County Comic-Strip Competition
Six panels, one story
Rules of entry · Astra Film Junior 2026
We invite primary-school children to spend a few hours as film directors: to imagine a story and draw it in pictures, exactly the way a film storyboard looks. It does not matter whether the drawing is “perfect”. What matters is the story behind it.
New this year: entry is entirely online
After twelve years, the competition moves online completely. Every work is entered at astrafilm.ro, straight from the teacher's phone. Nothing needs to be posted: one clear photograph of the drawing, uploaded, is the whole process.
Who may take part
Pupils in the preparatory class and in years I, II, III and IV, entered individually by the teacher who coordinates them. Each work belongs to a single pupil — group works are not accepted. A teacher may enter as many pupils as they like, one form per work.
The theme
„The hero in me”
Starting from the films seen at Astra Film Junior 2026, each pupil draws a story in 6 panels, the way a director would sketch their own film. Choose one of the four thematic packages:
No limits
Darkness, by touch & Maxim is the greatest
Draw a story in which the main character turns an obstacle, a lack, a fear or a difference into a superpower.
Imaginary worlds
Hug me, Sue & Ryuji tells you a story
Invent a world with one rule completely unlike the real one — nobody can lie, gravity works backwards, animals run the city. What changes about your life?
Jobs without a manual
Ruby in front of the cameras & Game over
Imagine a day in your life doing a job you invented, one nobody has ever done. You have to work out as you go how to do it well.
Big dreams
My voice, main character & Mixi & Kiki
Draw yourself as the main character of a great adventure, following your biggest dream from the first panel to the moment it comes true.
Pupils are free to interpret the theme creatively. What matters is that the work tells a complete story, with a beginning, a middle and an end.
What the work must look like
Four requirements, which the jury checks before anything else:
- A single page, A3, in either orientation, divided into exactly 6 panels.
- Each panel holds a distinct stage of the story, so that the 6 panels read in order form a complete and coherent narrative.
- Any technique: coloured pencil, felt-tip, watercolour, tempera, collage. Works made entirely digitally, on a tablet or computer, are not accepted.
- Short text — speech, titles, sound effects — is allowed, but the emphasis falls on the image, not the words.
Photographing and uploading the work
Turn the drawing into a file by photographing it with a phone or scanning it. We accept JPG, PNG, HEIC — an iPhone's default format — and scanned PDF, up to 20 MB. You do not need to rename the file: we name it after the pupil and the class.
- Photograph the whole work, with all 6 panels in the same image and no corners cut off.
- The image must be sharp and in focus. Avoid blurred shots.
- Every detail must be legible: colours, outlines and any text the pupil wrote.
- Avoid direct flash, which reflects off the paper.
- If the picture looks unclear on your phone, take it again before uploading.
How the works are judged
We are looking for story, nerve and imagination, not the prettiest drawing. Each criterion carries equal weight, plus one point awarded to everyone.
Creativity
We like being surprised. An idea told differently, an unexpected character, a fresh way of looking at things.
Originality
How strongly the work carries the mark of the child who drew it. An original story does not resemble ten others.
Richness of detail
Backgrounds, characters, small things that bring a scene to life. Detail shows how much heart and time went into the drawing.
Visual coherence of the story
The most important one: looking at the 6 panels in order, do you understand the story? Do the images connect like a film?
Visual expressiveness
Being finalised — awaiting the criteria proposed by ArtiViStory CollectiveConveying emotion, action and atmosphere through the image alone, without leaning on text.
Who judges the works
The works are judged solely by the artists of ArtiViStory Collective, an interdisciplinary group of artists, curators and researchers from Cluj-Napoca specialising in comics, sequential art and visual storytelling. They have long experience working with children through storyboard workshops. They assess the works not only aesthetically but through the narrative logic of a storyboard. The jury's decision is final.
The prizes
There are two parallel competitions, and they do not combine: one judged by artists, the other voted by the public.
Awarded by the jury
- First, second and third prize in every class, from the preparatory class to year IV.
- Entries are judged against their age group, by the artists of ArtiViStory Collective.
- The jury may withhold prizes if the standard of the entries does not warrant them.
Awarded by the public
- The Public's Prize, for each of the five classes: preparatory, I, II, III and IV.
- Each visitor votes for one comic strip in the whole competition, without an account, from the same browser.
- It goes to the work with the most votes, but only if the jury has not already given it a prize — no work receives two.
- The public vote has no bearing whatsoever on the jury's decisions on first, second and third prize.
What the prizes are will be announced on the site when entries open.
The competition calendar
| Stage | When |
|---|---|
| Preparation workshop for teachers | 22 – 25 September |
| Online entry period | 19 – 27 October |
| Deadline for uploading works | 27 October |
| Public vote in the online gallery | 27 October – 2 November |
| Judging | 27 October – 2 November |
| Results announced | 4 – 6 November |
| Prize ceremony | 9 – 13 November |
Every work becomes an online exhibition
As the works are uploaded they appear in real time in a public gallery, open to everyone: parents, grandparents, classmates, teachers or passing visitors. The competition becomes an online exhibition, live for the whole festival, where anyone can browse and vote for the stories drawn by children across the county — no account, no sign-up.
For questions about entering, write to us. The organiser may amend these rules, and any change is published on this page.