The Kitale Film Week is an 8-day film festival that aims to position film as a strategic factor for sustainable development in Trans Nzoia. The festival organisers include a mixture of young men and women mostly born and bred in Kitale, some of whom have worked at the top of the film industry in Kenya and abroad. The main reason for this is the need for knowledge transfer from the higher to the mid and low cadre of filmmaking in the region and even across the border.

After a successful first edition in February 2023, we are now working to present the second edition in February 2024.

The main events in the festival include film screenings which have been integrated with conversations on filmmaking and some key community issues and are moderated by local filmmakers, media personalities and students from Kitale; school film events geared towards developing filmmakers and film critics from primary and secondary school level; filmmaking workshops with top industry professionals seeking to develop socially engaged filmmakers locally; and an ambitious short film fund which the festival hopes can help two projects by upcoming local talent to get produced in Trans Nzoia.

The film week also involves a competition for top awards open to Kenyan and Ugandan filmmakers, to enhance artistic collaboration between western Kenya and Kampala. Future plans include extending the festival to South Sudan filmmakers, further integrating community development issues in the film spaces, and a push to get Kitale to become a UNESCO creative city for film.

The Kitale Film Week is also positioning itself to be a premier tourism attraction in the coming years, to spur a ripple effect on the growth of other local industries.

WEBSITE: KITALEFILMWEEK.ORG

The Kitale Film Week will present awards for the following categories:
• Best Film
• Best Documentary
• Best Short Film
• Best Screenplay
• Best Cinematography
• Best Student Film
• Best Editing
• Audience Choice Award

The competition is open to films from Kenya and Uganda only. We
hope to create an industry environment for Kenyan and Ugandan films
which will spur growth, partnership and a film culture between the two
countries.

RULES & REGULATIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF FILMS

The following are the rules and regulations (“Rules and Regulations”) governing the submission of a film (hereafter called the “Film”) to The Kitale Film Week (hereafter called “KF” or “The Festival”) for consideration.

By agreeing to the Terms and Conditions below, the person submitting the Film (hereafter called the “Applicant”) acknowledges that he or she has obtained consent from any and all owners, creators, writers, Producers and/or other authorized representatives of the Film (hereafter called the “Film’s Owners”) whose consent is required to submit the Film to The Festival, and has read and understood the submission rules and regulations as follows:

1. If the Film’s final running time is projected to be more than 40 minutes, including all rolling credits, the Film may only be submitted as a Narrative or Documentary Feature Film.

2. If the Film’s final running time is projected to be less than 40 minutes, including all rolling credits, the Film may only be submitted as a Narrative or Documentary Short Film.

3. A Narrative and Documentary Feature and Short Films that have been or will be exhibited publicly in their current form, broadcast or streamed on television or the Internet, or released via any home video or other public distribution platform (Blu-ray, DVD, video on demand, etc.) before January 31 of the fourth year before festival year are not eligible for submission to The Festival. For example, Kitale Film Week 2024 is only open to films released after January 31st 2020.

4. KF shall not be held liable, at any given time of copyright infringements of any kind by a submitted Film. It is the Applicant’s sole responsibility to secure authorization and permission from the copyright owner(s) of any and all copyrighted content or materials included within all submitted Film(s). KF may disqualify submissions that are found to be in violation of copyright infringements. KF will not be liable of unknown infringements that may be asserted by third parties. In the event that any claim, dispute, action or proceeding shall be brought on by any person or entity that alleges that the Film makes unauthorized or unlawful use of any copyrighted content or material, Applicant shall fully indemnify KF, and each of their representatives and affiliates from any liability. Any fees and expenses, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees, that may be incurred will not be the responsibility of KF or The Festival.

5. Legal claims that may be made to any film(s) must be cleared before submitting to The Festival.

6. Applicants submitting Films that contain non-English dialogue, with the exception of films with predominantly Kiswahili dialogue, must provide on-screen English subtitles. KF reserves the right to disqualify any Film that contains significant non-English spoken dialogue that does not include accompanying on-screen English subtitles.

7. All Feature Films (60-90 minutes long) must be submitted to The Festival in the accepted formats, on a single disc (DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL, or Blu-ray) or uploaded electronically (FilmFreeway, Vimeo, YouTube). KF reserves the right to disqualify any feature-length Film that is not submitted using one of the accepted formats. If more than one film is submitted, each film must have its own medium. Single media with more than one film will not qualify for consideration for The Festival.

8. All Short Films must be submitted to The Festival in the accepted formats (or media), on a single disc (DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL, or Blu- ray) or uploaded electronically (FilmFreeway, Vimeo, YouTube). KF reserves the right to disqualify, without refund of submission fees, any Short Film that is not submitted using one of the accepted formats. If more than one film is submitted, each film must have its own medium. Single media with more than one film will not qualify for consideration for The Festival.

9. All media submitted by a single Applicant must bear only a single Applicant’s name. KF reserves the right to disqualify, films by a single Applicant under more than one alias.

10. It is the Applicant’s responsibility to ensure the viability of media submitted to The Festival. In the event that The Festival is unable to play submitted media, The Festival shall attempt to contact the Applicant for another copy using the provided contact information on the application. KF however, is under no obligation to contact an Applicant in the case of unusable media. KF reserves the right to disqualify submissions with unusable media.

11. It is the Applicant’s responsibility to ensure the safe arrival of submitted media at The Festival Director’s office by posted deadlines. KF is under no obligation to consider submissions after posted deadlines.

