IMPORTANT

!Only one project per submitter! We kindly remind you, only one project per submitter is allowed. If you send more, we will judge only the first project submitted.

ENG subtitles are required even if the movie is english spoken. (More information below.)

ABOUT

BLACKSPHERE is an international film festival which offers both an online platform for film viewing and a live screening as part of the festival’s finale. It consists of two parts. The first part – the BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL – takes place online during spring 2022. The second part – the BLACKSPHERE LIVE FILM FESTIVAL – will take place in June 2022 in the Czech Republic and where selected finalist films will be screened.
The selection process of the audiovisual works is as follows: A jury of European experts selects maximum of 100 works from all the received films, each of which are made available for viewing for a period of seven days during spring 2022 as part of the BLACKSPHERE online platform at www.binarycode.one. One film is added every day and is made available for free online viewing for a period of seven days. Then, based on the number of viewings and European jury decisions, 50 finalists are selected. 50 films are screened in June 2022 as part of the BLACKSPHERE LIVE FILM FESTIVAL in the Czech Republic.

The festival’s finale will consist of a 3 days film marathon which will take place in the Czech Republic during June 2022, at Račí údolí 118, 790 70 Javorník. During these 3 days, the works of all 50 finalists of the previous BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL will be screened. The festival’s winners will be announced, and the trophies and main prizes will be handed out. Furthermore, the event will feature workshops and consultations. The workshops’ focus will be announced on the website www.binarycode.one before the main event and the selection of topics will be automatically sent to all registered participants, with the offer for accreditation as part of the BLACKSPHERE LIVE FILM FESTIVAL, along with an offer of accommodation and reservation options.

The Jury Award: The final winner of the BLACKSPHERE LIVE FILM FESTIVAL will be chosen by our jury consisting of selected European experts. The winning movie will be distributed and promoted to the Czech local cinemas and will also receive a BLACKSPHERE trophy, laurels and the 500 EUR main cash prize. The winning movie will be distributed and promoted on www.binarycode.one webpage.

The Audience Award: The accredited viewers of the BLACKSPHERE LIVE FILM FESTIVAL will evaluate the screened films. The overall winner of the Audience Award will be selected and awarded the BLACKSPHERE trophy, laurels and a 100 EUR cash prize. The audience winner movie will be distributed and promoted on www.binarycode.one webpage.

Also the winners of each main category will be chosen by our jury and announced. Each winner will receive an official trophy, laurels, diploma and gift bag.

SUBTITLES

Each film submitted to Blacksphere film festival must contain English subtitles (even if the movie is English spoken), as we are an international festival and we will target the online part of the festival also outside of English-speaking countries, where not everyone understands the English language perfectly. It would also be nicer for handicapped people to see visible text.

Therefore, English subtitles are required even if the movie is English spoken. (Preferably embedded subtitles in the movie. Or less preferably .srt file or .vtt but we are able to handle .txt as well.) Delivery of English subtitles is part of the rules of our festival. Since providing ENG subtitles is strictly in Blacksphere rules, submitted movies will not be included in Blacksphere main competition for prizes if submitters fail to deliver us English subtitles. But it is not going to be disqualified, it is still going to be streamed for Blacksphere online part for 7 days (if chosen) and according to the number of views and quality it still can make it to the final live event.

Only exceptions are movies without dialogues.

Main category:

Live action feature film (45min+)
Documentary feature film (45min+)
Animation feature film (45min+)
Experimental feature film (45min+)
Music feature film (45min+)
First time feature film (45min+)
Student feature film (45min+)

Live action short film (5-45min)
Documentary short film (5-45min)
Animation short film (5-45min)
Experimental short film (5-45min)
Music short film (5-45min)
First time short film (5-45min)
Student short film (5-45min)

Super short film (0-5min)

Awards & Prizes

LIVE FESTIVAL:

Main category:

Best Blacksphere film award: 100 EUR and whole year distribution to local Czech cinema + distribution and promotion on www.binarycode.one webpage + official diploma, trophy, laurels and gift bag
Best audience film award: 100 EUR + distribution and promotion on www.binarycode.one webpage + official diploma, trophy, laurels and gift bag
Best Live action feature film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Documentary feature film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Animation feature film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Experimental feature film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Music feature film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best First time feature film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Student feature film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Live action short film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Documentary short film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Animation short film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Experimental short film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Music short film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best First time short film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Student short film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag
Best Super short film: official diploma, trophy, laurels, gift bag

