**WE ONLY ACCEPT CANADIAN FILMS**

The NSI Online Short Film Festival is a year-round short film fest run by the National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI) and is a Canadian Screen Awards qualifying festival.

Submissions must be Canadian. This means the writer, director or producer must be Canadian.

NOTE: Films chosen during this call period will premiere in the NSI Online Short Film Festival sometime between January 13, 2020 and March 30, 2020. Films must play for a minimum of three months after the premiere date. If your film is selected, but you have commitments to other festivals, we are happy to arrange an alternative premiere date with you.

We add new films to our website every week of the year.

We promote each new selection of films in our e-newsletter, on Facebook and Twitter – a potential audience of around 20,000.

With the help of an independent jury, NSI currently presents the A&E Short Filmmakers Award* ($1,250 CA) for best film four times a year.

*Films, filmmakers and actors from Quebec are not eligible for this award.

All NSI Online Short Film Festival winners throughout the year receive a complimentary Friend membership for the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television – this membership can be upgraded to voting for $50 CA (if eligible).

Your film must:

– be made by a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant. This means the writer, director or producer must be Canadian

– be less than 30 minutes (the shorter the better)

– have been released after January 1, 2014

– fit one of the following genres: drama, comedy, experimental, animation, sci-fi, horror, music video or documentary

– be available on YouTube/Vimeo

– be created by filmmakers aged 18 years or over.

– be subtitled in English if your film's dialogue is in a language other than English.

If your film is selected, we require your film to play in our festival for a minimum of three months starting from the day it first plays in our festival.

You can submit your film to other festivals at the same time as ours but remember your film will be shown online if we accept it. Make sure this doesn’t conflict with any other festivals your film is accepted to.

You may submit more than one film but you must complete a separate application for each film.

You must also have the rights cleared.

You must think very carefully about all the possible rights involved in your film: music, title, story, copyright, life rights, trademarks, logos, etc.

By submitting your film to us, you’re indicating that you own and/or have acquired the rights in your film and have cleared copyright, trademarks and logos of other parties and obtained their authorization.

NSI exercising its rights to stream your film shall not violate or infringe the copyright or any other rights, including, without limitation, the right of privacy and/or publicity of any person or entity.

It further indicates that you accept full responsibility for any legal outcomes that may arise from the exhibition of your film on the NSI website and that you waive any moral rights you have in and to the film, as such rights now or hereafter exist, by legislative enactment, or otherwise.

Under the Copyright Act, you have (i) the right to have your name associated with your film (the “authorship right”), (ii) the right to restrain any modification of your film (the “integrity right”), and (iii) the right to restrain any use of your film in association with a particular product, service, cause or institution (the “right of association”), all of which together are known as “moral rights.”

With regard to NSI’s online film festival this may pertain, for example, to such things as NSI’s methods of promoting your film or its placement on the festival website.

RIGHTS

You hereby grant NSI a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, assignable, transferable right to display, exhibit, use, transmit, copy and exploit, all or any portion of the Film, as well as the names and personal and biographical materials of you and each person referenced in or in connection with the Film, in any and all media for the purposes of the NSI Online Short Film Festival. You also irrevocably waive any and all “moral rights” (including any and all rights of a similar nature or purpose, however and wherever arising) in and to the Film.

SELECTION & REJECTION/DISQUALIFICATION

A jury will review all film submissions and contact you should your Film be selected. The Film submitted pursuant to these Submission Terms must be submitted in accordance with the procedures outlined herein. NSI may disqualify or reject any film that is not submitted in accordance with such procedures. NSI is not required to select any of the films submitted through these Submission Terms for the Festival. THE SELECTION OF ANY FILM IS SUBJECT TO NSI’S SOLE AND ABSOLUTE DISCRETION AND NSI RESERVES THE RIGHT, FOR ANY OR NO REASON AT ANY TIME, TO REJECT ANY SUBMITTED FILM. NSI is not required to provide feedback, reasons or any other information regarding selection or non-selection of any films, including the Film.

