NexT International Film Festival

Regulations of NexT International Film Festival
9th edition
April 16-20, 2015

1. Organizers
NexT International Film Festival is organized by NexT Cultural Society, created in 2006 in memory of film director Cristian Nemescu and sound-designer and composer Andrei Toncu.

NexT Cultural Society is located at 7 Sfantul Stefan Street, 023996 Bucharest, Romania, phone: +40 31 405 9068, fax: +40 21 252 4866, mobile phone: +40 721 661 756, e-mail: contact@nextproject.ro , web: www.nextproject.ro ; www.nextfilmfestival.ro
The e-mail address dedicated to film submissions and any questions related to the submission process is entry@nextproject.ro

2. Mission
NexT International Film Festival celebrates innovative and creative filmmaking from all around the world. Its mission is to discover and support emerging international film talents by promoting their works locally, nationally and internationally.

3. Festival dates
The 9th edition of NexT International Film Festival will take place in Bucharest, Romania, from April 16 to April 20, 2015.

4. Structure
The Festival program includes:
• an international competition for short and medium length films;
• a national competition for short and medium length films;
• several off-competition sections;
• seminars and workshops on film directing, sound-design, film production & distribution, script-writing etc.;
• a market for short films in development;
• special events (meet the artists, live concerts, exhibits, street events, parties etc.).

5. Submission process & criteria
Submissions for the 9th edition of NexT International Film Festival open on September 1st, 2014.

The call for entries of the present edition concerns the competition and seven off competition programs: NexT Monsters Night, NexT Shock, Kung Fu NexT, LGBT, NexT Behind the Scenes, NexT Musical, NexT Kids.

COMPETITION
Only narrative films (animation included) are eligible for selection in the competition; abstract films, video installations, music videos and information-centered documentaries will not be considered for the competition.

The maximum duration of the films submitted for the competition is 60 minutes.
The films submitted for the competition must be completed after January 1st, 2013.

NexT Monsters Night (off competition)
Romania is the land of Dracula, but we are aware that there are many more monsters out there. For this reason we want to be thrilled, amused and, of course, horrified by your films featuring creatures of the night or of the dead, and most of all we expect to be surprised by your vision.

The maximum duration of the films submitted for the NexT Monsters Night program is 60 minutes.
The films submitted for the NexT Monsters Night program must be completed after January 1st, 2013.

NexT Shock (off competition)
It only takes one moment to shock. A short film should give you enough time to give us a jolt that we remember. Spectacular graphic style, gruesome and gory stories, shameless sex scenes, anything goes as long as it holds our attention like it's nothing we've seen before. Come on, submit your film! This program is nothing to be shy about.

The maximum duration of the films submitted for the NexT Shock program is 60 minutes.
The films submitted for the NexT Shock program must be completed after January 1st, 2013.

Kung Fu NexT (off competition)
The term used to be about any skill achieved through hard work and patience. Now it's pretty much all about Hong Kong flicks with swordless fights. We'll take a look at kung fu films and kung fu nostalgia, we want something that will make our eyeballs leap from one side of the screen to the other.

The maximum duration of the films submitted for the Kung Fu NexT program is 60 minutes.
The films submitted for the Kung Fu NexT program must be completed after January 1st, 2013.

LGBT (off competition)
We are passionate about unconventional views of the world, which of course implies a permanent questioning of all norms. One of them is sexuality and gender, and that's why we want to see your films, if they deal with any of the issues generally associated with queer issues.

The maximum duration of the films submitted for the LGBT program is 60 minutes.
The films submitted for the LGBT program must be completed after January 1st, 2013.

NexT Behind the Scenes (off competition)
Characters who make films, characters who live through film, film itself as a character. We think about and discuss cinema so often at NexT that we've decided to let the films speak for themselves this year. With a whole section of films on filmmaking, we now ask for your help to make the audience feel at home in the cinema.

The maximum duration of the films submitted for the NexT Behind the Scenes program is 60 minutes.
The films submitted for the NexT Behind the Scenes program must be completed after January 1st, 2013.

NexT Musical (off competition)
We like dancing and singing (after all, one of our parties is a karaoke night), which is why this year we are introducing this special section of the festival entirely dedicated to musicals. It doesn't matter if it's Bollywood, Nollywood, Hollywood or No Man's Land, all we care about is that there is dancing, singing or both in your film.

The maximum duration of the films submitted for the NexT Musical program is 60 minutes.
The films submitted for the NexT Musical program must be completed after January 1st, 2013.

NexT Kids (off competition)
A special program for the youngest hearts at NexT 2015, designed to make them experience smart and fascinating short films: an opportunity for 5 to 12 year olds to discover cinema through creative animations and live action short films from all around the world. The screenings will be followed by hands-on special activities related to the films in the program.
The NexT Kids program is open to any genre, as long as the films are thematically and formally suitable for 5 to 12 year olds.

The maximum duration for the films submitted for NexT Kids is 10 minutes.
There is no restriction related to the production date for the films submitted for NexT Kids.

All non-English spoken films must have English subtitles.

The foreign films submitted must not have been previously screened in Romania.

Films can only be submitted once. Films already submitted to the previous editions of the festival will not be considered.

