Florence 13rd - 20th November 2010

International documentary film festival

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Rules and Regulations

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  1. The 51st Festival dei Popoli – International Documentary Film Festival– will take place in Florence from the 13rd to the 20th of November 2010.

  2. The aim of the Festival dei Popoli is to promote and circulate creative documentaries, encourage interaction between different research experiences, and act as a meeting point for people interested in documentary film.

  3. The festival is organized by the Festival dei Popoli – ONLUS, the Italian Institute for Social Documentary Film, with the support of the Italian Ministry for Arts and Culture (Bureau of Cinema), the Tuscan Region, the Province of Florence, the City of Florence (Department of Culture) e with the support of the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. The festival has also private sponsors.

  4. The Promotional Division of the Committee for Cinematography within the Italian Ministry for Arts and Culture has recognized the national relevance of the Festival dei Popoli.

  5. The Festival includes the following sections: Official Selection, tributes/retrospectives, seminars, panel discussions, special events.

  6. The Artistic Director and the Selection Committee base their choices on the quality of the cinematographic language and, more generally, on the creative character of the works.

  7. OFFICIAL SELECTION

    Documentaries of all nationalities will be considered for selection only if completed after October 1st 2009. They must be World, International, European or Italian Premiere. Screening copies of selected films must be in one of the following formats: 35mm, Betacam SP PAL, Digibeta. Other formats must be approved by the Festival Office.
    No rental fees will be paid for this section.
    The film submission must be executed following the online registration on our website http://www.festivaldeipopoli.org/ (see point 12 of the Regulations). The selected films could be included in the following sections:

    LONG FEATURE DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

    Film length must be equal or superior than 40 minutes.
    An International Jury composed of leading figures in Cinema or Culture will assign the following awards:

    • Best Documentary: € 10,000.00 (to be equally divided between the director and the production).
    • Best Directing: € 5,000.00.
    • Best Anthropological Film: “Gian Paolo Paoli” plate.

    Special Mentions may also be granted.

    The awards will be paid within twelve months from the assignment.

    SHORT DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

    Film length must be shorter than 40 minutes.
    The International Jury will assign the following awards:

    • Best Short Documentary: € 2.500 (to be equally divided between the director and the production).

    Special Mentions may also be granted.

    The awards will be paid within twelve months from the assignment.

    FREE STYLE

    This section is devoted to the investigation of the language of documentaries in its broadest sense (video-art, installations, fictions documentary style).

  8. AUDIENCE AWARD

    All films included in the Long Feature Documentary Competition, Short Documentary Competition and Free Style Competition are eligible for the Audience Award.

  9. OTHER SECTIONS

    For the other sections (Tributes, Retrospectives, Special Events) participation is restricted to films invited by the Director on the basis of the Festival programme. These sections are not competitions. There are no restrictions as to the date of production of the films. Films already released in Italy can be shown.

  10. The filmmakers and/or producers of the films selected will be notified by October 15th 2010. The selection, the programme and the film schedule are decided upon by the Director only.

  11. If a film is released in Italy as a result of being shown at the festival, all advertising and promotional materials must carry the festival's logo and must make explicit mention of the film’s participation in the 51st Festival dei Popoli and of the awards assigned, if any.

  12. FILM REGISTRATION

    1. Submission of films for pre-selection is free.

    2. The submission procedure of one or more films may be run through the online registration on our website http://www.festivaldeipopoli.org/

    3. The film submission must be run no later than June 15th 2010 for films produced before April 30th 2010; no later than August 2nd 2010 for films either produced after April 30th 2010 or still in production.

    4. List of materials required for pre-selection purposes:

      • DVD (European area code “2” or area code “0”). Each copy must contain only one film and must be a high quality reproduction.
      • Film synopsis, in English (max 1500 characters spaces included).
      • Director's biography, in English (max 500 characters spaces included).
      • Director's filmography (list of titles and years of production).
      • Director's statement.
      • Photographic documentation with publishing authorization (not more than 3 pictures JPG format 300 dpi, 7 cm wide). Each photo should be entitled with the film title and with a progressive number (i.e. film_title1.jpg; film_title2.jpg). The photos will be published in colour on the Festival website and in black and white on the Festival catalogue. It's possible to send both colour and black and white versions of the photos.
      • Complete and final list of dialogues, including any voice off (post-production script) and list of subtitles (if any), in one of the following languages: English, French, Italian.
      • Any other information that may be useful for selection purposes.
      • Printed and signed copy of the e-mail received after the on-line submission has been completed.

      The Festival dei Popoli does not guarantee the publication of texts and photos that do not comply with the standards required.

      The Authors of the films selected will be asked to provide 3 additional exact copies on DVD of the version to be screened. This copies will be used:

      • To prepare Italian subtitles
      • for press purposes
      • for the Festival Videolibrary

    5. Postal expenses for the required documentation will not be covered by the Festival. For customs purposes, we recommend you indicate on the package: “Without commercial value, for cultural purposes only”. The Festival will not return materials or DVD. All materials should be sent to:

      Festival dei Popoli
      Borgo Pinti 82r
      50121 Florence - Italy

    6. Filmmakers and/or producers are solely responsible for the content of their film and must declare, upon registration in the Festival, to have fully complied with all obligations deriving from copyright laws.

    7. Registration is subject to acceptance of the condition that all materials received – including DVDs – remain deposited in the Festival's Archives and that permission is granted to the Festival to use them for educational, research, or promotional ends, also in places and contexts other than the Festival, excluding commercial uses. Finally, the Festival will act as an interface between authors/producers and distributors.

  13. INVITATIONS AND SHIPPING TO THE FESTIVAL

    1. Film and video copies for screening must reach Florence no later than October 29th 2010 and must be mailed to the following address:

      Festival dei Popoli
      Borgo Pinti 82r
      50121 Florence - Italy

    2. Shipments from outside the European Union must be complete with a customs invoice, a list of items, travel documents (indicating the number of reels, length of film in meters, titles and quantity of video supports for each film). At the same time, the sender must notify the shipment to the Festival Office by sending an e-mail or a fax with the following information: title of the film, number of reels, date and references of the shipment (AWB number).

    3. Postal expenses and customs clearance for the screening copies of the selected films must be covered by the sender. Postal expenses and customs clearance for the return of the items will be covered by the Festival. Should a copy of the film be requested for another festival after the screening of the film or anytime during the Festival dei Popoli, postal expenses and customs clearance must be covered by the interested party. In any case, the Festival dei Popoli will cover the costs of only one shipment.

    4. The Festival dei Popoli provides a “nail to nail” insurance clause for copies of the film included in the programme. In case of loss or damage of a copy, the Festival's liability will be limited to the reprinting costs of the copy, on the basis of Italian prices.

    5. Should a filmmaker or producer decide to withdraw his film from the Festival once the acceptance of the Official Invitation, a compensation sum of € 1,000.00 will be demanded.

  14. DONATION FOR THE ARCHIVES

    The donation of the screening copy (film or tape) of the film to the Festival dei Popoli Archives would be appreciated. The donated copy will be used only for research, and for preservation and promotion of documentary film, not for commercial use.

  15. Participation in the selection implies the complete acceptance of the above Rules. In case of conflicting interpretations, the Italian version of this Regulations only is considered valid and will be referred to.

  16. Any litigation will be judged by the Court of Florence, Italy.

Florence, March 10th 2010

Download the regulations