INDICA Dallas Film Utsav & INDICA Heritage Film Utsav

The guidelines below are applicable to both festivals-

Center for Indic Films assumes that you have read the rules and regulations below.

GENERAL
Each year, Center for Indic Films will select a lineup of feature films, documentaries, and short films to be showcased at the festival.
Our Programming Team will determine which film is eligible for which festival. In exceptional cases, a film may be screened at bot festivals.
All submissions must have subject matter that pertains to or has reference to Indic culture.
Films that are disrespectful or insulting to any religion, caste, creed, gender, culture, or region will not be accepted or considered.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
• Films that are completed after January 1, 2025, are eligible.
• Foreign language films that have an Indic subject are also eligible.
• Films must have stories that inspire, uplift, challenge, and captivate audiences.
• Films that are disrespectful or insulting to any religion, caste, creed, gender, culture, or region will not be accepted.
• Films must carry a positive message to be eligible to participate in the festival.

PREMIER SCREENINGS
• Center for Indic Films may decide to categorize a certain film as a Premier (with the permission of the filmmaker), such as-
o World Premier (never screened anywhere in the world)
o International Premier (screened only in the country where the submitter is a resident)
o North America Premier (never screened in North America)
o US Premier (never screened in USA)
o Dallas Premier (never screened in Dallas)

• Such films must also never be screened anywhere online or released as videotape/disk/VOD. Private screenings to cast and crew, producers, distributors, and family members are exempt from this rule.

ENTRY GUIDELINES
• Films that have been completed after January 1, 2025, are eligible for submission.
• As a submitter, you are responsible for all omissions and commissions about the information you provide in the submission form.
• The person submitting the film will be the main point of contact for all communication regarding the submission.
• The submitter must be over 18 to be eligible to submit a film.
• Submissions are welcome from filmmakers from across the world.
• Films produced, financed, or initiated by a major film studio or television network are ineligible for competition but may be considered for special screening, under the non-competitive section.
• The submitter must have documented rights to the film to submit a film to our film festivals. In case the submitter does not have documented rights to the film, she/he must have documented authority to submit the film on behalf of the individual who has the rights.
• Center for Indic Films reserves the right to disqualify the entry in case discrepancies are found in the information the submitter has provided in the submission form.
The submitter, if requested, must provide proof of identification in addition to address proof.
• Submission of entries during the Early Bird period requires no submission fee. A non-refundable submission fee applies to all entries submitted after the Early Bird Deadline.

SUBMISSION FEE
• May 18. 2026 to June 1, 2026 - Early Bird Deadline – NO FEES. FREE SUBMISSION.
• June 2, 2026 to July 4, 2026 - Regular Deadline (a) Features @ Rs.1,000 or equivalent in any other currency and (b) Shorts and Documentaries @ Rs.500 or equivalent in any other currency
• Payment can be made only through the FilmFreeway website.

SUBMISSION DEADLINES
• Submission Opens on May 18th, 2026
• Early Bird Submission Deadline is June 1st, 2026
• Regular Submission Deadline is July 4th, 2026

SELECTION CONFIRMATION NOTICE DEADLINES

INDICA DALLAS FILM UTSAV
• Selection Confirmation Date to Filmmaker is October 6th, 2026
• Official Line-up Announcement Date is October 12, 2026
• Festival Dates are November 13 –15, 2026
Center for Indic Films reserves the right to change any of the dates above without reason.

INDICA HERITAGE FILM UTSAV
• Selection Confirmation Date to Filmmaker is February 5, 2027
• Official Line-up Announcement Date is March 1, 2027
• Festival Dates are March 11 - 14, 2027
Center for Indic Films reserves the right to change any of the dates above without reason.

For Center for Indic Films to consider that a film has been submitted successfully, the submitter must meet all the following criteria-
• fill out the submission form in FilmFreeway correctly
• post Early Bird period, the submission fee is credited to the Center for Indic Films account and
• film screener has reached us on time

TECHNICAL
Films submitted to Indic Film Utsav must comply with the following specifications-
• File Size: Up to 2GB (This is the maximum, anything bigger will be automatically rejected)
File Format: MP4 with codecs: H.264 video with Stereo AAC
• Resolution- HD 1280x720 (720p, 16:9 aspect) or 1920x1080 (1080p, 16x9 aspect ratio)

LANGUAGE
• Submitted films must have English subtitles irrespective of whether the film is in English or not. The cost of subtitling is the submitter responsibility. This applies to both screeners and screeners and the final cut version.

FILM COLLATERAL
For all selected films, Indic Film Utsav will request the following items-
• Title (Original as well as English)
• Language (Original as well as dubbed, if applicable)
• Exact duration in minutes
• Screening Format, Shoot Format
• Color or B&W
• Year of production
• Country in which produced
• Name of the Director
• Nationality of the Director
• Producer’s Details
• Principal Cast
• Story and Screenplay Credits
• Director of Photography
• Editor
• Music and Sound
• Production Chief
• Production Company
• Distributor’s Company
• Awards received so far
• Director’s synopsis of film (not exceeding 250 words)
• Blurb of film (50 words or less)
• Director’s CV and filmography
• 3-5 High-Resolution Stills (minimum 300 dpi) of the film
• 1-2 High-Resolution Stills (minimum 300 dpi) of the director
• 1-3 High-Resolution Stills (minimum 300 dpi) of the poster

JURY
• Center for Indic Films will bring in academicians, journalists, artists, and film Industry personalities who are sworn to secrecy as judges to determine the winners.
- To the extend possible, separate jury boards will be constituted for each of the two festivals.
• Those who are directly connected to the participating films are not eligible to be jury members. Center for Indic Films or its representative may facilitate jury deliberations but will have no vote.
• The ballot process will be conducted in a strictly confidential manner.

OTHERS
• Center for Indic Films will not accept replacement of the submitted media unless the original is damaged. Also, media with watermarks are also not accepted.
• Films submitted to Center for Indic Films do not require a censor certificate. In case a film already has a certification, only the certified version will be considered for screening. For films without certification, the submitter must secure exemptions from regulatory organizations as needed. Films that do not have such exemptions will not be screened.
• Center for Indic Films will be responsible for storage costs and insurance of the submitted film media for the period of the festival, with liability limited to replacement cost of media only, provided the claim is made within 14 days from the last day of the festival.
• Center for Indic Films will not provide feedback on films or specific reasons for selection or rejection of any film. It reserves the right to cancel a film that has already been selected and requests for private screenings to festival staff will not be entertained.
• Films that are work-in-progress are accepted on the condition that the final version is submitted within the deadline for final version submission. If selected, a final version of the film must be available to the festival by the established final cut submission deadline.
• Center for Indic Films explicitly disclaims any liability or responsibility for any comments, notes, or opinions expressed about a submission, whether by the festival staff or by its volunteers.
• Center for Indic Films logos and associated laurels must be prominently displayed in any film-related publicity material and credits for all films selected to be screened at the festival. All selected films will receive the digital laurel of the respective festival in which the film has been screened.
• All selected films must keep the selection decision as confidential till the time of the official press announcement by Center for Indic Films. Non-compliance to this clause will make the selection of the film liable for potential cancellation.

Center for Indic Films reserves the right to resolve all cases not covered by these guidelines through mutual arbitration. All legal issues will be governed by and construed in all respects by India’s laws and settled under the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Hyderabad, India.

For more information regarding Center for Indic Films (formerly Indica Pictures), Indica Dallas Film Utsav and Indica Heritage Film Utsav, visit https://cif.indica.in or email namaste@indicapictures.com.