Colombia. With the aim of strengthening digital inclusion in the audiovisual sector, the ICT Ministry is launching a new LGBTIQ+ category at SmartFilms 2026, which joins the Inclusive SmarTIC, VOLUTIONARY, ICT and Ethnicities sections.
Each category will award an incentive of $25 million pesos to the winning short film, recognizing talent from the territories and strengthening the creative ecosystem.
"We incorporated the LGBTIQ+ category because we believe in inclusive cinema and we wanted to complete the path we started with the disability category. We joined this largest cell phone film festival in the world, because after bringing connectivity to the entire country, we need to bet on digital appropriation. Cell phones are the knowledge of the world accumulated in everyone's pockets. So, it is the most powerful tool it has, with which they can develop both personally and professionally," said the Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Andrés López.
Until June 22, interested Colombians can participate in the category, Inclusive SmarTIC, aimed at people with some type of disability and their caregivers. VOLUTIONARY ICT Network, focused on women creators of digital content. Ethnic groups, for indigenous peoples, black, Afro-Colombian, Raizales, Palenquera communities and the Rrom people and the LGBTIQ+ Community, aimed at strengthening the participation and appropriation of ICTs in this population.
For the 2026 term, the SmartFilms project aims to certify 4,600 people in the appropriation and use of ICTs, through the creation of audiovisual content with cell phones. At least 550 short films are expected to be registered in the different categories, 110 in Inclusive SmarTIC, 270 in ICT Volutionary Networks, 100 in Ethnicities and 70 in the new LGBTIQ+ category.
The strategy includes a national call, curatorial processes, mentoring, face-to-face and virtual training, an accessible web platform, a communications strategy with a database of more than 30,000 people and an awards gala with national broadcast. The evaluation model combines 70% expert jury, 20% qualification from the ICT Ministry and 10% public voting, guaranteeing narrative quality, citizen participation and institutional support.
The new LGBTIQ+ category responds to the guidelines of CONPES 4147 of 2025 and the National Development Plan 2022-2026, which recognize the need to guarantee safe, inclusive and discrimination-free digital environments. Since 2016, the Ministry has promoted differential categories in SmartFilms as affirmative actions to close digital gaps and expand access to audiovisual creation.
