VIFF is a MONTHLY and YEARLY evaluation festival.
MONTHLY EVALUATIONS:
- The Judges will select the most commendable films of the month in each category (about 4-5 films). The selected films will receive the OFFICIAL SELECTION status on FilmFreeway, certificates, and laurels by the end of each month.
- Among the roster of the Official Selections, the WINNER OF THE MONTH per category will receive the SEMI-FINALIST status on FilmFreeway, certificates, and laurels by the end of each month.
YEARLY EVALUATION:
- All the SEMI-FINALISTS/WINNERS OF THE MONTH from the ten-month run of the festival will compete for the YEARLY evaluation and the festival screening event.
- Among the semi-finalists, the top 4-5 films will then be promoted into FINALIST status on FilmFreeway (for other festivals, this is regarded as the NOMINEES OF THE YEAR).
The Finalist status will be notified 2 weeks before the FilmFreeway Notification Date.
- During the Notification Date itself, the GRAND WINNERS OF THE YEAR will be announced among the FINALISTS. The official and final list of films to be screened at the April 2027 festival will also be announced on this date.
- Announcement will be through our official email, the festival's official website, and the festival's social media accounts.
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GRAND WINNER OF THE YEAR AWARDS:
Film of the Year
Short Film of the Year
Documentary of the Year
Short Documentary of the Year
Music Video of the Year
*FEATURE FILM MAIN CATEGORIES
Best Narrative Feature
Best Drama
Best Thriller
Best Comedy / Dark Comedy
Best Horror
Best Fantasy /Sci-Fi
Best Animation Feature
Best Experimental Film
Best LGBTQ+ Film
Best Italian Film
**SHORT FILM MAIN CATEGORIES
Best Short Narrative Feature
Best Short Drama
Best Short Thriller
Best Short Comedy / Dark Comedy
Best Short Horror
Best Short Fantasy /Sci-Fi
Best Short Animation Feature
One Minute Masterpiece (0.20-1.10)
Best Short Experimental Film
Best Short LGBTQ+ Film
Best Short Italian Film
**CATEGORY FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Best Feature Documentary (30-120 min.)
****CATEGORY SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Best Short Documentary (10-30 min.)
**SPECIAL CATEGORIES
Veneto International Film Festival Screenplay Award
Best Music Video
Best Film Trailer
Best Movie Poster
Best Student Film
Best Italian Student Film
******FEATURE FILM SUB CATEGORIES
Best Producer
Best Cinematography
Best Director
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Editing
Best Set Design
Best Sound Design
Best Score mixing
Best Original Score
Best Screenwriting
Best Costume Design
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Best Visual effects
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
*******SHORT FILM SUB CATEGORIES
Best Short Film Producer
Best Short Film Cinematography
Best Short Film Director
Best Short Film Actress
Best Short Film Actor
Best Short Film Acting Ensemble
Best Short Film Editing
Best Short Film Set Design
Best Short Film Sound Design
Best Short Film Score mixing
Best Short Film Original Score
Best Short Film Screenwriting
Best Short Film Costume Design
Best Short Film Makeup and Hairstyling
Best Short Film Visual effects
Best Short Film Supporting Actor
Best Short Film Supporting Actress
Films entered in multiple categories may win multiple awards.
There is no limit on Submissions as long as there will be no violation of parameters on category submission or any form of fraud.
We strongly encourage you to review the following carefully. By submitting your project, you acknowledge that you have read and agreed to all of the following rules and terms. All projects that have been submitted by our final deadline and follows the Veneto International FilmFestival™ terms will be considered for inclusion in the 2023 Edition.
By submitting, you agree that you own all copyrights and intellectual properties to your work.
If you have any further questions, please visit our FAQ page: www.venetointernationalfilmfestival.com
V.I.F.F. TECHNICAL INFORMATIONS
Evaluation of the submitted material
The decision of the jury committee will be final.
Duration of the Projects
Feature Films from 45 to 180 minutes are eligible.
Feature Documentaries from 45 to 180 minutes are eligible.
Short Films from 1 to 45 minutes are eligible.
Short Documentaries from 1 to 45 minutes are eligible.
One Minute Masterpiece category from 20 seconds to 1.10 minute are eligible.
Music Videos from 1 to 10 minutes are eligible.
Video
VIFF accept ANY Video Format.
The suggested Video specs [not obligatory] will be:
ProRes 444/or ProRes 422 (HQ) - please avoid ProRes 422 LT unless it’s all you have. ProRes 422 (Proxy) is unlikely to be good enough to project.
Avid DNxHD, either as MXF files or in a QuickTime container.
MPEG2 Program or Transport Steams at a minimum of 20Mbps.
