Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival

Article 1: ORGANISING BODY
The present Regulation for the Open Call for Submissions of the Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival was drafted by the Festival’s programme team, after being approved by the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Director of the Greek Film Archive, Maria Komninos, who also determined the time of the Festival.

Article 2: THE 13TH ATHENS AVANT-GARDE FILM FESTIVAL
The 13th Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival will take place from 5 up to 15 December 2024 at the Greek Film Archive (48 Iera Odos Street, PC 104 35 Athens). Part of the Festival’s programme will also be made available online on a secure audiovisual media platform for a limited number of screenings, geographically limited to the Greek territory, at https://online.tainiothiki.gr. With regard to online screenings, the Festival will coordinate the participation of every film in consultation with their filmmakers or rights holders.

Article 3: REFRAMING IMAGES COMPETITION SECTION
As part of the new competition section of the 13th AAGFF called Reframing Images there will be screenings of first or second feature films as well as medium length and short films (without the limitation of 1st or 2nd) by filmmakers from all over the world. For this new competition section, the Greek Film Archive will collaborate with ARTWORKS, which through its founding donor, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), will support this year’s ARTWORKS Best Film Award, with a cash prize of 5.000 euros, which will be given to the director of the winning film by the Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival.

The three-member Jury that will select the filmmaker to be awarded the prize will be composed of SNF ARTWORKS Fellows in the field of Moving Image, who have been awarded by ARTWORKS. The members of the Jury will be determined by the Festival’s organisers.

The films that will participate in the above mentioned competition section through the present Open Call will be determined entirely by the Festival’s organisers.

Up to 4 films produced in Greece will participate in the Reframing Images competition section.

Article 4: FILM SUBMISSION AND ELIGIBILITY
Films that meet the following requirements are eligible to participate in the Reframing Images competition section:

Avant-garde/innovative fiction, documentary or hybrid films that experiment with new forms of narrative;
First or second feature films as well as medium length and short films (without the limitation of 1st or 2nd film) by the director;
The production of the film must have been completed within 12 (twelve) months before the film screening at the Festival, unless otherwise agreed;
The film must not have been released or screened publicly in Greece, in any cinema, on television or on the internet (Greek premiere is required);
In order to submit a film to the Festival, an online entry form must be filled in, which must contain the names of all principal contributors of the film, a short synopsis, technical data, and the director’s biography and filmography;
Films must be submitted via the FilmFreeway platform on the respective page of the event, after paying the respective entry fee/submission fee - for feature films (over 60 minutes) 25.00 € and for short and medium length films (under 60 minutes) 20.00 €;
Films must also be available as (password protected) screeners and all URL links must remain active and accessible until 15 December 2024;
All films must be submitted in their original language with English subtitles (unless their original language is Greek). Films without English subtitles will not be considered;
Each director may enter only one film in the Reframing Images competition section;
The entry fee includes tax and must be paid by August 21st 2024. Incomplete applications/entries will not be considered. If the submission is cancelled or the film is not selected, the fee will not be refunded;
The filmmakers and rights holders of the selected films also agree that the films may not be screened or broadcast in Greece, except after the end of the Festival;
The rights holders of films that will premiere at the Festival must include the Festival laurel, in order to indicate their participation in the 2024 event at the beginning of the film, whenever it is screened or broadcast.

Submission of any film to the competition section implies acceptance of these regulations.

Article 5: FILM SELECTION
The films that will participate in the Reframing Images competition section of the Open Call for Submissions will be selected by the Festival’s organisers, based on artistic criteria of relevance to the aesthetics and theme of the Festival.

The submission of a film does not create any expectation that the film will be selected for the competition section; the Organising Body and the Festival bear no responsibility towards the filmmakers who submit their work.

Due to the large number of submissions, the Organising Body and the Festival are not obliged to give reasons to each director and/or producer for not selecting the film they submitted.

The submission of a film entails the right to use the information and accompanying materials of the film (e.g., photos, poster, selected shots/scenes, synopses, etc.) for promotional purposes by the Festival, for the creation of digital and/or printed catalogues, posts on the Website and the Social Media of the Organising Body, press releases and any other form of promotion. The synopses and all promotional texts accompanying a film, whether it is selected to participate in the Competition Section or not, may be modified by the Festival’s organisers.

If a film is selected, the Festival will notify the filmmaker in the contact details submitted on the entry form, and may request further information regarding the film, as well as screening files (e.g., ProRes/DCP file, additional photos, etc.). The filmmaker is responsible for informing the filmmaker’s producers and all interested parties regarding the selection of the filmmaker’s film.

If the filmmaker does not respond within 14 days of the first contact from the Festival, they will lose the right to participate, and the Festival will select another film from those submitted.

Once a film is selected by the Festival’s organisers and is included in the announced Programme, the filmmaker or rights holder may not withdraw the film from the Festival and the specific competition section.

Article 6: JURY
The film among those participating in the competition which will win the ARTWORKS Best Film Award, and a cash prize of €5,000, will be selected by a three-member Jury which shall be composed as decided by the Festival’s organisers.

The three-member Jury that will select the filmmaker for the award will be composed of SNF ARTWORKS Fellows in the field of Moving Image, who have been awarded by ARTWORKS.

The Jury may additionally give a special award for either Artistic or Technical Achievement.