Sicilia Queer filmfest

SICILIA QUEER FILMFEST 2024
PALERMO MAY 25th – 31st 2024
PARTICIPATION RULES
PREMISE
1. ORGANIZERS
The cultural association Sicilia Queer organises the Sicilia Queer filmfest. Independent festival, it has been supported for some years by the MIC - Directorate General for Cinema; by the Regione Siciliana, Department of Tourism Sport and Show Business – Sicilia Film Commission; by the City of Palermo, Department of Culture. Along with them, it receives further support by some associations and private sponsors.
2. AIMS
The Sicilia Queer filmfest – International New Visions Festival is a project whose aim is to promote the cinematographic culture and the fight against social discrimination, and to protect and sustain the culture of diversity through the promotion of non-compliant movies, exploring horizons in search of a new perspective towards the cinema of the future. The festival intends to promote young actors, emerging and independent cinematography, new forms of expression connected to the experimentation and innovation of traditional and non-traditional languages.

3. DATE AND DURATION
The thirteenth edition of the Sicilia Queer filmfest will be held from May 25th to 31st, 2024, for a total duration of seven days.

4. PROGRAM
In addition to various non-competitive sections, the festival presents two different competitive sections:
• Queer Short: International Shorts Competition. Competitive section for works related to queer issues in a broad sense. Any genre is permitted (fiction, documentary, animation, music video, experimental films) except for commercials and TV jingles and titles.

• New Visions: International Fiction Feature Films and Documentary Competition. Competitive section for debut films and second films, for debuting directors or for films considered as innovative under other points of view, not necessarily related to queer issues.

5. INTERNATIONAL QUEER SHORT COMPETITION SUBSCRIPTION

a) A 10€ (ten euros/00) entry fee is applicable to submitted films until the 20th December, 15€ (fifteen euros/00) from 21st of December to 5th of February, 20€ (twenty euros/00) from 6th of February to 28th of February 2024.
b) The selection will be the sole decision of the direction of the festival.
c) Only short films relatable to queer issues in a broad sense, completed after January 1st, 2022 are eligible for the competition. The running time must not exceed 25’ of total duration. The direction of the festival reserves the right to admit, in exceptional cases, works that exceed the running time indicated above.
d) All films should be entered online through the official entry form which can be filled online on FilmFreeway.
e) Filmmakers willing to enter the competition must send a DVD or a streaming link or upload a file following the directions in the entry form on FilmFreeway, not later than March 30th 2024.
f) If not with Italian dialogues, all preview copies should be subtitled in Italian, English or French. An Italian, English or French dialogue list should be sent along with the DVD/link. All selected films must be subtitled in English.
g) The direction of the festival will elect an international jury made up of at least three members designated to award the prize for best picture.
h) During the festival, an Audience award supported by a sponsor of the festival may be established.
i) In case you’re not able to provide us with a digital preview copy please send your DVD (the date of the postmark will be considered authentic) to the following address:

SICILIA QUEER FILMFEST
c/o SUDTITLES srl
Via Catania, 73
90138 – Palermo
ITALY

6. NEW VISIONS AWARD INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION SUBSCRIPTION

a) A 20€ (twenty euros/00) entry fee is applicable to submitted films until the 20th December, 25€ (twentyfive euros/00) from 21st of December to 5th of February, 30€ (thirty euros/00) from 6th of February to 28th of February 2024.
b) The selection will be the sole decision of the direction of the festival.
c) Only fiction feature films and documentaries completed after January 1st, 2022 are eligible.
d) All films should be entered online through the official entry form which can be filled online on FilmFreeway.
e) Filmmakers willing to enter the competition must send a DVD or a streaming link or upload a file following the directions in the entry form on FilmFreeway not later than March 30th 2024.
f) If not with Italian dialogues, all preview copies should be subtitled in Italian, English or French. An Italian, English or French dialogue list should be sent along with the DVD/link. All selected Italian films must be subtitled in English.
g) The direction of the festival will elect an international jury made up of at least three members designated to award the prize for best picture.
h) During the festival, an Audience award supported by a sponsor of the festival may be established.
i) In case you’re not able to provide us with a digital preview copy please send your DVD (the date of the postmark will be considered authentic) to the following address:

SICILIA QUEER FILMFEST
c/o SUDTITLES srl
Via Catania, 73
90141 – Palermo
ITALY

7. SELECTED FILMS AND SHIPPING OF PRINTS

a) The Scheduling Office will be in charge of requesting a complete documentation. All selected filmmakers will receive a list of the required materials only. These materials will be used in Festival publications and for distribution to the press and Festival guests.
b) The requested materials should be sent/submitted as soon as possible upon acceptance of the invitation, but no later than one week after the selection communication.
c) The shipping costs of all the materials for the selection are at applicant’s expense. The materials of non-selected films will not be returned, and the copyright owners commit to authorize the festival offices to store them in the archive of the Sicilia Queer filmfest for the exclusive use of study, cataloguing and recommendation to other festivals. The archive will be available for free consultation.

8. FILM SCREENING

a) The screening schedule will be the sole decision of the Direction of the festival.
b) The screening format must necessarily be sent in PAL version.
c) All films in foreign language, if not provided with Italian subtitles, will be screened in their original version with Italian electronic subtitles provided by the festival.
d) The Direction of the festival will be in charge of the publication of a general catalogue of the selected films.

9. AWARDS

a) All the awards are assigned to the directors of the winning works. The competitive sections of the festival will have the following awards:

• International New Visions Award: International Fiction Feature Films and Documentaries Competition. The award, followed by the related motivations, will be assigned by an international jury of at least three members selected by the Direction of the festival. The final, incontestable judgement of the jury will assign a prize of 1,000.00€ (one thousand euros/00) to the best feature film.

• Queer Short Award – International New Visions Competition: The award, followed by the related motivations, will be assigned by a jury of at least three members selected by the Direction of the festival. The final, incontestable judgement of the jury will assign a prize of 500.00€ (five hundred euros/00) to the best short film.

b) The producers and distributors, as well as the purchase and sales personnel commit to show on the film promotional material (poster, trailer, website…) the mention of the received award of the festival. The official logo of the awards will be provided by the festival and must not be altered in any way without the authorization of the festival.
c) The winners will be invited to release a copy of the awarded film (free of charge) for further screenings aimed to the diffusion of the awarded works in the weeks following the festival.

10. GENERAL RULES

a) The screening copies of the selected works must be sent before April 30th, 2024 (in case of international shipping), and before May 5th, 2024 (in case of domestic shipping).
b) Unless differently agreed, the screening copies of selected films coming from non EU countries must be sent via express courier. Please write on the outside of the package: “No commercial value. For cultural purposes only”. The festival will not accept the shipping of films burdened by customs fees at festival expense.
c) Filmmakers and/or producers are responsible for the content of their works and by entering the competition they automatically acknowledge that they have fulfilled any obligations towards third parties, including royalties and copyright.
d) The selected films, whose availability has already been confirmed by the right holders, cannot be later withdrawn from the festival for any reason. Should the filmmaker or the producers decide to withdraw a selected film already included in the festival schedule, they will be required to pay the sum of 2,000.00€ (two thousand euros/00) as a compensation for the damages.
e) The application to the SICILIA QUEER filmfest implies the unconditional acceptance of every part of the present regulations.
f) The Direction of SICILIA QUEER filmfest can take decisions on issues which are not listed above. In case of any controversy, the place of jurisdiction is the Court of Palermo. Please note that, in any case of dispute, only the Italian version of these regulations is legally valid.

The Direction of the Sicilia Queer