FILM COMPETITION RULES
1. Films must be NARRATIVE FICTION ONLY. We do not accept music videos, promotional videos, trailers, or documentaries.
2. All selected films will be paid a screening fee or honorarium consistent with Canadian standards, in Canadian dollars.
3. Official selections will be chosen by a selection committee, with the assistance of qualified advisors.
4. Winners in each category, (in competition), will be chosen by juries.
5. Filmmakers may submit as many films as they like in as many categories for which they are eligible.
6. Films previously submitted to CVIFF are not eligible.
7. There are no restrictions on when a film was made. However, films that have already screened on a free public platform, (like Youtube) are not eligible.
8. All non-English submissions must have hard-coded English subtitles
9. Films must be compliant with all copyright laws. If music, artwork, or additional film material used in your film is not original, then permission from source must be obtained. The responsibility for this rests entirely with the filmmaker. Failure to obtain clearance could result in your film being withdrawn from the Festival. In this event, CVIFF will not be liable to refund the fee or return the materials entered.
10. By submitting to the CVIFF, the participant is granting permission to view their film by the Selection and Judging Committee and if selected for screening, is granting permission to screen the film at the CVIFF and use selected clips it in promotional materials (including but not limited to press releases, websites, social media, TV, radio and print). After the festival, CVIFF may post the film online only if the film is publicly available for viewing.
11. If selected for screening at the festival, the filmmaker will be required to submit the following:
• Minimum two high-resolution film stills
• One high-resolution Director's headshot photo & Bio (50 words)
• Brief synopsis of the film (50 words)
• Film exhibition copy
• Film trailer file and/or online link
12. The festival organizers reserve the right to withdraw an offer of official selection and/or an award if the filmmaker is non-responsive to requests for information listed in item 11. of this list, or non-compliant in any other way related to the rules of the festival, or acts in an inappropriate manner that would would reflect negatively on the image and reputation of CVIFF.
13. Once a film has been selected for the festival it may not be withdrawn.
14. All entrants agree that the decisions of the juries and festival directors are final and there are no procedures for appeal.
15. CVIFF does not offer criticism or feedback on submissions, nor is it our policy to notify submissions of their acceptance or rejection before the official notification date.
16. CVIFF reserves the right to make any necessary changes in Festival scheduling.
SCREENWRITING COMPETITION RULES
1. Winners and placements will be determined by jury rankings.
2. Scripts that have been submitted to previous iterations of the festival are not eligible.
3. Submitted scripts must be written in English.
4. While submitters can submit as many scripts as they want, only the top-ranked submission will be eligible for an award.
5. Any script that has already been produced into a film is not eligible. If your script is produced AFTER submitting to CVIFF, please notify immediately.
6. All submitted scripts must be formatted in a commonly accepted format and the festival organizer reserves the right to discard improperly formatted submissions (although they will make every attempt to contact writers to get reformatted submissions).
7. All payments are final and there will be no refunds of script submission fees.
8. There are no restrictions on when a script was written.
9. CVIFF does not offer criticism or feedback on submissions, nor is it our policy to notify submissions of their acceptance or rejection before the official notification date.