H.264 4:2:2 encoded, Blu-ray
Frame Size/Display Aspect Ratio/Frame Rate/Scanning Method:
1280 × 720 16x9 23.976 Progressive
1280 × 720 16x9 50.00 Progressive
1280 × 720 16x9 59.94 Progressive
1440 × 1080 16x9 23.976 Progressive
1440 × 1080 16x9 25.00 Interlaced*
1440 × 1080 16x9 29.97 Interlaced
1920 × 1080 16x9 29.97 Interlaced
1920 × 1080 16x9 25.00 Interlaced*
1920 × 1080 16x9 23.976 Progressive
Audio
Stereo or 5.1 surround
5.1 :
• -L: Left front channel
• -R: Right front channel
• -C: Center front channel
• -Ls: Left surround channel
• -Rs: Right surround channel
• -LFE: Low frequency channel (Subwoofer, LFE)
Output format will be DTS-HD Master Audio when venues allow, Dolby Digital as fall back.
General Exclusions
VIFF does not accept the following:
1. Extremist or propaganda content from religious or political organizations
2. Political films
3. Films which are made before 2020
4. Films with a poor production standard (bad sound, lack of subtitles/captions for non-English films, video resolution less than 720p HD)
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Each submission must be accompanied by a submission fee paid in full and a working screener in order to be considered. Once we have all necessary materials, the submission will be marked as “In Consideration”. It is the submitter’s responsibility to make sure that all submission requirements are met. If your submission is marked “Incomplete” and you’re unsure why, please email venetointernationalfilmfest@gmail.com.
Any submissions that are incomplete by our final deadline will be contacted by our Staff when possible and if not corrected disqualified without refund of submission fees. Reasons a submission will be considered incomplete include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Screener is missing
- Screener has been deleted or password has been changed
- Screener is missing subtitles (if in a foreign language), audio, image, or any feature that prevents us from properly judging it
Screeners Submission
All projects must be submitted via secure online screener - either as a password protected Vimeo link attached to your submission or uploaded directly to FilmFreeway.
We do accept any films that must be downloaded (ex: via Dropbox or Google Drive)
The submitter is responsible for ensuring that their screener link and password are active throughout the entire submissions cycle (VIFF™suggest the applicats to make sure of this last element).
In the event of a password or URL change after submitting, email the VIFF™ immediately. If we discover an error with the screener before our final deadline, we will attempt to email the submitter for an update. Failure to respond by the final submission deadline will result in disqualification without refund of submission fees.
SUBTITLES
All foreign-language films are welcomed. Any foreign-language Film must be submitted with English subtitles. If we discover a foreign-language submission is missing subtitles, we will attempt to email the submitter for an update. If the submitter fails to provide working subtitles by the final submission deadline, the project will be considered incomplete and will be disqualified without refund of submission fees.
SUBMISSION CATEGORIES
Please review all submission categories carefully before submitting your project. All entrants are required to pay the submission fee of their film’s appropriate category. If you believe you have submitted your film to the wrong category, contact the VIFF™ immediately. While we can typically facilitate a change in category submission, the entrant will be responsible for any changes in submission fees. We cannot offer partial refunds for categories with a smaller fee. If the new category has a higher fee, the entrant is responsible for paying the fee difference.
Submission to multiple categories is allowed. If the entrant wishes to submit to multiple categories, a separate submission fee must be paid for each category. We accept a variety of genres and film themes in every category, including but not limited to comedy, drama, horror, sci-fi, animation, food films, religious films, historical accurate films, avant-garde films, sperimental films, etc.. If you have questions about any of our submission categories, please email: venetointernationalfilmfest@gmail.com.
VIFF™ will not pre-screen or evaluate films prior to submission for the purpose of recommending a category for submission.
ITALIAN FILMS
A discounted submission fee is available for submissions that were shot in ITALY and come from a director with a current Italian address
Project must at least partially filmed in ITALY
Director must currently resides in ITALY
Projects that meet both qualifications can submit at a discount of 30%. To obtain the discount code, applicants will need to email the specs to venetointernationalfilmfest@gmail.com
Please allow up to 7 business days for a response, particularly when approaching a submission deadline.
VENETO FILMS
A discounted submission fee is available for submissions that were shot in VENETO and come from a director with a current Italian address
Project must at least partially filmed in VENETO
Director must currently resides in VENETO
Projects that meet both qualifications can submit at a discount of 50%. To obtain the discount code, applicants will need to email the specs to venetointernationalfilmfest@gmail.com
Please allow up to 7 business days for a response, particularly when approaching a submission deadline.
Please note, submitting with the ITALY Film code or VENETO Film code makes no difference to the chances of being accepted into the festival, as all local films must stand alongside the other films in VIFF™ programming. This code is intended as a way to support our local filmmaking community by offering a low-cost means of entry (and also makes it easier for us to identify local films within the thousands of submissions we receive each year).
COMPLETION DATE
Any project that was completed on or after February 25, 2020 will be eligible for consideration at the 2023 Veneto International Film Festival.
Works in progress
Works-in-progress are not accepted at the VIFF:
The VIFF suggest the applicants to consider submitting on the succeeding months upon completion.
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Deadlines
Please keep track of deadlines closely if you plan on submitting within a certain submission window. All deadlines are set for 11:59pm GMT+1. Roma (GMT+1) of every 25th of the current month.
Upon acceptance into the 2023 Veneto International Film Frestival, you grant VIFF the right to utilize an excerpt from your film for promotional purposes.