Submissions (both filling in the entry form and submitting the selection copy) will be made online, on the Festival official website www.nextfilmfestival.ro. In the entry form, you will be asked to fill in the private link and the password that will allow our selection team to view your film. The link can be hosted on a professional online platform for filmmakers and film festivals or it can simply be a link on Vimeo, YouTube etc.
* It is a must that the link is private and has a password. No films publicly available online will be accepted.

Please only submit your film if, in case of selection, one of the following digital formats is available: QuickTime H264, MP4 H264, MPEG2 HD, Blu-ray.
* No 35 mm, Beta or DCP screening copies will be accepted in case of selection.

There is no submission fee.

6. Closing dates for submission
The submission period starts on September 1st, 2014 and ends on November 15, 2014.
No submissions are accepted after the deadline.

7. Selection process
All the submitted films will be viewed by the Festival’s selection committee and a maximum of 30 films will be selected for the international competition section and a maximum of 15 films for the national competition section.

There is no preset limit for the number of films selected for the off competition programs.

All participants will receive an official notification by e-mail, regardless the result of the selection, not later than March 1st, 2015.

No motivation for the non-selection of films is to be expected.

The selected participants will be required to send in additional materials about their films for the Festival’s catalogue and press materials, as well as screening copies.

No film selected may be withdrawn from the Festival program.

The Festival reserves the right to dismiss films even after the final selection is made public if the films are posted publicly online.

8. Screening copies
In case of selection, participants are required to provide a screening copy of their film in one of the follwoing digital formats: QuickTime H264, MP4 H264, MPEG2 HD, Blu-ray.

The digital files must comply with the technical requirements of the Festival and may be uploaded via ftp or sent via electronic transfer.

The deadline for the delivery of the screening copies is March 15, 2015.

9. Participation of filmmakers to the Festival
NexT invites the director(s) or sound-designer(s) of the films selected in the competition to Bucharest for the duration of the Festival. The Festival provides accommodation and covers the travel expenses up to a limit that will be established after the guest list is complete.

Any other crew members of the films in competition and crew members of the films in the off competition programs are welcome to Bucharest at their own expense.

10. Jury and awards
NexT International Film Festival is highly competitive, with a maximum of 30 international films and 15 national films selected for the competition each year.

The films selected in the competition will be assessed by The Jury, who will comprise a minimum of five and a maximum of seven personalities in the international film world.

Persons directly involved in the production or exploitation of the films in competition may not be part of the Jury.

The Jury will award the following prizes:

• NexT Trophy (2000 Euro) – awarded to the best film in the competition. The money will be granted 50% to the director of the film and 50% to the producer (production company) of the film. If there are any additional rewards (money or services) attached to this award, offered by one of the partners of the festival, the beneficiary will be the director of the film.

• “Cristian Nemescu” Best Directing Award (1000 Euro) – awarded to the best directed film in the intrenational competition. The money will be granted to the director of the film. If there are multiple directors, the money will be distributed equally among them. If there are any additional rewards (money or services) attached to this award, offered by one of the partners of the festival, the beneficiary / beneficiaries will be the director / directors of the film.

• “Andrei Toncu” Best Sound Design Award (1000 Euro) – awarded to the film with the best sound design in the international competition. The money will be granted to the sound designer(s) / person(s) designated by the one(s) submitting the film as having the most important role in creating the sound of the film. If there are multiple sound designers / persons designated by the ones submitting the film, the money will be distributed equally among them. If there are any additional services attached to this award, offered by one of the partners of the festival, the beneficiary / beneficiaries will be the same person(s) as the one(s) receiving the money.

• Best Romanian Film (1000 Euro) – awarded to the best Romanian film in the national competition. The money will be granted to the director of the film. If there are any additional services attached to this award, offered by one of the partners of the festival, the beneficiary will be the director of the film.

• The Jury may also award a maximum of two special mentions, clearly justifying their choice. The special mentions have no financial prize attached.

• The audience will grant the Audience Award for Foreign Film and the Audience Award for Romanian Film – at the end of each competition slot, the audience will have the possibility to choose their favorite film, using the special coupons. The Audience Award will be granted to the foreign film and the Romanian film gathering the largest number of votes in their respective category. The money, the products or the services attached to this award will be granted to the director of the film.

Award-winners are expected to attend the closing ceremony and to mention the award as announced, nationally as well as internationally, in their publicity and promotional materials.

The films selected in the off competition programs are not eligible for the awards.

The Festival reserves the right to change the value of the awards under exceptional circumstances.

11. Publicity material
NexT Cultural Society reserves the right to use excerpts from the films selected for the competition or the off competition programs (no longer than 3 minutes) or stills from the films for promotion on the festival website or for the materials of its media partners.

12. Festival Archive
All the films screened during the festival will be included in the Festival Archive, that will be available online exclusively to NexT Members, after the Festival. The films will only be included in the Festival Archive after prior agreement of the directors and / or producers. A formal agreement will be signed between NexT Cultural Society and the rights owner of every respective film, stipulating the details concerning the participation of the respective film to the Festival Archive.

13. After-events
NexT Cultural Society reserves the right to use the films in competition for various screenings after the end of the festival. The films will only be used for these screenings after prior notification of the director / producer by NexT Film Festival.

PARTICIPATION IN THE FESTIVAL IMPLIES
AGREEMENT WITH THE REGULATIONS SET OUT HEREIN.