12. It is the Applicant’s responsibility to ensure that their film is classified and rated safe for public exhibition in Kenya by the Kenya Film Classification Board, whose website can be found at https://kfcb.go.ke/ . Only films that have been certified for public exhibition in Kenya will be screened.

12. All Applicants must complete a submission form.

13. Films submitted after posted deadlines will not be eligible for the current festival year. Such film(s) may be considered for the subsequent festival year.

14. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to update their contact information in the event the Applicant must be contacted. Changes to contact information can be made using KF contact form or email at kitalefilmweek@gmail.com . KF will attempt to contact Applicants with the decision affecting their submission. KF will not be held liable failure to contact an Applicant based on incorrect contact information.

15. Each submitted film will be reviewed by an expert panel of judges. Members of KF board is under no obligation provide feedback on a film’s review, comments, selections, the process by which a film may be reviewed, why a particular film is or isn’t selected, the identities of reviewers. KF will not be held liable for comments of open reviews or comments on any particular film.

16. Films that have been submitted, and/or selected shall not be withdrawn from the festival.

17. Invited films may be shown in the Festival’s theatres/venues until the Festival has officially closed.

18. If the Applicant remits an updated version of the Film to the Festival after having submitted a previous version of the Film to the Festival during the same calendar year, the Festival is under no obligation to view any or all of the updated version.

19. The Festival is not liable for any lodging, transportation or travel expenses during the Festival period.

20. If a nominated film has no confirmed representative, the Festival can assign one for the film in question. The Festival is under no obligation to assign a representative to a nominated film who is absent at the Awards Ceremony.

21. In the case(s) of absence of representation for a nominated film that has won, the Festival is under no obligation to pay the shipping fees. That obligation falls upon to the film’s respective producer(s) and/or submitter(s).

22. Once the winners are announced, the producers or submitters of the winning film must provide the addresses of the winners within 30 days. Failure to transmit this information within the prescribed time results in no obligation whatsoever for the Festival to still be liable to send out the trophies/certificates or for any other type of obligation arising forthwith.

23. Films selected to be part of the Official Selection agree to use the "Official Selection" logo of the Kitale Film Week in all their publicity, including their DVD jackets or printouts, as well as in their credits. By participating in the Festival, the award winners and distribution companies agree to the Kitale Film Week name or logo, as well as the award they received, in all their promotions and advertisements (posters, ads, etc.), and the Applicants agree to allow the Kitale Film Week to use clips or images from the selected film as advertisement or publicity.

24. Submitting a film does not mean that it will automatically be selected for participation in the Kitale Film Week. Only those films selected by the Festival Association will be screened, nominated or win.

FESTIVAL COMPETITION CATEGORIES AND TYPES OF FILM
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

KF will reserve the right to determine eligibility and category in which a submitted film would fit into. Below are the selection criteria and descriptions of some of the film categories for KF.

SELECTION CRITERIA
• Films made by Independent African filmmakers from Kenya and/or Uganda i.e the lead producer or director are from Kenya or Uganda
• Films that address issues relating to the experience of living in Africa

NARRATIVE FEATURE/BEST FILM
A work of fiction, fictionalized story or events with running time of 60-90 minutes. Body of work is scripted or improvised, can be inspired by true events. Story of events are portrayed as real. A narrative feature can be a drama, horror, cultural, comedy, romantic, musical etc.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE/BEST DOCUMENTARY
A work of non-fiction with running time of 60-90 minutes, intended to document, or expose an aspect of reality, provide instruction, send a message or teach a part of history. Body of work is real life and not scripted or improvised.

NARRATIVE SHORT/BEST SHORT
A work of fiction, fictionalized story or events with running time of 20 minutes or less. Body of work is scripted or improvised, can be inspired by true events. Story of events are portrayed as real. A narrative feature can be a drama, horror, cultural, comedy, romantic, musical etc.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT/BEST SHORT
A work of non-fiction with running time 20 minutes or less, intended to document, or expose an aspect of reality, provide instruction, send a message or teach a part of history. Body of work is real life and not scripted or improvised.

CINEMATOGRAPHY/BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Best interpretation of a story and a director’s vision in a motion picture. The best use of the technical elements (lighting, camera movement, composition, etc) to convey the tone and emotions of a film.

BEST SCREENPLAY
The category is open but not limited to feature drama scripts in genres such as historical, western, family, romance, horror, thriller, etc. Scripts must be the original work of the applicant(s). If based upon another person’s life or upon a book or other underlying work, applicant(s) must secure any necessary rights to make such adaptations. However, it is not necessary to submit the adaptation or rights agreements to the Festival. Neither the Festival nor its jurists investigate or attests to the authenticity of an applicant’s statement of authorship or rights secured. By entering the competition, you are acknowledging that you have secured all necessary rights.

AUDIENCE CHOICE
KF is created for the people. This coveted award will go to the best film chosen by the general public. Film can be from any of the above-mentioned categories.

BEST EDITING
Only the principal editor(s) as listed in the film's credits are named on the award; additional editors, supervising editors, etc. are not generally eligible.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Beatrice Mutegi

    Great festival, great communication, great venues, great team!

    March 2024
  • dantez mwendwa

    Though I did not attend I felt like I was there. their communication was timely and effective.

    March 2024
  • Thitu Muiruri

    This is a great festival that's giving many local and non-local filmmakers an opportunity to showcase their work and network.

    February 2024
  • The Kitale Film Week is a refreshing and wholesome experience. It's a chance to interact with other filmmakers in the region!

    October 2023
  • OVERTEA PRODUCTION

    Good experience and it was a new in Kitale.

    September 2023