PARTICIPATION RULES & TERMS
Official Selection: Films selected for screening will be notified via email, if you received a Nomination email, but no Official Selection email, it means your film will not be screened, but it is still a contender for an award in its category.
Award Winners: Will be chosen from both the Nominations and the Official Selection.
FEATURE FILM SHOWCASE
- We favour debut film of either: Director, Producer or Lead actor.
- All films must be submitted in English or with English subtitles.
- Filmmakers are responsible for sorting out the copyright of their own material.
- We place no restrictions on your work in terms of premiere status or whether your work has been made available online
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
- Fiction, Documentary and Animation.
- Film must be no more than 40 minutes long (not including credits).
- In the UK categories at least one representative of the film must reside in the UK. The film itself may have been made anywhere in the world.
- Films submitted produced with financial support or sponsorship over £500 MUST be disclosed on the application form. Low budget production is strongly encouraged.
YOUTH SHOWCASE
- This category is not a competition
- We accept entries in fiction, documentary and animation
- Qualifying age: 18 years and under
- This category is open to UK and International residents
- We will be shortlisting a curated list of youth films up to 5 minutes long (not including credits)
- Films submitted must be produced on a low budget (under £200) or zero budget.
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILMS
- Film must be up to 40 minutes long (not including credits).
- Awards will be given for Best Fiction, Best Documentary and Best Animation.
- Films submitted must be produced on a low budget (under £200) or zero budget.
SUBMISSION CRITERIA
- Submissions must not contain any copyrighted material, including music, still images or video images without the written permission of the owner. BFF encourages the use of original or royalty free music instead.
- Filmmakers are responsible for sorting out the copyright of their own material.
- Collaborative work is permitted, however all filming roles must be submitted on the form and on the credits. There must be an overall director for the film.
- There is no theme requirements.
- All films must be submitted in English or with English subtitles.
- Any technical issues with the submitted films are 100%the responsibility of the filmmakers, If at the time of judging, your video file doesn't work or doesn't have English subtitles (if in a language other than English), it will be automatically rejected, without a refund. Please contact the festival team ASAP if there are any issues with the submission process, and a solution will be found.
- We place no restrictions on your work in terms of premiere status or whether your work has been made available online.
- Read the full Terms and Conditions for further detailed information on entering.
PLEASE NOTE – your fee is non-refundable. If your film does not match the criteria listed above and you still submit your film, we will not consider your film and will not refund your fee.
We retain the right to change the date and venue of the festival under special circumstances. All filmmakers will be informed about any changes through our online platform.
We reserve the right to update our terms and conditions.
FULL TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
In submitting a film to the Filmmaking Competition, you agree to the following:
#1.In all cases, the entrant will be bound by the Barnes Film Festival Filmmaking Competition Terms and Conditions (“T&Cs”).
#2. The Competition is run by Barnes Film Festival Ltd (“BFF”), whose registered office is at The Coach House, Ealing Green, London, England, W5 5ER. Note this registered office address is not to be used as a postal address.
#3. No theme requirements.
#4. Film entries must not exceed the length requirements in each category. These maximum lengths exclude credits. Entries must be suitable for general admission.
#5. Submissions do not require premiere status. If your film is going to be screened by another festival or organisation, you must notify BFF to discuss potential copyright issues with the other organisation.
#6. Submissions require payment fee per film submission. More than one entry is permitted by an entrant, however, each additional entry also requires a fee. Due to the submission platform being run by a third party (filmfreeway.com) no refunds, discounts or waivers on film entry fees can be provided.
#7. The final deadline for submission is 01/04/2022
#8. The Short Film Competition (Adult and Youth categories) is open to UK residents, if shortlisted, entrants are expected to attend the film competition screening for which a ticket will be provided by BFF. International films can be entered into the International Short Film Category
#9. Submissions must not contain any copyrighted material, including music, still images or video images without the written permission of the owner. BFF encourages the use of original or royalty free music as an alternative to copyrighted content.
#10. Every actor and participant in the film must be have full understanding of the purpose of the film, and have given their full consent for it to be shown in the Festival and for promotional purposes. Films should include credits listing the title, music credits, and other contributors.
#11. Collaborative work is permitted, however all filming roles must be submitted on the form, and on the credits and there must be an overall director for the film.
#12. Adult supervision is permitted for Under 18’s but film content should be conceived and produced as independently as possible, and must be produced fully independently for ages 19+.
#13. Low budget/zero budget filmmaking is encouraged. Under 18’s film entrants must submit films produced on low budget (under £200) or zero budget. Films submitted in the main Short Film Category and International Film Category with financial support or sponsorship over £500 MUST be disclosed on the application form. Failure to disclose may lead to disqualification.
#14. In addition to encouraging low budget productions, Barnes Film Festival asks entrants to follow ‘Guidelines for Environmental Sustainability in Film Production’ set out on the BFF website.
#15. By entering the competition shortlisted entrants agree to participate in such promotional and publicity activity as reasonably requested by BFF and grant the non-exclusive license and right to BFF to use all or part of the film or still from the film for promotional purposes and to exhibit the film during the Festival and after, including on various social media.
#16. The BFF competition is not open to Barnes Film Festival committee members, or members of their immediate families or sponsors of the event.
#17. Short-listed entrants and winners will be notified by phone, email or post and their name will be published on the Barnes Film Festival website.
#18. BFF reserves the right to extend the date, and in the event of an extension, the new date will be publicised on the Barnes Film Festival website.
#19. The judging panel of industry professionals will select a winner only in each age category. At the discretion of the organisers, an overall prize may be awarded and supplementary prizes may be added. The judges' decision will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
#20. Entrants under the age of 18 are required to obtain parental or guardian consent to enter into the competition and these T&C’s. Barnes Film Festival reserves the right to request proof of age.
#21. If an advertised prize is not available, BFF reserves the right to offer an alternative prize of similar value. Any prize requiring postage to the winning entrant can only be sent to a UK address.
#22. Incomplete, defaced, damaged or incorrectly completed entries will be not be accepted, and responsibility will not be accepted for loss of any entries.
#23. BFF reserves the right to amend these rules at any time.
#24. BFF reserves the right to disqualify any entrant if there are reasonable grounds to believe has breached any of the rules of the competition.
#YOU REPRESENT, WARRANT AND AGREE THAT: PERMISSIONS You are the owner of all the rights in the content, or hold appropriate licences or permissions for such content and the screening of content across platforms. You undertake to execute further documents BFF may reasonably require for the purpose of giving Barnes Film Festival the full benefit of this licence if your film is selected for the shortlist.
#INDEMNITY You hereby indemnify BFF against any claims arising out of or in connection with any content, in particular allegations of copyright infringement.
#PUBLICITY By entering the competition, you agree to be named in the media and to participate in as many promotional and press activities as reasonably requested of you. #LICENSE In consideration of BFF permitting you to submit your content and enter the Competition, you grant to BFF from the date of submission of your entry a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to reproduce the film on the BFF website and associated media and social media including but not limited to Youtube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for press and publicity purposes to promote both your film and future BFF events and festivals.
#MORAL RIGHTS In addition, you agree to waive all so-called "moral rights" to the content. (This is so we can, for example, showcase excerpts of your film alongside excerpts of other film makers' entries for promotions at a later date).
