Film Southasia is pleased to announce an open call for submissions for the 14th edition of the premier documentary film festival in Southasia that will take place from 21 - 24 November 2024 in Kathmandu.
Since 1997 Film Southasia has worked to popularise non-fiction films or documentaries on Southasia and the subcontinent’s critical issues that inform, entertain and transform lives. Over more than a quarter century, hundreds of documentaries have screened at the festival that has been one of the last hubs for filmmakers, artists, writers and performers from across the subcontinent to meet, share their work, generate new ideas and discuss the way forward. In between festivals, a package of some of the best and most representative films travel the region and overseas as mini-festivals titled Travelling Film Southasia (TFSA).

‘Ram Bahadur Trophy’ for Best Film

Jury Award

Tareque Masud Best Debut Film Award

Award for Best Film on Surviving the Anthropocene with an All-embracing, Inclusive Approach

Student Film Award

RULES & TERMS

Only documentary films
Film Southasia is a festival of documentaries. Experiments with form are welcomed but fantasies and pure fiction are automatically disqualified.

10 minutes and longer
Both shorts and full length feature productions are welcome. However, for shorts, the film duration must be more than 10 minutes.

On Southasian Theme or Subject
Entries must necessarily be on Southasian themes or subjects, while the filmmakers need not be Southasian. Entries may cover any subject pertaining to Southasia: from people, culture, lifestyle and adventure to environment, economy, politics and history. Films may be in any Southasian language, but have to be subtitled or dubbed in English.

Made in the last 2 years
Non-fiction films made after 1 January 2022 are eligible for entry in FSA 2024. Films made in this period that have been submitted to FSA in previous years, but have not been selected, may be submitted again.

Categories
Film Southasia accepts entries in the following categories; Competitive, Non-Competitive and Student films.

No Submission Fees
There is no charge for entry.

Submitted by July 31, 2024
All entries must be submitted via our FilmFreeway page by July 31, 2024.
Missed the deadline? Try getting in touch with us at fsa@filmsouthasia.org

MORE DETAILS

CRITERIA
Non-fiction films made after 1 January 2022 are eligible for entry in FSA 2024. Films made in this period that have been submitted to FSA in previous years, but have not been selected, may be submitted again. Entries must necessarily be on Southasian themes or subjects, while the filmmakers need not be Southasian. Entries may cover any subject pertaining to Southasia: from people, culture, lifestyle, and adventure to environment, economy, politics, and history. Entries that have not been released publicly will receive some priority. Films can be shorts for feature-length but we only accept shorts longer than 10 minutes. Films may be in any Southasian language, but have to be subtitled or dubbed in English.

CATEGORIES
Film Southasia accepts entries in the following categories; Competitive, Non-Competitive and Student films.

LENGTH
Both shorts and full length feature productions are welcome. However, for shorts, the film duration must be more than 10 minutes.

FEES
There is no charge for entry.

DEADLINES
Submission deadline for entries:
Regular Deadline: 31 July, 2024
Entries must be submitted through FilmFreeway.com along with an application.

Extended Deadline: 15 August, 2024
Filmmakers must contact FSA in order to get a deadline waiver code to submit films after 31 July, 2024

Notification Date: 10 September, 2024
Directors/producers of entries which have been selected will be notified and asked to submit copies in professional video format for screening at FSA. More details below

Selection Announcement: 15 September, 2024
List of selected films will be publicly announced on our website and our social media handles. .

Submission of final version of selected films: 1 October, 2024
Filmmakers must submit the final version of their entry through FilmFreeway.com for screening at FSA before this date.

SUBMISSION FORMAT
Films must be submitted via online screener ONLY. We do not accept DVDs, pen drives or hard drives.
If selected, the film you upload to FilmFreeway.com must meet the following criteria:
Video bitrate: 18000 Kbps, H.264, MP4 or MKV file
Audio: 320 Kbps, AAC, 2 channel stereo
Aspect ratio preserved; maximum video height of 1080 pixels
Cinemascope videos should HAVE black bars
Subtitles should be in English and should be over video for films in cinemascope

PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL
The festival reserves the right to use up to 10 percent of the entry’s running time for promotional use. Production stills, filmmaker bio-sketches and other information submitted in the entry form may also be used for promotional purposes on the web, print, television etc.

JURY AND AWARDS
Films submitted in the competitive category are judged by a three-member jury. The ‘Ram Bahadur Trophy’ carries a cash prize of USD 2000, while the Jury Award, Debut Film Award and Award for Film on Surviving the Anthropocene each carry cash prizes of USD 1000.The Best Student Film Award carries a cash prize of USD 500. All awards come with citations. Selections made by the FSA Jury are final.

SELECTION
FSA ’24 will select a maximum of 45 films in the competitive category and a varying number in the other categories.

PARTICIPATION
As in the past, FSA expects to host the maximum number of delegates of selected films. Besides attendance in screenings and the camaraderie among filmmakers coming from a spectrum of Southasian societies, November and early December is also a pleasant and culturally vibrant time to be in Kathmandu Valley. FSA offers complimentary food and accommodation to delegates, who will have to bear their own travel costs to and from their home countries.

RETURN OF SUBMISSIONS
The final submissions of the selected films will be deleted from all our databases at the filmmaker’s request unless filmmakers want the FSA Archive to retain a copy.

THE FSA ARCHIVE
All submissions will be catalogued for the FSA Archive. These copies will be maintained as a record for FSA and will be made available to interested student bodies, Universities, other interested institutions, researchers and journalists only with the express permission of the filmmakers.

COPYRIGHT:
It is the sole responsibility of the filmmaker to ensure s/he owns full copyright to the submitted film. The filmmaker is required to clear all contents of the submitted film from any and all actual or potential legal claims and issues and must have express permission from all parties involved in the production of the film. FSA reserves the right to disqualify any film with unauthorised inclusion of copyrighted/trademarked content or materials. In the event that any claim, dispute, action or proceeding is asserted by any person or entity that alleges that the film makes unauthorised or unlawful use of any copyrighted content or material, the filmmaker shall fully indemnify FSA from any liability in connection therewith and from any fees and expenses that may be incurred in light of such claims.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • I had not budget to travel to this film festival but the pictures of film fest seem nice...

    May 2022
  • I had an unforgettable experience at Film Southasia

    May 2022
  • Debashish Kumar

    What an incredible experience this whole festival was!
    It was well organized, by really passionate and involved people, who took care of your comfort, stay, food and went above and beyond (like with the 'heritage walk') to make you feel welcome.
    They featured such a good collection of films from South Asia! Their talks inspired such a feeling of 'one-ness' amongst South Asians, I truly felt a geographical/identity connect which I had never felt before. Communication was great, all the arrangements they made were great too!
    It is a superb festival, which I can recommend submitting to/attending with all my faith.
    Thanks FSA for a great, inspiring, fun event.
    Hope to attend it again and again! :)

    May 2022
  • Alex Sangha

    Thank you for screening Vinay Giridhar's debut feature documentary, Emergence: Out of the Shadows, at the prestigious Film Southasia.

    May 2022
  • Great festival, well organised.
    Alok and mitu are superb

    May 2022