The Manifesto

RoMatrix is a short film festival based in Rome, but outside its most familiar imagery. It takes place in the city’s outskirts, in a place known worldwide for its history, while focusing on the present and on stories that have yet to be told.

The name refers to matrix as a generative source: a point of origin, a context where ideas, images, and different cinematic languages can emerge.
The festival values spontaneity and artistic freedom, welcoming works driven by a real expressive need, without constraints of format or style.

Spontaneity is central as both an artistic and political value: films born from urgency rather than strategy.

RoMatrix celebrates cinema as a living dialogue with other arts, weaving short films into the rich tapestry of literature, painting, sculpture, monuments, poetry.
We embrace works inspired by novels, statues, murals, or verses, blurring boundaries to spark hybrid creations where stories echo across mediums and timeless expressions find fresh cinematic life.
So these reasons we have added some specific categories to value this approach.

Our festival encourages a more conscious way of engaging with cinema.

Short films are not content to scroll past, but experiences to be watched with care, discussed, and connected to the context in which they are presented.

This is not only a space for screening films, but a place to meet.

It is a cultural event and an open platform for visibility, exchange, and collaboration, where filmmakers can promote their work, connect with other artists, and build new projects together.

We invite filmmakers, artists, and creators to take part without fear.

There are no expectations to fit a model or follow a trend — only an open call to share your work, test ideas, meet others, and start conversations.

Whether your film is your first or your latest, RoMatrix is a space to show it, talk about it, and let it connect with new people and new possibilities.