The Herat International Women’s Film Festival (HIWFF) is an iconic and the most prestigious Women’s Film Festival in the region. It was established by the Roya Film House and Armanshahr Foundation/OPEN ASIA in 2013. It is an annual event held in Afghanistan; gathering filmmakers, cinema lovers, and activists from all over the world, HIWFF tackles issues such women Rights, gender equality, sexual identity, domestic violence among others through the power of the lens and cinema which is the window to society and particularly women in this case.
HIWFF, which comprises films about women and/or executed by women, aims to highlight the power of women in different life situations, the festival organizers believe in promoting a positive image of women struggling with dignity to make a change in their environment. The festival’s judges and programmers are coming from different film backgrounds, and are eager to put together an exciting and truly high-quality program of various films focusing on human problems.
Official Selection Films will be publicly screened in competition during the festival. There is no entry fee for submissions. There is no restriction on the year of production of the films or the duration, though preference will be given to films produced after January 2017.
In the world cinema section, there’s no limitation, the festival is open to everyone regardless of budget and experience. We consider the films submitted for each category for all individual categories. In this section, HIWFF aims to discover new talent, films, and filmmakers with potential, and to recognize the collaborative work this art form is funded on.
The last 3 editions of the Festival were held in the ancient Citadel of Herat, the 4th edition was held at the Gardens of Babur (Bagh-e-Babur) in Kabul and the 5th edition was held at Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul; attracted one thousand films from the region and from across the world. Many renowned national and international filmmakers attended the fifth previous editions of the festival, hundreds of the media covered them worldwide and thousands of people watched a selection of the films. The Herat International Women’s Film Festival is perhaps the most important cultural event of its kind in the Heart of Asia.

We are now accepting submissions for our 2020 edition

The Secretariat of the 6thedition of the Heart International Women’s Film Festival requests filmmakers to send in short or long feature and documentary films the main theme of which should be concerned with women-related issues for the one-week Festival to be held as of August 2020 in Afghanistan.
The regular deadline for submitting the films to the Secretariat is from January 1, 2020, till 15 of February 2020.
The 6thFestival is a competition event and the winners will receive the Festival’s Statue. A jury comprising domestic and international filmmakers and critics shall judge the films in two national and international sections. In the National Films Section, the Festival Statues and other prizes shall be awarded to the best fiction and feature film, best documentary, best animation, best feature director, best documentary director, best film script, best leading female and male actors, best female child actor, best cinematography, best sound mixing and best editing. In the International Film Section, the Festival Statue shall be awarded to the best feature film, best documentary, best short film, and best animation.

Awards & Prizes

The 6thFestival is a competition event and the winners will receive the Festival’s Statue. A jury comprising domestic and international filmmakers and critics shall judge the films in two national and international sections. In the National Films Section, the Festival Statues and other prizes shall be awarded to the best fiction and feature film, best documentary, best animation, best feature director, best documentary director, best film script, best leading female and male actors, best female child actor, best cinematography, best sound mixing and best editing. In the International Film Section, the Festival Statue shall be awarded to the best feature film, best documentary, best short film, and best animation.

Rules & Terms

Please read the regulations carefully before filling up the entry form.
Only the rights holder is eligible to fill this form.
You are solely responsible for the authenticity of the information provided by you.
In case of ANY discrepancies found in the information provided by you, your entry will be disqualified.

ELIGIBILITY
• All genres – short fiction/fiction feature, non-fiction, animation, experimental and student films – are welcome.
• For entry in Women Cinema section, submitted films should either have been made by female directors or have addressed women’s issues if they have been made by male directors.
(If the film has more than one Director, at least one of them should be a woman.)

• For entry In the World Cinema section, there’s no limitation, the festival is open to everyone regardless of budget and experience. We consider the films submitted for each category for all individual categories. In this section, HIWFF aims to discover new talent, films, and filmmakers with potential, and to recognize the collaborative work this art form is funded on.

