1. Key Dates
Submission Open: May 22, 2023 (09:00 NST time)
Submission Deadline: June 19, 2023 (18:00 NST time)
2023 Sundance Film Festival: Asia: August 18 - August 20, 2023
2. Entry Fee
310 TWD (~10 USD)
3. Eligibility
Applicant MUST comply with the following requirements:
(a) Entrant Eligibilities
- Film director(s) of the Entry must be at the age of 18 or above as at the deadline of submitting the application (i.e. June 19, 2023). If the entry has more than one director (maximum 4 directors), ALL joint-directors must be at the age of 18 or above.
- Film Director(s) of the Entry must be a valid Taiwanese Passport Holder and/or Taiwanese Resident (ARC) Card Holder (either residing in Taiwan or an overseas resident with a valid Taiwanese Passport and/or Taiwanese Resident (ARC) Card). If the entry has more than one director (maximum 4 directors), ALL joint-directors must be valid Taiwanese Passport Holders and/or Taiwanese Resident (ARC) Card Holders *For details about the status of your passport/resident (ARC) card, please visit the website of the Immigration Department at https://www.immigration.gov.tw/5475/
- Winners of the Competition should make every effort to attend Sundance Film Festival: Asia’s activities upon the request by the Organisers, including but not limited to Panels, Q&A Session of respective screening(s). Details will be announced in due course.
(b) Entry Requirements
- Entries must be completed on or after 1 January, 2022 (last date of Production must fall on 1 January, 2022 or after)
- Running time of each entry has to be between 3 and 15 minutes (including opening and end credits).
- Entries must either have one of the following: 1) Burnt-in English Subtitles (burnt-in English Subtitles are needed for non-English dialogue), OR 2) If entrant(s) are not able to submit the screening copy with burnt-in subtitles, they are required to attach the transcript for Jury Panel’s reference in a separate e-mail to Iris@sundanceffasia.com (please note that films without English subtitles for which we do not receive a dialog transcript by our submission closing date cannot be considered by the Jury Panel).
- There are no premiere or prior screening restrictions. Shorts that have been publicly exhibited, distributed, entered or have won prizes in other contests are eligible to enter the Competition.
- There is no restriction on the number of entries, but each entry should be entered only once in the Competition.
- If selected, filmmakers are required to provide the Exhibition Copy (with required burnt-in subtitles) in either ProRes 422 or above version MOV file OR DCP format in Mid-July for theatrical screening(s). All encrypted DCPs must supply DKDM keys that remain open for the duration of 2023 Sundance Film Festival: Asia. Failure to provide the above exhibition formats may result in disqualification.
Note: In case of any dispute concerning the definition of the above eligibility, the interpretation of the Organisers shall be final and conclusive.
4. Work Submission
Candidates are required to submit the materials online by June 19, 2023 (18:00 NST time).
Late submission will NOT be considered.
Candidates are required to submit materials via FilmFreeway
https://filmfreeway.com/SundanceAsia
(a) Create a FilmFreeway account;
(b) Upload the following materials on FilmFreeway:
- Biography of each director;
- Synopsis of the entry short film;
- At least one still photo (in JPEG file) of the entry short film.
Uploading your film via FilmFreeway does not give us access to do anything other than viewing it. We cannot download, copy or share films that have been uploaded via FilmFreeway for our consideration, and you are not giving FilmFreeway or its parent companies permission to access your video for any purpose other than submitting it for Competition consideration.
For any questions regarding video uploading, please contact Iris@sundanceffasia.com.
Once the application is submitted, no entrant is allowed to withdraw and no entry is allowed to alter or re-submit.
Note: It is of entrant’s sole responsibility to ensure that their online application is properly submitted. After the completion and submission of the online entry form, and upon successful selection for consideration an email will be sent to you and film director(s) is required to send the photocopy of their Taiwanese Passport and/or Taiwanese Resident (ARC) Card for verification.
