Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.SAIFF) is devoted to a greater appreciation of South Asian cinema and culture by showcasing films, supporting emerging filmmakers, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the South Asian diaspora.

Singapore, being the gateway of Asia, only enhances the potential of the festival to emerge as the melting pot of diverse cultures using cinema as a medium. The festival will be held from August 30th to September 7th, 2019 at various venues.

Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.Saiff) showcases a combination of feature films, short films and documentaries under two sections - Competition (wherein titles from South Asia will compete for an award) and Non-Competition (Showcase) (wherein the best of South East Asian cinema will be screened).

Additionally, the festival will also offer a unique opportunity for filmmakers to market their films in the section ''South Asian Film Market'' that will be held from August 31st to September 1st, 2019. It also offers an opportunity to learn about acting, film making and screenwriting along with knowledge sessions like panel discussions, master classes and other business networking sessions. The festival will conclude with a cultural program including some exciting stage performances, awards and music.

The festival serves as a unique opportunity for a cultural interaction between two major geographical regions- South Asia and Singapore.

Best Feature Film
Best Actor Male
Best Actor Female
Best Director
Best Story/Screenplay
Best Cinematographer
Best Editor
Jury Award

1. Eligibility

a. Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.SAIFF) will be held from 25th September to 3rd October, 2020 in the city of Singapore.
b. The films produced after August, 2019 are eligible for all sections.
c. Films that are from the South Asia (Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) adjoining countries Malaysia, Myanmar and host country Singapore are eligible for submission. It is mandatory that the filmmaker has to be of a South Asian origin or the film should have substantial South Asian content. This will be decided at the sole discretion of the Programming team.
d.Festival accepts feature length films of a minimum duration of 60 minutes in all its sections, except for Short Film section.
e. Festival accepts only DCP (JPEG 2K) as screening format. Other formats will be considered on special request, depending on projection facilities available and at the discretion of the Festival Director.
f. Remakes and dubbed language versions of a film are not eligible. All films must be submitted in their original language, with English subtitles.
g. The films with World Premiere, International Premiere or Asian Premiere status will be given preference, and in this same order. Sg.SAIFF screens only Singapore premiers in all its sections, excepting retrospectives and homages.
h. The film should not have been exhibited on any Online-viewing platform in Singapore.
i. A completed submission consists of a correctly filled online submission form along with the film screener reaching the festival office and realisation of payment of fees.

2. Awards
An international jury will award the following awards for this competition –
a. Best Film - trophy & certificate to the Producer and Director
b. Best Director - trophy & certificate to the director
c. Best Actor Male - trophy & certificate to the actor (Male)
d. Best Actor Female - trophy & certificate to the actor (Female)
e. Best Screenplay – Trophy and Certificate for the screenplay writer
f. Best Cinematography – Trophy and Certificate for the Cinematographer
g. Jury Award – Trophy and Certificate for any department/skill in film making not covered in the above awards.

3. Jury
a. The festival appoints a Jury consisting of renowned personalities from the world of film and arts to recommend films for awards in International Competition section. Any person who has participated in the production or promotion of any film selected for the Competition may not serve on the Jury.
b. The Festival Director or his/her representative may attend jury deliberations but will NOT take part in the jury deliberations and voting. Jury members are sworn to secrecy. Jury discussions and ballots remain strictly confidential even after the Festival has ended.
c. The decisions of the Jury will be final and binding on all.
d. The Jury has the right to withhold an award in any category where no entries, in the Jury’s view, meet its standards for award / recognition.
e. The jury can evolve its own rules for assessment of the entries for awards.
f. No person in any way connected with the production or commercial exploitation of a competitive entry will be a member of the jury.
g. All members of the jury will refrain from releasing any articles or reviews to the press concerning the film submitted for their judgment until after jury’s decisions have been formally announced at the closing function.

4. Short Film section
a. Films of a maximum duration of 30 minutes are eligible.
b. Films selected for this short film competition MUST be available on BluRay or Prores 444/442 mov files (Prores 444/422 MOV files with 5.1 Audio Embedded, Stereo and Mono would be automatically considered. The resolution of the MOV should not be less than 1920 X 1080 @ 24fps.)

5. Showcase section
a. Contemporary films produced in South Asian countries after August, 2019 are eligible for this non-competitive section.
b. Films of a minimum duration of 60 minutes are eligible.

6. Special Sections, Homages and Retrospectives
For Special Sections, selection will be made by festival programming team under guidance of Festival Director.

7. Selection procedure
Sg.SAIFF’s programming team, headed by the festival director, is responsible for selecting and inviting films to take part in the Sg.SAIFF.
a. The entry form for submission of the films is available on our website:
b. The online film entry form shall be filled in with all the requisite details by the applicant who is either the producer of the film or the person authorized by the producer of the film.
c. The deadline for Early Bird entries as well as sending the preview links is 30st April, 2020.
d. Deadline for Regular Entries as well as sending the preview links is 31st May, 2020.
e. Deadline for Late Entries as well as sending the preview links is 15th June, 2020.
f. The Director, at his discretion, may consider exceptions to the deadlines.
g. Applicant shall submit a secure online preview link of the film along with the entry form. This online link must be active till the end of festival.

