AFM 2027 — RULES & REGULATIONS
The third edition of the Animation Festival Munich (short: AFM) will take place on May 29th and May 30th 2027.
PARTICIPATION TERMS
We are looking for animated STORIES.
The Animation Festival Munich welcomes all films that are created using an animation technique. These include, but are not limited to: 2D drawn animation (paper and digital), stop-motion animation, 3D animation, cut-out, collage, sand, pixellation, object animation and paint on glass .
We are specifically focussing on storytelling.
Films which include generative A.I. in any stage of their creation are not eligible to be submitted.
The festival is aware that this will exclude many projects by talented teams. However, there is a need for clarity in the festival landscape and we owe it to our audiences and film makers to ensure that they know what they are viewing.
We understand the limitations of verification and will, to a large extent, rely on filmmakers’ honesty. We know the struggles that filmmakers are going through these days and we trust you and the community.
There are several reasons that led to the decision to make the festival A.I. free.
First of all, we would like to create a safe space for artists who make their films from scratch.
We believe it is important to learn the art of animation. A.I. leads to a process of un-learning or to skipping the process of learning altogether. We believe that experience is essential to good storytelling and film making.
Secondly, we value sustainability, privacy and copyright. At this moment in time, A.I. works against these.
And last but not least, we want to celebrate and support animation made by humans, strengthening the connections between storyteller and audience. Our festival will shine a spotlight on human art and intelligence, the way it transports emotions and makes us talk to each other.
We cannot wait for your films!
Any animated film completed after ***May 1st 2025*** may participate. Only completed films qualify for the selection. For participation in the short film competition categories, productions up to a running length of 10 minutes are admitted.
There are no competition categories, however, a focus will be on hand-made animation and storytelling. The competition is international.
No violence, racism, discrimination of any kind.
Any borderline questions or the assignment to other categories that may arise shall be decided by festival management. Submission deadline is ***February 1st 2027*** (date of receipt, CET).
SUBMISSION
Film entries can be submitted exclusively through the online platform FilmFreeway: www.filmfreeway.com.
A registration with FilmFreeway is required in order to submit to our festival. There is a small entry fee to be paid via the platform service. For the preselection we need a password protected link to your film, provided through the online
entry form. With the submission of the film the submitter commits himself to allocate a screening copy in case of selection. No film may be withdrawn. In principle, if with dialogues, films must be subtitled in English.
PRESELECTION
All film applicants having submitted a film for preselection shall be notified in ***mid April 2027**** via email, whether their entry has been selected for the festival programme. In case of selection, the following additional materials will be required:
CV, filmography, and portrait (300dpi, jpeg) of the director, a dialogue list with time codes in original language and English, a list of subtitles in English, film stills (300 dpi, jpg), available press material.
All material must be sent to the following e-mail address:
***info@animationfestivalmunich.de***
SCREENING COPY
The required format for the festival screening is DCP (SMPTE/DCI). Other file formats like .MOV and .MP4 are accepted.
Other film formats are not admitted for the festival screening. If the film contains dialogue, the screening copy must have English subtitles. All shipping costs to AFM as well as any charges peripheral to shipping, i.e. customs duty and/or clearance etc., shall be borne by the sender. Preview copies as well as screening copies from non-EU countries must
be labeled with the following note: “for cultural purposes only, no commercial value” and be accompanied by a proforma invoice. Please state an amount of less than 10 EUR when declaring the shipment value. Festival entries do not represent a commercial value. Film prints from countries of the European Union can be dispatched without any customs declaration. Upon request, the screening copies shall be sent to the following address:
Caroline Hamann
Animation Festival Munich
Rudliebstrasse 13
81925 Munich
Germany
(Upon agreement, a delivery of the DCP screening files is possible by arrangement via file transfer or sending a download link.)
JURY
The festival management will decide on the composition of the jury. The jury will decide the awarding of the prize.
None of the jury members shall be involved in the production or distribution of any of the films they will have to judge.
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PROMOTION
Excerpts of participating films (up to 10%) may be used by the festival organizers to publicly promote, evaluate and display the festival’s objectives on the internet, broadcasting, and TV (irrespective of the means of transmission), cinema, press, video as well as all types of currently known storage media. The films will be provided free of
charge for screening during the festival.
RIGHTS OF USE
By submitting the entry form, entrants confirm that they are the originators - in case of teams: co-originators - of the submitted work and that they are free to dispose of the submitted work and the rights to use them. The entrants ensure that the persons shown in the works as well as the originators of the works have given them permission for its reproduction and distribution within the festival competition and journalistic review. The entrants ensure that the work is free of third-party rights and that they release the festival organizers from any future claims that may be enforced by third parties relating to copyrights and rights to use the work. In case of teams, the digital signature of its representative is binding for all team members. Teams are jointly and severally liable.
Upon submission, entrants grant AFM the right to screen the submitted film unlimited times in the context of the festival during the duration of the festival (June 21 &22 2025) in cinema screenings on site in Munich and possibly in password-protected live streams on the Internet. The transfer of this right of use is free of charge.
ARCHIVING
All submitted materials, like film stills and press materials, will remain in the archive of the Animation Festival Munich. The submitted materials will not be forwarded to other festivals.
CONTACT
info@animationfestivalmunich.de
DISCLAIMER
The organizers of the Animation Festival Munich do not take any responsibility in case of damage or non-delivery of the submitted films, missing entries or other technical problems for any reasons whatsoever. Further they do not take any responsibility in case of disruption of the festival by third parties or by force majeure. Entry and inclusion of films or videos implies acceptance of the rules and regulations.
The festival management shall decide on all questions of doubt and special cases not covered by the provisions of these regulations. If there is any discrepancy in the interpretation of these regulations, the German version prevails.
