COMPETETIVE CATEGORY

(a) Feature Films - The Feature category is for fictional films of any genre that run 60 minutes or longer including animated films. Films submitted to this category will be eligible for our Feature Competition. Note that acceptance to the festival does not guarantee inclusion in Competition.

1. a Two Awards in this category-
   1. i.  Jury Award – Best Film – Gold (INR 1,00,000 + Recognition plaque)
   2. ii. Audience Award – Best Film (Recognition plaque)

(b) Documentary Feature Films - Any nonfiction film with a running time of up to 120 minutes. If your documentary contains re-enactments or other fictionalized depictions of actual events, you may submit it to this category. Indic Film Utsav reserves the right to change your category if needed. You will not be penalized of our committee changes to your category. Note that acceptance to the festival does not guarantee inclusion in Competition.

1. a. Two Awards in this category-
   1. i. Jury Award – Best Documentary – Gold (INR 1,00,000 + Recognition plaque)
   2. ii. Audience Award – Best Documentary (Recognition plaque)

(c) Short Films - Any film with a running time of 6 minutes to 40 minutes or less, including credits. This includes scripted or improvisational fiction, experimental film or video, animation, music video, or any other short-form film or video project. Note that acceptance to the festival does not guarantee inclusion in Competition.

1. a. Three Awards in this category-
   1. i.  Jury Award – Best Short Film – Gold (INR 50,000 + Recognition plaque)
   2. ii. Jury Award – Best Short Film – Silver (INR 25,000 + Recognition plaque)
   3. iii. Audience Award – Best Short Film (Recognition plaque)

(d) Ultra-Short Films – Any film with a running time of less than 5 minutes including credits. This includes scripted or improvisational fiction, experimental film or video, animation, music video, or any other short-form film or video project. Note that acceptance to the festival does not guarantee inclusion in Competition.

1. a. Three Awards in this category-
   1. i. Jury Award – Best Ultra-Short Film – Gold (INR 20,000 + Recognition plaque)
   2. ii.  Jury Award – Best Ultra-Short Film – Silver (INR 10,000 + Recognition plaque)
   3. iii.  Audience Award – Best Ultra-Short Film (Recognition plaque)

(e) Children-themed Short Films – Any film with a running time of less than 40 minutes including credits. This includes scripted or improvisational fiction, experimental film or video, animation, music video, or any other short-form film or video project. Note that acceptance to the festival does not guarantee inclusion in Competition.

1. a. FOUR AWARDS in this category-
   1. i. Jury Award – Best Children-themed Short Film – (INR 20,000 along with a plaque)
   2. ii. Audience Award – Best Children-themed Short Film (Recognition Plaque)
   3. iii. Jury Award – Best Children-themed Ultrashort Film – (INR 10,000 along with a plaque)
   4. iv. Audience Award – Best Children-themed Ultrashort Film (Recognition Plaque)

(f) Wildlife & Conservation-themed Films – Any film with a running time of less than 30 minutes including credits. This includes wildlife films, conservation themed films with live action as well as animation. Note that acceptance to the festival does not guarantee inclusion in Competition.

1. a. TWO AWARDS in this category-
   1. i.  Jury Award – Best Wildlife & Conservation-themed Film – (INR 50,000 along with a plaque)
   2. ii. Audience Award – Best Wildlife & Conservation-themed Film (Recognition Plaque)

•  Indic Film Utsav reserves the right to add, modify and/or delete awards as deemed fit.

•  Indic Film Utsav may decide to categorize a certain film in the competitive section as a Premier. Premiers are defined as follows-

1. • World Premier (never screened anywhere in the world)
2. • International Premier (screened only in the country where the submitter is a resident)
3. • Asia Premier (never screened in Asia)
4. • India Premier (never screened anywhere in India), etc.

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

• Being categorized as a Premier does not exclude the film from the competition.

NON-COMPETITIVE CATEGORY

• Independent films produced, financed, or initiated by a major film studio or television network are ineligible for competition, but may be considered for special screenings such as Opening Night Film, Closing Night Film as well as Special Repertoires Section. Such films are not subject to any submission fees.

ENTRIES

•  Films that have been completed as of January 1st, 2018 are eligible for submission. Films, particularly shorts and ultra-shorts, already streaming on OTT/Web are eligible for submission.

• As a submitter, you are responsible for all omissions and commissions with regard to the information you are providing in the submission form.

•  The person submitting the film will be the main point of contact for all communication regarding the submission.

•  Submitter must above the age of 18 to be eligible to submit a film.

•  Submissions are welcome from filmmakers from across the world.

•  Submitter must have documented rights to the film to submit a film to Indic Film Utsav. In case submitter does not have documented rights to the film, s/he must have documented authority to submit the film on behalf of the individual who has the rights.

•  If selected, submitter must provide proof of identification such Passport (non-Indians) / Aadhaar Card (Indians only) along with address proof.

•  Indic Film Utsav reserves the right to disqualify the entry in case discrepancies are found in the information that submitter has provided in the submission form.

• Important Deadlines to be NOTED

1. • <DONE> Submission Opens on August 31^st, 2020
2. • <DONE> Early Bird Submission Deadline is September 11^th, 2020
3. • <DONE> Regular Submission Deadline is October 1^st, 2020
4. • <DONE> Wildlife Films Submission Deadline is October 19^th, 2020
5. • <DONE> Selection Confirmation Date is October 19^th, 2020
6. • <DONE>  Deadline for receiving Waivers & Collaterals is October 26^th, 2020
7. • <DONE>  Final-cut Submission Deadline is October 26^th, 2020
8. • <DONE>  Official Line-up Announcement Date is November 2nd, 2020

•  Indic Film Utsav reserves the right to change any of the dates above without reason.