• HIWFF is a juried competition, works will be considered for competition only if they were completed after January 1, 2017

RULES

• Participants may send multiple entries, but separate forms are required for each entry. Films made in languages other than English are required to be subtitled in English and will not be accepted for the pre-selection process without subtitles in English.

• All required permissions from copyright holders should be acquired before entering the work into the Herat International Women’s Film Festival and copies of the permissions shared with us.

• If a film is selected, the copyright holders of the film should permit free-of-cost public screenings at the festival and any related events.
• Please specify if we have permission for your film to be a part of the traveling packages.
• All image formats and aspect ratios will be accepted. The sound requirement of our festival venue is that it be mono mixed on two channels.

PREVIEW & SCREENING
Please send your film in a high-resolution file/Blu Ray or downloadable link at this stage. All DVDs/.mov files will not be returned. All DVDs/mov files/Blu Ray will be part of the HIWFF archive, to be kept in the HIWFF Resource Centre, for non-commercial screenings and viewing for academic purposes.

SUBMISSION
1. The deadline for submitting the films to the Festival Secretariat is March 1, 2020.
2. Participants may send in their films directly by post, email or by sending their URL to the Secretariat at the addresses below.
3. The films shall be submitted in any of the HDV, HD, 2K and 4K formats.
4. Films submitted in any form in earlier editions are ineligible to apply. A film that has withdrawn from participation in earlier editions cannot re-submit to the festival.
• Films can be submitted to HIWFF digitally via the festival WeTransfer link, or by providing the festival screening committee with access to a secure online VIMEO link. You may also provide us with a private downloadable link from a secured server. Filmmakers can also submit via membership in the online festival submission platform: FilmFreeway.

PLEASE NOTE: We do not accept YouTube links as screeners for consideration. Any film that is currently viewable on YouTube is disqualified.

• To submit your film and/or any required materials via online file transfer, go to this link: http://HIWFF.wetransfer.com. Follow the onscreen instructions for the file transfer, and And email to womenfilmfestival.herat@gmail.com
You may upload multiple files at once (please zip larger files before upload). You receive an automatic email confirmation when your film is successfully transferred. Please upload the appropriate completed and scanned entry form as well.

• To submit via a participating festival submission platform: The Herat International Women's Film Festival is a participating member of an online film submission platform: FilmFreeway. These submission engines allow participants to upload to their work to a database, and then select multiple submission placements from the field of participating festivals.

https://filmfreeway.com/HeratInternationalWomensFilmFestival

• To learn more about the other online platform options, please visit their official website: FilmFreeway.

Please note: 6th HIWFF does NOT charge an entry fee. There is no entry fee attached to submitting a film to us via this submission engine. However, each service requires a fee from filmmakers to enter the database, but subsequently, it allows them to easily forward multiple entries to festivals around the world.

• To submit your film as a secure online VIMEO link: Please provide a SECURE online link to the film on the VIMEO website platform. All appropriate passwords must be included on the entry form.
Please note: Only VIMEO online screeners will be accepted. Online link submissions should be emailed to womenfilmfestival.herat@gmail.com

To submit your film via a private (secure and downloadable) on the link: Please provide a secure online like to the film screener download page. All appropriate passwords must be included on the entry form. Online link submissions and entry forms should be mailed to womenfilmfestival.herat@gmail.com

• A completed entry form must be submitted with each project. Multiple submissions by the same director and/or Production Company are accepted, but each film must be accompanied by a separate completed form. The entry must also include the following: film description; film credits, Brief synopsis of the film, director’s headshot, director’s bio, three good quality images from the film, list of previous and planned screenings, For pre-selection Preview Online downloadable links with passwords and English Subtitle or English subtitled DVD screener, poster of the film and links to trailers or promo of film if available.

• ALL SUBMITTED PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS become the property of the Herat International Film Festival. These materials cannot be returned. By submitting this material and the release form, you acknowledge 6TH HIWFF’s right to copy any material for the festival’s non-commercial use only.