All entry materials MUST be received by the Organisers no later than the applicable deadlines referenced above. The Organisers reserve the right to disqualify any submission, if it is not completed in accordance with these Entry Rules and Regulations.
Note: The submission to the Competition implies acceptance of the Rules and Regulations for Competition Entrants. The English text of the Rules and Regulations is the authentic and binding version. The Organisers have the sole and final decision in relation to issues which have not been covered in the Rules and Regulations and Entry Checklist. The Organisers reserve the right to revise such regulations and forms at any time.
Note: The Personal Data and other information are collected for the sole purpose of entering into this Competition and its adjudication, and are governed by The Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and related Enforcement Rules of the Personal Data Protection Act of Taiwan. In submitting an application, all Applicants are deemed to agree to allow the Organisers to use such information.
Applicants may be contacted in the future with regards to further information and details regarding the Festival and its related events/activities.
5. Jury Panel
Selections will be judged by a jury panel including:
Kim Yutani, Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival
Heidi Zwicker, Senior Programmer, Sundance Film Festival
Mike Plante, Senior Programmer, Short Film, Sundance Film Festival
Entries will be assessed and selected by the Jury Panel in accordance with the following criteria:
- Filming Skills / Techniques /
- Scripts / Narrative /
- Film Editing
- Creativity
6. Awards & Prizes
Entries that are selected and nominated for Jury Awards (hereinafter as “Nominees”) will be notified in July. Representatives of these nominees will be invited to an awarding event (date TBC) with a nominee to be awarded Jury Award For Best Short Film, and a number of nominees will be awarded Honorary Mentions.
Jury Award
- 50,000 TWD Cash Prize .
- All selected work (“Nominees”) will have the opportunity to screen and be showcased at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival: Asia.
- Awarded work will be automatically submitted for consideration for entry to Sundance Film Festival 2024 in Utah.
- One Trophy.
Honorary Mentions
- All selected work (“Nominees”) will have the opportunity to screen and be showcased at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival: Asia
- One Certification.
Note: The Jury Panel reserves the right to withhold an award if they find none of the entry merits a particular award and prize. The decision of the Organisers and Jury Panel shall be final and conclusive.
7. Copyright & Sponsorship
(a) Copyright
- The submission to the Competition implies the agreement of granting the screening rights to the Organisers, as well as allowing the Organisers to transfer the submitted data and video to the Jury Panel for the purposes of assessment and evaluation.
- All entrants must be the sole and exclusive owner of the copyright in the entry(ies). Where there is more than one entrant to an entry, all of the entrants must be exclusive owners of the copyright in the entry. Entries should not infringe any rights of any third party.
- All entrants should only use third party’s music excerpts or film/video segments in the entry with the prior written consent of the relevant third party. Entrants must acknowledge any authorized use of music excerpts or film/video segments in the entry in accordance with the relevant copyright laws. The Organisers shall not be responsible whether directly or indirectly for any liability arising whatsoever or howsoever from any violation of any copyright laws. Entrants agree and undertake to accept and be responsible for all such liability arising therefrom.
- For details about the Copyright Act, please visit https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=J0070017
(b) Sponsorship/Funding /
- If the entry is sponsored/ funded by any Organisation(s) / college(s), nature and details of the sponsorship/funding must be stated in the materials submitted to the Organisers.
- Entrants must ensure that the sponsor(s) will not interfere with their creativity and production.
8. Entry Presentation & Archive
- For Entries which are to be awarded or selected for presentation in 2023 Sundance Film Festival: Asia, the Organisers have the right to use the still photo(s) provided by the entrant(s), synopsis and no more than 2 minutes footage, for promotion purposes in any and all media.
- Any use of the Entries for any commercial purposes will be subject to the conclusion of a separate agreement between the Organisers and the copyright owner of the particular entry.
- The Organisers have the final decision on presentation arrangement.
- Unless the entrant objects in writing, the Organisers have the perpetual right to keep one copy of each entry for educational, archival and research purposes.
9. Enquiry
Please send all inquiries regarding this competition to Iris@sundanceffasia.com
