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Rules and Regulations

1. 1. The 56th edition of the Festival dei Popoli – International Documentary Film Festival– will take place in Florence from November the 28th to December the 5th, 2015.


2. 2. The aim of the Festival dei Popoli is to promote and circulate documentary cinema and cutting-edge films, foster discussion between various branches of learning, and provide a space for the cinematic arts and other disciplines to engage with each other and grow.


3. 3. The festival is organized by the Festival dei Popoli – Italian Institute for Social Documentary Film ONLUS - with the support of the Italian Ministry for Arts and Culture (Bureau of Cinema), the Tuscan Region, the City of Florence (Department of Culture) as well as the support of the European Union. Additional support is provided by other public institutions and by some private sponsors.


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


5. 5. The Festival programme includes: International Competition, Panorama (Italian competition), tributes and retrospectives, workshops, debates, focus, special events.


6. 6. The decisions of the Directors and the Selection Committee are based on those they consider to be the artistic and narrative merits of the works.

7. INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

Documentaries from all nations will be considered only if completed after December 1st, 2013 (or premiered after that date). Films must be World, International, European or Italian Premieres. Works already screened in Italy, in any place and context, will not be admitted.

If a film is selected, screening formats allowed are: DCP, HDCAM (not SR), File HD, 35mm. Other formats must be approved by the Festival Programming Office. No rental fees will be paid for this section.

AWARDS

a) Official Palmarès

• -  Best Short Documentary (maximum length: 30 minutes): € 2.500.00 (divided equally between the director and the production).
• -  Best Mid-Length Documentary (length: between 31 and 60 minutes): € 4.000.00 (divided equally between the director and the production).
• -  Best Feature-Length Documentary (length: more than 60 minutes): € 8.000.00 (divided equally between the director and the production).
• -  Best Anthropological Film: “Gian Paolo Paoli” Award. Special Mentions may also be granted. The awards will be paid within twelve months of the Award Ceremony.
  
  

  b) Audience Award

  
  

  8. PANORAMA (Italian Competition)

  Italian documentaries will be considered only if completed after December 1st, 2013 (or premiered after that date). Films already released in Italy may be included in this section.

  If a film is selected, screening formats must be approved by the Festival Programming Office. No rental fees will be paid for this section.

AWARDS

a) Home-video distribution award: "CINEMAITALIANO.INFO - CG HOME VIDEO"
Through this award, CG Home Video (www.cghv.it) offers to release on DVD and distribute in Italy the winner declared by the jury composed of the team of the Cinemaitaliano.info webmagazine (www.cinemaitaliano.info).

b) Theatrical distribution award: "IMPERDIBILI"
"Quelli della Compagnia" of FST - Fondazione Sistema Toscana, in collaboration with AGIS, ANEC and FICE, offers to include the winning film in the film catalogue "IMPERDIBILI". The list is proposed to the Art Cinemas Circuit of Tuscany (41 screens). The award will be bestow by a jury made up of representatives of Toscana Film Commission, AGIS, ANEC and FICE (www.quellidellacompagnia.it).

9. OTHER SECTIONS

10. The selection, the general programme and the schedule of the screenings are decided upon by the Festival Management only. Filmmakers and/or Producers will be notified of the results of the selection starting from October 15th, 2015.

11. If a film is released after 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 56th Festival dei Popoli and of the awards assigned, if any.

12. FILM REGISTRATION

b) Every film must be submitted through the online registration procedure on the festival official website: http://www.festivaldeipopoli.org/

c) The online registration must be made no later than June 27th, 2015 for every film produced before April 30th (included), 2015; no later than August 1st, 2015, for every film produced after April 30th, 2015 (or in production). The shipping of the preview copy must happen by the same deadlines (as attested by the postmark).

Preview copy

• -  DVD (European zone “2” or zone “0”) sent by mail. The DVD must contain only one film and must be a high quality file.
• -  Link (Vimeo preferred, specifying the url and password in the entry form). Important: The link must stay active until October 15th, 2015.
  
  

  Registration confirmation Form

- At the end of the online submission, the user will receive via e-mail a Certificate of Registration.
This Certificate must be printed, signed and sent by mail; or scanned and sent with signature to: film@festivaldeipopoli.org.

* Additional material will be required only in case of selection.

e) Shipping costs, as well as any customs fees, are at the expense of the participants. For customs purposes, we recommend you label your package: “Without commercial value, for cultural purposes only”. The Festival will not return materials or DVDs.

f) All materials should be sent to the following address:

Festival dei Popoli
c/o Palazzo Giovane
Vicolo di Santa Maria Maggiore, 1
50123 Firenze - Italy

g) Filmmakers and/or producers are solely responsible for the contents of their film and must declare, upon registration in the Festival, to have fully complied with copyright laws.

h) Videolibrary

i) Registration is subject to acceptance of the condition that all materials received – including DVDs – shall remain in the Festival Archives and that permission is granted to the Festival to use them for educational, research, or promotional ends, including places and contexts other than the Festival, excluding commercial use. Finally, the Festival will act as a mediator between authors/producers and distributors.

13. SELECTED FILMS - REQUESTED MATERIAL AND SHIPPING OF THE COPIES

a) In case of selection, materials must be sent as following:

On DVD:

• -  3 DVD copies of the version to be screened. The DVDs will be used:
  • to prepare Italian subtitles
  • for press purposes
• -  file of the film for the videolibrary with the following technical specification:
  • Resolution: 720 x 576
  • Sound Codec: MP3 160 kbit/s
  • Video Codec: MPEG-4 2500 kbit/s
• -  Trailer of the film for promotional purposes

  
  On CD:

• -  Film synopsis in English.
• -  Director’s biography in English (min 400/max 500 characters, spaces included).
• -  Director’s filmography (list of titles and years of production).
• -  Director’s statement.
• -  Photographic documentation with publishing authorization:
• a)  2 images of the film 300 dpi in JPEG format, 7 cm wide (for promotion on the web);
• b)  3 to 5 images of the film in jpg/tif/eps/pdf at 300 dpi, 20 cm wide (for press and catalogue).

Each photo should be labelled with the film title and a number (e.g. 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. b) Film copies for screening must arrive in Florence no later than November 14th, 2015 according to indications and instructions given by the Festival Programming Office.

  
  

  c) Shipments made from outside the European Union must include 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 Festival Office of the shipping by sending an e-mail or fax with the following information: title of the film, number of reels, date and references of the shipment (AWB number).

  c) Shipping expenses and customs clearance for screening copies of the selected films must be covered by the sender. Shipping 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, shipping 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.

  d) 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 costs of reprinting copies, based on Italian prices.

  e) Should a filmmaker or producer decide to withdraw his film from the Festival after the acceptance of the Official Invitation, he/she must pay a compensation fee of € 1.000,00.

  
  

  14. DONATIONS TO THE FESTIVAL DEI POPOLI ARCHIVES

  Donations of the screening copy (film or tape) to the Festival dei Popoli Archives are greatly appreciated. The donated copy will be used for educational and research purposes only, 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 and Regulations. In case of conflicting interpretations, only the Italian version of the Rules and Regulations is considered valid.

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