The Thornbury Picture House is extremely excited to be presenting, the inaugural Northern Lights Film Festival; Melbourne’s first north side short film festival dedicated to talented, independent filmmakers.

The festival will take place in October 2019 at the Thornbury Picture House, Melbourne. Screenings will culminate with a red carpet award ceremony.

The primary focus will be on filmmakers from Thornbury and the greater Darebin areas. We also encourage applications from broader Australian and International filmmakers.

We will prioritise the inclusion of films that celebrate diversity and creative films that focus on Indigenous, LGBTIQ+, female focused, inclusive, environmental and human rights issues. We will also encourage films to be submitted in languages other than English.

Thornbury Picture House and Northern Lights Film Festival aim to forge lasting, productive relationships between independent film makers and their audiences.

Proudly supported by Darebin Arts.

$1000 - Local/Darebin Short Film
+ Grading and Post-Production package at Blue Post Production (valued at $2500)

$1000 - Best Short Film

$1000 - Best Australian Music Video

Audience Awarded Best Short Film - Free cinema hire at Thornbury Picture House + DCP creation ($500 value)

Plus bonus Special Mention prizes.

All prize money is in AUD.

Films submitted will be shortlisted by the Festival Selection Committee and submitted to the short film Competition Jury for final judging.

Our programmers will not discriminate in their selection practices on the basis of sex, political preference, age, gender identity, race, colour, sex, disability or sexual orientation.

Eligibility
• NLFF 2019 is accepting short films or music videos only. Films must be no longer than 20 minutes.

• No rough cuts or works in progress.

• Entries in foreign languages must come with English subtitles.

•Films to be no older than 10 years.

• BLUE POST Post Production award includes 1 day (8 hours) of online/grading/VFX or the like and applies to Australian based filmmakers only.)

• The Local Film Maker Film Award will be given to local residents of Darebin. To be eligible for this award, the director and/or at least one of either the writer, producer or key creatives must be Darebin residents, or, a large portion of the film was filmed in Darebin.

• To be eligible for the Best Australian Short Film, key roles in the production should be filled by residents of Australia, and NLFF may request evidence of eligibility.

• All music video entries are accepted, produced in Australia or Internationally.

• If your film or music video is selected. You must provide a ProRes 1920x1080 screener to the festival organiser by the 5th of October 2019

Conditions of Entry
By submitting your film (‘the Film’) through FilmFreeway to the Northern Lights Film Festival (NLFF) organised by the Thornbury Picture House you agree:

1. All information submitted through FilmFreeway or through other correspondence with NLFF is true and accurate.

2. You own the rights or have permission from the rights holders to use all vision, sound, music and images in the Film, as necessary to submit the Film to NLFF, and for the Film to screen at NLFF if it is selected.

3. You indemnify NLFF or TPH against any and all legal claims arising from the content of the Film, including but not limited to the infringement of copyright and intellectual property, libel, defamation, invasion of privacy and breach of contract.

4. You will advise NLFF if, having submitted the film, you become aware of any potential claims against the Film.

5. NLFF reserves the right to withdraw a film from the competition if it deems the above conditions have not been met.

6. Winners will need to provide bank details to receive cash prizes.

7. NLFF will not accept physical format screeners. Please submit online screener links only, through FilmFreeway.

9. Submission fees are paid in USD through FilmFreeway.

10. It is the responsibility of the submitter to maintain the screener link and keep any passwords current. If a link cannot be accessed by the Festival programmers following reasonable attempts to contact the submitter, the film will not be considered and the submission fee will not be refunded.

11. It is up to the entrant to read the Terms and Conditions and Eligibility requirements of entry and if at any point a film is no longer eligible, there will be no refund of fees.

12. NLFF is unable to extend the deadline and cannot accept requests to waive submissions fees.

13. Any costs associated with entering a film are to be paid by the submitter.

14. By submitting your film, you agree that NLFF can use parts of your film (including trailer/teaser/film poster) for promotional purposes.

15. Multiple entries are allowed. You can submit more than one film to the same category. But keep in mind the entry fee must be paid for each one.

16. Submissions are NON-refundable. We cannot be held liable for materials which are lost or damaged.

17. I also acknowledge that the film submission fee does not guarantee acceptance and no refund will be provided if my film is not selected.

18. Applicants who do not follow the guidelines will not be accepted.

19. Deadlines and screening dates may change at NLFF discretion.

Selection and screening
• All films will be viewed by Festival Selection Committee for screening within the festival and shortlisting for the competition, with shortlisted films judged by a panel of industry professionals. The process and shortlist will not be made public, and the Festival is unable to discuss the process.
• Applicants will be notified of an outcome no later than 1st October 2019.
• If the film is selected, the submitter must provide minimum two promotional images from the film (10 x 15cm, 300dpi) for use in the Festival brochure, website, social media and provision to third party media
• Films selected for screening must be received in appropriate screening format by 5th October 2019. Materials will be held until the end of the Festival. Appropriate screening formats are MPEG4, MOV (ProRes, H264), DCP.
• The selected films will be screened in the Festival, with category winners announced during screenings between the 17th and 26th October 2019.

Prizes and screening fees
• NLFF will provide the cash prizes via bank transfer to winning entrants.
• NLFF will not pay screening fees for submitted films.
• NLFF will provide one complimentary ticket to screenings of the submitter’s film in the program, and one complimentary pass to the prize-giving event. Travel and any other costs are the responsibility of the attendees.