8. Entry Fee

Feature Films
a. Early Bird Entry Fee: 25 USD
b. Regular Entry Fee: 30 USD
c. Late Deadline Fee: 35 USD

As a special case to promote Short Films, the Festival will not charge entry fee for Short Films.

Entry form submissions will be considered complete and ready for selection process only on confirmation of entry fee payment.


9. Instructions For Selected Films
a. The applicant must submit film information immediately, including synopsis of the film, biography and complete filmography of the director and of the leading actors, a selection of high resolution stills from the film, the poster design in a high resolution format, a recent photograph of the director, and a full list of artistic and technical credits, etc.. This information should be sent to festival office by email to……...
b. The applicant must submit DCP of the film with English subtitles to Festival office for Censorship purpose immediately on selection of films for the festival. All the films selected for screening in the festival, require a certification from the Infocom Media Development Authority (IMDA), Singapore. Films will be screened subject to censorship clearance from IMDA. The guidelines can be found here [click here] Even if a film already has a certification from their country, the film still needs to be certified by the Infocom Media Development Authority (IMDA) for screening in Singapore.
c. All correspondence regarding sending media through courier/postal invoice must indicate: ‘For Singapore South Asian International Film Festival selection purposes/cultural purpose only.’
d. Films selected for Sg.SAIFF cannot be withdrawn from the Festival programme after its announcement.
e. The applicant shall provide 2 or 3 AV promos / trailers of their film, of maximum 2 minutes of duration through downloadable online link for promotion of the film.
f. The official Festival logo laurel of Sg.SAIFF must be included in all promotional and publicity material of the film and displayed prominently. The Festival provides suitable logos and laurels to selected films.

10. Festival Programme
a. The selection of films for screening in various sections of the Sg.SAIFF is at the discretion of the festival director. His decision on selection of films in festival programme is final and irrevocable.
b. Each film may be screened a maximum of 2 times. The applicant / producer of each film will be intimated about their screening schedule when it is ready.
c. Films will be screened in DCP projection (JPEG 2K) or any other digital format agreed upon by the festival programming team and the producer / applicant of the film.

11. Film Screening Material and Selection Screeners
a. The screening material provided to the Festival i.e. DCPs / hard disks or Blu-Ray discs or tapes will be returned by the Festival as per the instructions by film’s applicant / producer of the film.
b. Festival bears the shipping / courier charges for this screening material.
c. The applicant / producer agrees to make available replacement of screening material DCP / hard disk / tape immediately, if it has difficulty in playing / screening.

12. Obligations of applicants / producers of the films
a. Participation in the festival implies adherence to the regulations as here set out.
b. It is the responsibility of producers / applicants / distributors or other organizations submitting films to ensure that they are legitimately entitled to enter the film in Festival.
c. For promotion of the films on TV, the applicant should provide links to download trailer / promo files of the film.
d. For the films selected for screening in Sg.SAIFF, the official festival logo MUST be included in all promotional and publicity material of the film in a prominent place. Requests for suitable festival logo can be sent by email to …...
e. The festival director has the right to settle all cases unforeseen in these regulations of participation, as well as to permit exceptions from the regulations in special, well-founded cases.

13. Obligations of the Festival
a. If there is any damage to or loss of the screening material of the film sent for screening in the festival, the festival is responsible only for the cost involved in restoration or repair of the damaged DCP / hard disk / tape or making a new DCP / hard disk / tape of damaged portion of the film according to the current laboratory rates for ordering a standard screening copy.
b. Responsibility of festival for damage to or loss of a DCP / hard disk / tape is applicable ONLY while it is in Festival’s custody.
c. Any claims for damage or loss of print, lodged by the lender of the copy must be communicated to the Festival at the very latest, within 15 days of return of the print to the lender.

The festival director reserves the right to settle all cases not covered by the guidelines and to grant exceptions in special cases.

Festival Authorities reserve the right to accept or not to accept any films on any ground including the likelihood of the film offending the feelings of any state, religion, country or on the grounds such as racism and religion.

By submitting their film to Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.SAIFF), the filmmaker/producer/submitter takes the whole responsibility of copyright issues of music, script and other creative and technical aspects of the film.

He/She accepts the responsibility for the accuracy of the information supplied and authorizes Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.SAIFF) to reproduce and use personal/company’s contact information as supplied.

The applicant/submitter assures and confirms that he/she has the requisite authority or has obtained the requisite authority from the producer/right holder/concerned authorities to enter, screen and publicise the film in Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.SAIFF) and make available the print for screening.

Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.SAIFF) is not responsible/ answerable to any copyright/legal issues regarding submitted film.

Festival office:
Contact Details:
Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.SAIFF)
15 Enggor Street,
10-01 Realty Centre,
Singapore 079716

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Syahrul Musa

    Excellent hospitality and well organised. One of the great film festival in Asia. Looking forward for next edition.

    December 2018
  • Excellent and the best festival for South Asian filmmakers.

    October 2018