Presenting it’s screenings and side activities in an accessible structure, Accessible Film Festival is an annual event where the best examples of the world and Turkish cinema meet with the movie goers, creating a space where everyone can share the experience of cinema equally.

While the festival presents the best recent and the classic examples of the world and Turkish cinema under thematic sections, it also hosts parallel activities such as Q&A sessions with the film crews, workshop for children, VR experiences etc.

As usual, all films at the festival will be accompanied by Turkish Audio-Description (AD) for those who are vision impaired and Turkish Caption Subtitling (CS) for those who are hearing impaired or hard of hearing. The Q&A sessions, workshops, panels and other parallel activities within the festival will be realized in an accessible structure and all venues will be selected from the accessible ones. 

The Short Film Competition aims to promote and circulate short films while encouraging dialogue between the audience, young directors, and cinema professionals. The best short films of the recent world cinema will compete for the Audience Award, Best Film, Best Director and Best Script awards.

While the Audience Award will be decided by the votes of the audience, a Jury consisted of directors, actors/actresses, film critics, cinema professionals etc. will decide the Best Film, Best Director and Best Script awards.

Prizes:
1. Best Film - 1000 $ (USD) and the Award statuette
2. Best Director - the Award statuette
3. Best Script - the Award statuette
4. Audience Award - the Award statuette

ACCESSIBLE FILM FESTIVAL
2024
SHORT FILM COMPETITION REGULATIONS

1- PURPOSE
International Short Film Competition (Competition) which is organized within the framework of Accessible Film Festival (Festival) aims promoting and circulating short films and encouraging dialogue between the audience, directors and cinema professionals.

2. ORGANIZATION AND DATES OF THE COMPETITION
The 12th Accessible Film Festival will be held between 7-13 June 2024 by Puruli Culture&Art. In case the physical festival is unable to be held due to extreme circumstances, the festival will take place online only, on a DRM protected streaming platform within the territory of Turkey only.

3- ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
a) Short films with a running time of no more than 20 minutes are accepted for consideration. Entry to the Festival is open to all short films, with no limitations regarding the theme. Only fiction and animation films are accepted. Documentaries and promotional or commercial films are not accepted.
b) Short films made in 2023 and 2024 are accepted.
c) Films available on internet, broadcasted on television or commercially released on VOD, DVD, Blu-Ray or any other format are not eligible.

4- SUBMISSION
a) Deadline for submissions is 8th of March, 2024. The submissions are only open through filmfreeway.com. Any submission made outside this platform won’t be considered.
b) Submission fees for the International Short Film Competition:

- Earlybird: From 29th of December 2023 to 20th of January 2024: 5 $ (USD)
- Regular: From 21st of January 2024 to 14th of February 2024: 7 $ (USD)
- Extended: From 15th of February 2024 to 8th of March 2024: 10 $ (USD)

c) In case of cancellation of the submission, or in case the film is not eligible, the submission fee will not be reimbursed.
d) Films whose original spoken language is not English must have English subtitles on preview copies.
e) The following materials must be attached to the online submission:


- Synopsis of the film
- High-resolution photos from the film
- Short biography of the director in English
- Photo of the director (in .jpeg, .pdf etc.)
- Poster of the film (in .jpeg, .pdf etc.)
- High-resolution trailer of the film (if available)
- Presskit of the film (if available)

5- SCREENINGS
a) Film screenings will be held both in screening venues and online. The physical screenings are planned to be held in Ankara. Online screenings will be held through a DRM protected streaming platform with geo-blocking (only viewers from Turkey will be able to access the films.) The films will be screened in their original language with Turkish and English subtitles. Optionally, Turkish audio-description, Turkish dubbing and Turkish closed captions will be available for those who are vision or hearing impaired.
b) Eligible formats for screening copies of selected films is DCP for the physical screenings and digital file (MP4, .MOV file, h264 or ProRes) with the technical specs same as the DCP copy for online screenings as well as preparing the accessibility facilities of the film. This is extremely important for providing the synchronicity of accessibility facilities. (Turkish audio-description, Turkish dubbing and Turkish closed captions.)  
c) The films will be screened max. 3 times at the screening venue/s and streaming of the film will be online on the digital screening platform during the Festival. The festival board has the right to screen the films included in the competition programme in different cities and dates until the next festival date, upon prior notification to the director of the film.
d) Applicants are not entitled to claim screening fees for the screenings of their films in the competition.
e) All selected films should have English dialogue list in .srt or .xml format.