ONLINE PART OF FESTIVAL:

1st place - Blacksphere online film award: official diploma, trophy, laurels + free accommodation at Blacksphere live event + free accreditation
2nd place - Blacksphere online film award: official diploma, trophy, laurels + free accommodation at Blacksphere live event + free accreditation
3rd place - Blacksphere online film award: official diploma, trophy, laurels + free accommodation at Blacksphere live event + free accreditation
50 finalists: free accreditation

Rules & Terms

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The conditions for taking part in the BLACKSPHERE FILM FESTIVAL are simple and as follows:

1) Every applicant must also be the owner of the received audiovisual work or must have permission by the author to distribute their work.
2) Everyone has the right to submit their audiovisual work without any limits as to genre, length, date of production, age of either the creators or their work, but under the condition that they feel their film achieves the required level of filmic quality.
3) Any student, amateur, or professional film can be submitted, and can have any length and be of any genre.
4) We accept audiovisual works created by means of any technique or style of narration. All live-action, animated, documentary works, both narrative and non-narrative, are welcome.
5) We accept films rated G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17.
6) The date of completion is not important.
7) Films containing dialogues must be submitted with English subtitles.
8) The limit for the BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL screening is 100 films. These films will be selected by an expert European jury from all the films submitted.
9) The limit for the BLACKSPHERE LIVE FILM FESTIVAL screening is 50 films. These films will be selected from the maximum of 100 films screened as part of the BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL, based on the number of audience views and jury decision.
10) All 100 selected films for the BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL are uploaded onto the BLACKSPHERE online platform where each film is made available for a period of seven days. The 50 films with the highest number of views on the BLACKSPHERE online platform will continue on to the BLACKSPHERE LIVE FILM FESTIVAL. The BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL is part of the online television website www.binarycode.one and are part of their program which aims to support creativity, art and cultural development.
11) There are no restrictions for accepting films which may have been previously screened at cinemas, festivals, museums, etc.
12) The submitted audiovisual work is not supposed to be freely accessible for online viewing, but this in itself is not a condition for the film’s disqualification from the event.
13) The sign-up fees are non-refundable, even in the case that the submitted work will not have been selected.
14) If the film is selected for the BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL, the contributor will be contacted regarding additional information and regarding the method of sending the film for purposes of screening at the online television website www.binarycode.one.
15) The contributor has the right to withdraw their film until the beginning of the first online part of Blacksphere festival event without providing any reason, and without the right to reclaim the submission fee.
16) We reserve the right to cut any film from the selection if we deem it to be inappropriate for the audience or if it does not possess basic filmic qualities.
17) The festival’s organizers reserve the right to determine the films’ scheduled publication for the BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL and the BLACKSPHERE LIVE FILM FESTIVAL.
18) By submitting their film, the contributor agrees to all the listed conditions.
19) The festival reserves the right to change the terms and conditions.
20) The company Binary code s.r.o is the owner and organizer of the BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL and the BLACKSPHERE LIVE FILM FESTIVAL. The online festival is screened under the auspices of the online television website www.binarycode.one. The festival’s partner and supporter is Black Sphere, z.s.
21) The conditions of sending in the audiovisual work are: a paid fee and a properly submitted application through FilmFreeway. In case you are selected you will be asked to send in the entire film in adequate quality by means of the online link for download of the given work. Also, you will be asked to fill out an affidavit.
22) The contributor is responsible for making the film available through a link which will be sent to the organizers until BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL, unless informed otherwise in writing. If the contributor does not do this, they will be automatically disqualified from the festival.
23) The contributor grants the organizers of the BLACKSPHERE FILM FESTIVAL the right to screen, send and otherwise share the submitted work with the members of the jury who will decide on its inclusion in the BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL.
As the organizer of the BLACKSPHERE FILM FESTIVAL, the BLACKSPHERE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL and the BLACKSPHERE LIVE FILM FESTIVAL, Binary code s.r.o. reserves the right to change these conditions.