International Film Festival of Shimla

A) Rules and Regulations for Competitive Sections:
1. There will be an International Level Competition for Films made in India or abroad by Foreign Filmmakers between 1st January 2022 and 31st March 2024.
2. There will be a National Level Competition for Films made in India by Indian Citizen between 1st January 2022 and 31st March 2024.
3. There will be a State Level competition for Films made in Himachal by Bonafide Himachali Only between 1st January 2022 and 31st March 2024.
4. All Indian films participating in the competition have to submit a CBFC certificate or give a self-attestation that the film and music video has been completed between 1st January 2022 and 31st March 2024. (both days inclusive). Same applicable for State Level competition (Bonafide Himachali)
5. The Festival absolves itself of any liability in case of dispute regarding the completion date of the entry.
6. Films must be available for Festival Screening on one of the following formats: DCP, High Quality Hard Disk, High Resolution Downloadable link, Blu Ray or 35 mm.​
7. No works in progress maybe submitted.
8. Only the films entered in the competition category will be considered for Competition.
9. Only selected films will be intimated by email. No letters of non- acceptance will be sent. All lists will be available on the website (www.iffs.in).
10. All non-English-speaking projects must have English subtitles.
11. One film can be entered in one competition section only, either in International, National or State.
12. Film(s) entered / screened in earlier IFFS editions / shorter version(s) / revised or re-edited version of film(s) will not be eligible.​
13. Film can be entered by any organization / agency or by individual film Producer /Director who holds the copyright. There is no restriction on number of entries.
14. Once a film has been selected it cannot be withdrawn from the Festival programme during the event.
15. Entry Fee: The entry fee is non-refundable.
16. JURY: -
a) A duly constituted International Jury and National & State Jury shall determine the winning films in respective categories. The decision of the Jury will be final and binding on all.
​b) The Jury reserves the right to withhold an award in any category where no entry, in the Jury's view, meet the standards for award / recognition. It also reserves the right to recommend sharing of award(s) in any category and to recommend special Jury award/Certificate of Merit.
17. Copy of the award winning films will be retained by the IFFS for Festival Archive/Non-Commercial Screening.
18. ​The IFFS will have the right to Screen Award Winning Films & IFFS Buransh films in different places in India and on social media platforms on non-commercial basis for promotion/publicity of documentaries/IFFS.
19. The Director of the Film Festival has the power to waive any of the above mentioned rules.
20. ​It is the sole responsibility of the entrant to secure clearance from the copyright holders of any copyrighted material included in the film. IFFS will not be held responsible for the unauthorized inclusion of any copyrighted material within or relating to the submitted film. IFFS reserves the right to disqualify any film with any unauthorized inclusion of copyrighted material.
​21. The Festival assumes the submitter has accepted the terms of the festival mentioned here and is authorised to submit the film and the Festival indemnifies itself against any legal or other action in this matter.
22. ​Participation in the festival implies acceptance of Festival Regulations.
23. For Student Films To be eligible for inclusion, the applicant must be between 12 and 21 years old as of March 31st, 2024.

B) General Rules for Film Submission:

1. Last Date for submitting the Completed Entry Form and Preview Material is 15 May, 2024.
2. All submitted films must carry English subtitles.
3. ​Films screened once before the Selection Committee CANNOT be re-entered.
4. Directors of Films in Competition will be invited to attend the Festival with Local Hospitality during the entire Festival Period.
5. Preview Material: Film Submitter is required to submit film in H.264/MP4 (under 2GB with 1920x1080 resolution) through Google Drive only and a soft copy containing Director’s Photograph, Bio-data, Filmography, Synopsis of the Film, Stills of the Film, Posters and pamphlets along-with Film Promos/Trailers.
6. Publicity: If selected for the festival the entrant must undertake to provide publicity clippings and posters and promo/teaser of the film for the use of the festival.
7. IFFS is under no obligation to provide comments or feedback regarding the film entered to the entrant or any other representative.
8. For promotion/publicity of IFFS, clippings from any film entered in the festival shall be shown on the National/International /Local television networks/Cinemas/social media platforms/ Internet, etc.
​9. Clippings of selected films will be screened on the official website and Social Media Pages of the festival.
​10. Request for fee waiver shall not be entertained.
11. For Student Films To be eligible for inclusion, the applicant must be between 12 and 21 years old as of March 31st, 2024.