Weird and strange instruments. A very small budget.
Make a 1–5 minute short film on the theme of weird and strange instruments, with a production budget of $200 or less. Entry is free.
October 30, 2026 at 11:59 pm ET
Submit your completed film by this date to be considered for the screening in Montréal.
November 19, 2026 at 11:59 pm ET
Submit your completed film by this date to enter the online competition.
November 21, 2026 at 8:00 pm ET
See the films selected for Keep It Weird on the big screen.
November 23, 2026 – December 6, 2026
Watch the films that meet the competition rules on cabaneasang.tv and vote for your favourite.
The submission deadlines are for your completed film. Register first, then return here to upload it when it is ready.
Use your free CaSTV account. Read the rules and confirm your participation.
Explore weird and strange instruments, gather your team and make it weird.
Return to this page, open the submission form and send your completed film before the deadline.
Vote for your favourite film and get people to vote for yours. Share your film’s watch link during the online voting period.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR LIVE SCREENING
Free entry. One film. Your weird idea starts here.
Films that respect the competition rules will be screened online on cabaneasang.tv. A selection of films will also be shown during Keep It Weird in Montréal.
Submit before the live deadline to be considered for the festival screening. Registering early does not guarantee a place in the live programme.
$200 and beer
200$ and no beer
The online prize goes to the highest competition score: eligible audience votes plus settled referral bonuses. Tied films share a place.
Online voting period
November 23, 2026 at 12:00 am ET – December 6, 2026 at 11:59 pm ET
You can support more than one film. Clicking an active Like button again removes your like. The number shown on a film’s page includes likes from outside the competition period.
The online prize goes to the highest competition score: eligible audience votes plus settled referral bonuses. Tied films share a place.
Have these files ready. The form will also ask for your film details and licence information.
You will review and sign the CaSTV platform licence in the submission form.
A free short film competition, a clear deadline and a $200 production limit: turn that weird idea into a finished film.
Films that respect the competition rules will screen online on CaSTV. Selected films will also screen at Keep It Weird in Montréal.
The online prize: 200$ and no beer. The live prize: $200 and beer. CaSTV is run by Cabane à Sang, a Québec nonprofit. These are modest prizes, and we’re doing our best to put something back into filmmakers’ pockets.
Try an unusual character, a visual joke or an unexpected sound. A short film gives you room to test a weird idea from beginning to end.
Bring together your finished film, posters, subtitles when required and licence information. Follow the checklist and take your project through the submission process.
Share your film’s CaSTV watch link, invite people to watch and vote, and discover what other filmmakers created for the challenge.
You have a question about your entry, press inquiries and communications, you want to become a sponsor of the competition or you are interested in creating a partnership? GET IN TOUCH WITH US VIA EMAIL!
For Make It Weird 2026, an eligible filmmaker's film earns one promotional bonus when a new viewer accepts its referral link, creates a new CaSTV account and verifies that account's email. The maximum is 10 bonus points per film for this edition, shared across all promotional campaigns. The first eligible referral accepted for this competition remains attributed for up to 14 days, ending no later than 2026-12-06 23:59 EST. Referral acceptance and account creation must happen between 2026-11-23 00:00 EST and 2026-12-06 23:59 EST. Email verification must finish by 2026-12-07 23:59 EST, including the configured 24-hour verification grace period. Registration alone, clicking Share, posting, watching, liking and ad interactions earn no bonus. The viewer does not have to vote for the referring film or subscribe to marketing. Existing accounts, self-referrals and duplicate referrals do not qualify. Valid referrals beyond the cap stay qualified without an award and fill any vacant bonus slots in verification-time order before settlement. Bonuses are separate from audience votes and lifetime Likes. Final competition score is eligible audience votes plus settled promotional bonuses. Results become final after verification and review settlement. Bots, fabricated accounts, purchased traffic and unsolicited mass messages are prohibited. Clearly disclose the possible competition bonus when promoting your referral link publicly.
Referral tracking is optional. If you accept, CaSTV stores an opaque first-party cookie for up to 14 days, ending no later than the competition cutoff. We link it to your account if you register and use registration, verification and decision records to award the filmmaker's bonus and prevent duplicates. The filmmaker sees progress, not your email. You can stop referral tracking from Rewards. Required decision evidence remains for 366 days after the later of final settlement and the latest decision or review, and longer while a review or preservation hold is open. Public film results are separate. Read https://cabaneasang.tv/privacy-policy-2/ for the privacy contact, processors and your access, correction and withdrawal rights. Our website, database and host-managed backups are stored by hosting.com in Toronto, Canada. Separate website backups are sent to Google Drive. Cloudflare handles website delivery and security, and verification emails use Amazon SES in the US East (N. Virginia) region. These services may process information outside Quebec and Canada; Toronto hosting does not mean all processing stays in Canada.
Referral decisions are automated using account creation, email verification, timing, duplicate checks, film eligibility and the edition cap. You can request the information and principal reasons used, ask for corrections and submit observations for human review at https://cabaneasang.tv/privacy-policy-2/. Before settlement, eligible rejected referrals also have REQUEST REVIEW in Rewards. A frozen result does not remove your privacy rights.
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