for it.
It was founded in 1975 by a group of divers belonging to Subacuáticas Real Sociedad, who were passionate about the sea and underwater images. For decades, this event has become a very important international event in the underwater film and photography sector.

For professionals of the underwater image...
After 48 editions, we have become the longest-running underwater film festival in the world. CIMASUB is a world reference in underwater film festivals, receiving short films, documentaries and photographs from all corners of the world. Works came from more than 80 different countries in the last edition.
We are a highly prestigious international competition that offers more than 25 prizes in each edition in the three main categories, documentaries, short films and underwater photographs. In each category, we award prizes to the best works submitted from all over the world, the works of our Cantabrian Sea, works of ecological awareness, works made by female photographers or videographers.
To enter the CIMASUB competition, entries can be submitted between April and September each year. The main event is held during the month of November in the city of Donostia - San Sebastian.

For the public...
Thanks to the use of such an attractive format for the public, such as film and photography, we can show all the beauty and biodiversity hidden in our oceans, and show the serious situation they are in due to human behaviour and attitude towards the problem of marine pollution and overfishing. We always make all our events with FREE ENTRANCE in order not to put barriers to reach as many people as possible.
Wherever we go we offer three sessions of underwater cinema, a photographic exhibition and our beloved underwater Txikiziklo for the pupils of the schools in the area.
CIMASUB invests all its efforts in improving every year to achieve higher quality content, increase its ability to raise public awareness, and have a presence in more places to reach more people. All our activities focus on themes that help us to understand the importance of the sea and our close relationship with the environment, seeking to raise awareness, train and involve people in the solution to the serious situation it is suffering.
In addition to holding our main event at the Teatro Principal in Donostia - San Sebastián in November, during the rest of the year we carry out a TOUR that takes us to many other towns in the Basque Country, with the aim of moving more and more throughout the rest of the country.
If you want to know more about us, here you can see the MEMORIES of the results of the last edition held.
Let's take care of the sea and the sea will take care of us.
CIMASUB - Donostia - San Sebastián International Underwater Film Series