Twisted Oyster Film Festival & New Media Art 2019
May 2019
Kefalonia Island, Greece

This year's title:
Vital Signs: 34.5531° N, 18.0480° E

For 2019 Twisted Oyster will continue its focus on the environment and the impact of climate change in nature, economy, health, migrations and all of humanity. The festival will be a platform to drive awareness with an impactful exhibition that brings forward short and feature films to be included in the festival’s special edition in Greece. As it did last year, Twisted Oyster will present films and new media productions reflecting on the ongoing environmental crisis, the delicate state of the planet. We seek productions focusing on its magnificent beauty and paralleled decay through documentary, fiction, animation, virtual and augmented realities, installation, performance, sound and video art.

The exhibition will tease the imagination and express the profound thought of artists and filmmakers from around the world. Twisted Oyster aims to cultivate ideas that enlighten and unify communities through the language of art.

ELIGIBILITY: Open to all, all disciplines with focus to Film, Photography, art installation and Media Art

More on the festival’s theme, Vital Signs: 34.5531° N, 18.0480° E:

The observable effects have caused glaciers to melt, coral reefs to die, rivers to shrink, animals to shift behaviors or die, trees to flower sooner, the list goes on…

Ecologically, greenhouse gases are trapped in our system affecting global temperature by 0.5 to 2 degrees celsius. As a result, we are loosing 200 species daily representing a catastrophic mass extinction 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than normal. Human induced gases and global warming are causing the planet’s sea ice to melt rapidly, accelerating the rise of sea levels and experiencing more intense heat waves and drastic temperature changes.

Take for example coral reefs: Besides containing one of the most diverse ecosystems in the planet, they protect coastlines and are a habitat to thousands of fish species. Climate change, wastewater, fossil fuel and plastic pollution, careless tourism and overfishing has impacted these habitats, produced mass-bleaching and decay. Now, marine species are disappearing and oceans are becoming more acidic affecting an entire food chain and its normal purpose and conditioning of preserving 50-80% of the oxygen we breath. We depend on its ecosystem, and yet, we continue to dump 300 tons of waste per day. If the reefs disappear it would be disastrous in the tropics, and as of now, large coastal regions are already gone and entire economies are being affected significantly.

The vast majority of people in the world do not understand the consequences of a climate crisis and no one is taking adequate action to improve. The reality is that we are facing a sustainability crisis. First World countries and scientists from around the globe have been preparing us by presenting ideas and solutions like wind power, solar panel and circular economy systems. Yet, not even the richest countries have made the climate crisis their top priority and governments are not doing enough to mitigate climate change. In fact when we look into the future, we are given the year 2050 as benchmark to measure our future. This is unacceptable. What could we do but take action on or own.

The 2019 exhibition of film and art derives from an individual and global concern to broaden awareness to the current state and continuous deterioration of the earth’s sensitivity due to human actions. The primary goal of this year’s festival is to promote understanding of the importance of preservation, create awareness of present realities, be conscious that we need planet Earth’s natural features alive and active, and help implement measures that can help us reactivate or retain some lost resources.

This years films and art show will be presented in Kefalonia, Greece thanks to The Ionion Center for Arts and Culture, where Twisted Oyster’s founder and director, Pia Cruzalegui, will be presenting a Master Class. For more information please visit, https://www.ionionartscenter.gr/category/master-classes/

Awards & Prizes

Awards given in five categories:

Best in Show Awards + $50.00 (USD) towards professional coaching services to:
- Feature
- Short
- Documentary
- Experimental
- Animation

Runner Up Prizes:
$100.00 (USD) gift certificate towards web/design services for your film.

Rules & Terms

About Call for Films:

1. Films of all genres will be considered, as long as they are written and directed with the center story in mind. Read about Vital Signs: 34.5531° N, 18.0480° E in the synopsis above, under Event Description.

2. This year's event will accept experimental and traditional narrative feature films, short films, feature documentaries, short documentaries, animation and short web series episodes.

3. Feature films and feature documentaries must be over 60 minutes and short films, short documentaries and web series episodes must be under 30 minutes.

Twisted Oyster Film & New Media Art Festival Terms and Conditions

- The filmmaker and artist has read and understood the rules and regulations and to the best of their knowledge, all statements are true. The individual submitting film or artwork/proposal is duly authorized to submit film/artwork/proposal to the Twisted Oyster Film Festival.

- Twisted Oyster reserves the right to disqualify any submission without refund of submission fees.

-Twisted Oyster reserves the right to remove content from the show.

- All accepted films and new media/time-based artworks could be screened more than once and used in marketing materials.

-Films and some time-based artworks will be scheduled at the discretion of Twisted Oyster Festival and the administration of The Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture.

- Films produced or financed by a major motion picture studio are eligible for festival screenings but are not eligible for competitive awards. Films that have acquired distribution are eligible for festival screenings but are not eligible for awards.

- Upon submission, the filmmaker consents to allowing their screener material to be shared in its entirety with appropriate Twisted Oyster staff, including programming staff, volunteer screeners, and other appropriate members of staff; shared with press outlets in efforts to secure press for the film; with final jury members; and with select individuals representing community partners who may be interested in supporting the film’s screening or taking part in a panel or q&a associated with the film.

-The festival is hereby also granted the right to utilize image(s) and/or biographical information of the filmmakers for promotional purposes. The festival reserves the right to fill in any information not supplied by the filmmaker from whatever source available and will not be responsible if incorrect information is entered.

- It is the responsibility of the filmmaker to secure authorization for any copyrighted material that may be used in the film. The filmmaker shall indemnify and hold harmless Twisted Oyster Film Festival, and anyone associated with the festival production or administration, from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.

- TOFF does not pay screening fees or guarantee travel or distribution for filmmakers.

- Although rough cuts can be taken into consideration for submission, a FINAL CUT will be only screened and reserve the right to decline an unfinished project.

- Promotional trailers, reels, or anything other than a screener for the film will not be considered.

- By submitting, the filmmaker expressly acknowledges and agrees that they shall be bound by the terms of this agreement.

Eligibility:
- Open to film/new media artists in the world, ages 18 and over.

Formats:
- Entries must be submitted via FilmFreeway online platform, with a working screener attached to your profile on the platform.

REQUIRED SUBMISSION MATERIALS
- For consideration of films and new media artwork/proposal submissions please go to FilmFreeway
- A working screener that is accessible via your film’s profile on FilmFreeway

Notification:
- Films selected for screening will be notified on or around April 30, 2019

About founder Pía Cruzal­egui:
Pía Cruzalegui is a visual and curatorial artist from Lima, Peru. Her professional experience extends broadly from design to curatorial projects. She received her Bachelor’s Communications: Film and Multimedia from Florida Atlantic University and a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in studio practice. She creates installation and digital media art, and is interested in the intersection of film and new media forms. Through her curatorial projects she has facilitated the engagement of many artists, filmmakers and community while promoting the value of experimental works expansively. Pía is a member of VADB, Comunidad de Arte Contemporáneo de Latinoamérica, Chicago Sculpture International, the Association of Art Museum Curators and Fractured Atlas, and holds practices in Miami and Chicago.

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