6- SELECTION
a) A selection committee, chosen by the Festival team will be appointed to view all submissions for pre-selection. The pre-selection results will be delivered to the applicants by 26th of March 2024.
b) Only one film per director is accepted.
c) The right holders of the selected films will have to send a file/copy for the screening, as well as a dialogue list in English in .srt or .xml format with timecode to the Festival team until 5th of April, 2024. Failure to send these materials will cause the exclusion of the film from the selection. The directors have the chance to withdraw their films from the competition until 5th of April, 2024. After this date, they will not have this option.
d) The Festival reserves the right to use the promotional materials submitted previously both during and after the Festival. The Festival also has the right to use short excerpt (clip) from the film if the film doesn’t have any trailer.
e) The materials received from the right holders of the selected films will be used on the outputs of the Festival (catalogue, website, social media accounts etc.) considering the Personal Data Protection Law in Turkey (Law Number:6698).

7- HOSPITALITY
a) The Festival aims to invite one director or representative of each film in competition to Ankara for 3 days. Hotel accommodation and daily meals will be provided. These provisions are subject to change due to various conditions.
b) The director or representative of the film is expected to attend the Award Ceremony of the Festival which will be held either physically or virtually.
c) If the Festival is held virtually only, online pre-recorded Q&A sessions will be held with the directors of the selected films. These videos will be screened through the streaming platform to be used during the Festival as well as the Youtube channel of the Festival.

8- AWARDS
a) The Jury of the Festival awards the following Prizes:

1. Best Film - 1000 $ (USD) and the Award statuette
2. Best Director - the Award statuette
3. Best Script - the Award statuette

b) Beside these categories, an Audience Award is given which is decided by the votes of the audience. The winner receives an award statuette.
c) None of the awards may be given to joint winners; only one winner may be chosen by the jury.
d) If the Jury would like to give an award except these categories, it might be Special Jury Award only. The winner is awarded with a plaque.
e) Best Film Award is given to the producer of the film.
f) Best Director Award is given to the director of the film.
g) Best Script Award is given to the script writer of the film.
h) Audience Award is given to the producer of the film.

9- THE JURY
a) The Jury is composed by representatives from various fields of film industry, audiovisual and academic world. Consisted of 3 persons, the Jury is responsible for awarding the prizes. 
b) The producers, directors and other film crews who are involved in the making of a film included in the competition can not be a member of the Jury.
c) The Jury members watch the films at the screening venue and from the preview copies.
d) The Jury makes its decisions with absolute majority (2 votes).

10- PROCESSING RIGHT
The film participating in the International Short Film Competition is called as the WORK whose characters, stories, script and dialogues have already been created by the right holder who signed the regulation. The right holder acknowledges and agrees that she/he has transferred the processing right on the WORK to Puruli Culture&Art for making the submitted film accessible for the disabled individuals, limited to the duration of Accessible Film Festival.
The new processed work whose accessibility applications (audio description and closed caption) have been prepared by Puruli Culture&Art is called the PROCESSED WORK. Puruli Culture&Art keeps a copy of the PROCESSED WORK in it’s archive after the Festival ends. The intellectual property rights of the accessibility applications of the PROCESSED WORK belongs to Puruli Culture&Art. With the acceptance of this regulation, the right owner accepts that Puruli Culture&Art can negotiate and/or make verbal or written agreements with third parties about the screening of the PROCESSED WORK without prejudice to the right owner’s intellectual property rights on the WORK. The decision on the screening of the PROCESSED WORK belongs to the right owner of the film. Also the right owner has a right to request a screening fee for the screening of the PROCESSED WORK.

11- AUTHORIZATION
For other issues which are not mentioned in the regulation text, the authorization right belongs to Puruli Culture&Art.
The producers, directors and other film crew are deemed to have accepted this regulation. It is the responsibility of the applicant, the legal owner of the film, to inform the people who contributed to the production of the film about this regulation.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Teşekkürler! It's a unique festival ! The events were very thoughtful and really emphasize a sense of community. The programming was fantastic and the team is amazing. Teşekkürler!

    November 2023
  • Victor Guilbaud

    Great experience at the accessible film festival ! Thank you to the all crew, never, i never forget the hospitality ! 10/10 !

    November 2023
  • Houcem SLOULI

    Really, what a beautiful and enriching experience! I was honored to participate in the official short film competition with my film CONDITIONAL DESIRE. What beautiful memories, great meetings, and film screenings. Thank you to the whole team for their hospitality, organization, and all the efforts you make. Long live the Accessible Film Festival :) <3 :)

    November 2023
  • This festival was the host to the best organization I’ve ever been to. The selected films were incredible, the hotel and the competition were amazing and all the workers were devoted. I am grateful for all of it and I’m positive we will meet again. Lot’s of love…

    November 2023