Representations, Warranties and Covenants; Indemnification

You hereby represent and warrant that:

(1) You are at least 18 years of age;

(2) You have the right to enter the Film to the NSI Online Short Film Festival;

(3) You have the right to grant the rights granted therein and you own or control, or have secured and cleared all of the rights, title and interest in and to your Film and all content contained therein and with respect thereto (e.g. music, story, title, etc. from all their owners, creators, writers, producers, etc.) including, without limitation, all copyright, trademarks, logos and other intellectual property and proprietary rights. The Film and all content contained therein and with respect thereto will not: a) infringe, violate or misappropriate any third party right, including copyright trademark, patent, trade secret, moral rights, privacy rights, rights of publicity, or any other intellectual property or proprietary right; or b) slander, defame, libel, or invade the right of privacy, publicity or other property rights in any person;

(4) NSI's use of the film will not constitute a breach of any broadcaster, distributor or other agreement(s) applicable to this Film;

(5) You will comply with these Submission Terms as well as the federal laws of Canada applicable therein;

(6) You are solely liable for any damages and other liabilities resulting from infringement of copyrights, proprietary rights or any other intellectual property rights, including, without limitation, rights or privacy and publicity, or any other harm or damage arising from NSI's programming of your Film in the NSI Online Short Film Festival; and

(7) The Film will not contain or transmit, and you will not introduce, any viruses or other computer programming that may potentially damage or interfere with, or intercept or expropriate any system data or personal information from, the Sites, the NSI Online Short Film Festival, or NSI’s systems.

You hereby agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless NSI for any claims, demands, proceedings, suits, actions, liabilities, losses, damages and expenses (including legal fees) resulting from, in connection with, or arising out of, any claim that may arise from NSI’s use of your Film(s) or by reason of a breach of your representations, warranties and covenants.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO NEGLIGENCE, WILL NSI BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE FOLLOWING, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES: (I) THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE OUR WEBSITE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE SUBMISSION METHODS PROVIDED PURSUANT TO THESE SUBMISSION TERMS; OR (II) ANY OF ITS SELECTION OR NON-SELECTION DECISIONS, OR FOR ANY INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL COMMENTS OR COMMUNICATIONS REGARDING ANY FILM.

Privacy Information - collection, use and disclosure of personal information

NSI is a national training school for writers, producers and directors working in film and television and at present, has undertaken an event to program films for the NSI Online Short Film Festival, to assist Canadian filmmakers in exhibiting their projects.
In order to carry out this project, NSI requires the information provided by you pursuant to these Submission Terms to appropriately select films for the NSI Online Short Film Festival. All personal information provided to NSI will be handled in accordance with NSI’s privacy policy, which can found here: http://www.nsi-canada.ca/privacy-policy/. In furtherance of the foregoing, and except as otherwise set forth in such privacy policy and these Submission Terms, use and disclosure of this information will be restricted to (i) the selection, and selection procedure, of films and participants for the NSI Online Short Film Festival; and (ii) the promotion of the NSI Online Short Film Festival, the promotion of NSI, and the promotion of the NSI Online Short Film Festival participants and their projects, to the public and funders of NSI, including through the Internet and through other media sources (e.g. by exhibition, broadcast, print materials, etc.). NSI may use the personal information provided for the purpose of gathering statistics and reporting its activities to the public, its funders, government agencies and its Board of Directors.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Catharine Parke

    A great online film festival that promotes Canadian filmmakers.

    December 2019
  • Kim Saltarski

    Great festival with excellent communication!

    June 2019
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you so much Kim. We appreciate the review (and your excellent documentaries!)

  • Amanda Verhagen

    Love this festival! It carries weight to be apart of because of it's great reputation. They also have fantastic communication and are such lovely folks. Would apply with every project. Thanks for the opportunity!

    September 2018
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you so much for the great feedback Amanda.

  • Rami Katz

    Premiering my film online with the NSI Online Short Film Festival has been a great experience. Excellent communication, and a fantastic venue for the film to live online.

    December 2017
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Rami! We love your work. Grateful to have your films in our festival.

  • A great opportunity to reach a wide audience with your film.

    October 2017
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks so much Lauren!