•  For films directly sourced by Indica Pictures, there is no need to submit the film via Filmfreeway.

•  For films directly submitted via FilmFreeway, submitter must meet all the following criteria for a film to be submitted successfully-

1. • fill out the submission form in FilmFreeway correctly
2. • applicable submission fee is credited to FilmFreeway and
3. • film screener has reached Indic Film Utsav on time

• •  Indic Film Utsav only accepts media via online streaming location (such as YouTube, Vimeo) for screeners. Indic Film Utsav is not responsible for security of the content. All content shared with Indic Film Utsav will be destroyed/deleted once the festival is over.

•  Final-cuts submitted to Indic Film Utsav by selected filmmakers must comply with the following specifications-

1. •  Accepted formats: mp[e]g, vob, avi, mov, mp4 (m4v)
2. •  Audio: 128 Kbps, AAC, 2 channel stereo
3. • Aspect ratio preserved; maximum video height of 720 pixels up to 1920 pixels

•  Submitted films must have English sub-titles irrespective of whether the film is in English or not. Cost of sub-titling is submitter’s responsibility. This applies to both screeners as well as screener as well as the final cut version.

• Indic Film Utsav will not accept replacement of the submitted final cut media unless the original is damaged. Also, final cut media with watermarks are also not accepted.

• Features films and Documentaries submitted to Indic Film Utsav 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.

•  Indic Film Utsav 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 claim is made within 14 days from the last day of the festival.

•  Indic Film Utsav will not provide feedback on films or specific reasons for selection or rejection of any film. Indic Film Utsav also reserves the right to cancel a film that has already been selected. Also, 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 cut is submitted within the deadline for final cut submission. If selected, a final cut of the film in format must be available to the festival by the established final cut submission deadline.

• All selected films must keep the selection decision as confidential until the time of the official press announcement by Indic Film Utsav. Non-compliance to this clause will make the selection of the film liable for potential cancellation.

FILM COLLATERALS

• For only selected films, Indic Film Utsav will request the following items-

• 1. Title (Original as well as English, if any)
• 2. Language (Original / Dubbed, if applicable)
• 3.  Exact Duration (in minutes)
• 4. Screening Format, Shoot Format
• 5. Color or B&W
• 6. Year of Production
• 7. Country where produced
• 8. Name of the Director
• 9. Nationality of the Director
• 10. Producers Details
• 11. Principal Cast
• 12. Story and Screenplay Credits
• 13. Director of Photography
• 14. Editor
• 15. Music and Sound
• 16. Production Chief
• 17. Production company
• 18. Distributor company
• 19. Awards received so far
• 20. Director’s synopsis of film (200 words)
• 21. Blurb of film (50 words or less)
• 22.  Director’s biodata and filmography
• 23. 3-5 Hi-Res Stills of Film (min 300 dpi)
• 24. 1-2 Hi-Res Still of Director (min 300 dpi)

• •  Films accepted for participation at Indic Film Utsav will be screened on a DRM-enabled hosting platform and anyone from anywhere in the world can watch a film anytime of the day during the four-day period.
• • Indic Film Utsav will bring in academicians, journalists, artists and film Industry personalities who are sworn to secrecy as judges to determine the winners. Persons who are directly connected to the participating films are not eligible to be jury members. Indic Film Utsav or its representative may facilitate jury deliberations but will have no vote. Ballot process will be conducted in a strictly confidential manner.

• •  Indic Film Utsav 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.

• •  Indic Film Utsav logos and associated laurels must be prominently displayed in any film-related publicity material as well as credits for all films selected to be screened at the festival. All selected films will receive digital logo of Indic Film Utsav and winning films will receive the logo with the name of the award.

• • Indic Film Utsav 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 in accordance with the laws of India and settled under the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Hyderabad, India.

FILMMAKER DECLARATION – INDIC FILM UTSAV 2020

The submitter of the film agrees that s/he has read and accepted the rules & regulations mentioned above for participation in the Indic Film Utsav.

By submitting a film to Indic Film Utsav for festival screening consideration, the submitter represents that s/he has obtained consent from any and all owners, creators, writers, producers, and/or other authorized representatives of the film whose consent is required to submit the film to Indic Film Utsav and screen the film at Indic Film Utsav, and has read, understood, and agreed to the rules and regulations provided above.

Indic Film Utsav is an online festival and films will be shown online using advanced DRM-technology hosting as an option. The submitter agrees not to hold Indic Film Utsav responsible against any possible liability / infringement resulting from the content of the submitted film.

Indica Pictures does not provide any guarantees whatsoever regarding protection of your film from piracy. You are submitting the film at your own risk and shall absolve Indica Pictures from any damages whatsoever resulting from such piracy.

It is the sole responsibility of the submitter to clear all the content of the film from any and all actual or potential legal claims and issues, including, without limitation, claims based upon theories of libel, defamation, invasion of privacy, violation of rights of publicity, theft of trade secrets, breach of confidence, breach of confidential relationship, and breach of express or implied contract (Third Party Claims). Indic Film Utsav expressly disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any unauthorized inclusion of any content or materials within or relating to the submitted film that are or may be the basis for any Third-Party Claims based upon any of the foregoing legal theories or others. Indic Film Utsav reserves the right to disqualify, without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected from the submitter, any film that is or may become the subject of any Third-Party Claims. In the event that any Third-Party Claim(s) shall be asserted by any person or entity, submitter shall fully indemnify and defend Indic Film Utsav, and each of their representatives and affiliates from any liability in connection therewith and from any and all fees and expenses, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees, that each of any of them may incur in connection therewith.

The submitter will be the main point of contact for all future communications regarding this entry in the festival.

If you have any queries, please contact us at namaste@indicapictures.com. For more information regarding Indica Pictures as well as Indic Film Utsav, visit www.indicapictures.com