Indic Film Utsav 2021 More Details

Indica Pictures is delighted to announce November 11th – 14th, 2021 as the dates for the 2nd EDITION OF INDIC FILM UTSAV. Indica Pictures believes in the timelessness of cinema as an art form with the power to seed, nurture and nourish the pluralistic civilizational values of India. In 2020, its very first year Indic Film Utsav programmed a slate of 85 features, documentaries, shorts, ultra-shorts and wildlife films. The 4-day 24/7 event received over 20,000 registrations from all over the world. Please visit https://indicfilmutsav.indica.pictures to browse brief details of the films we screened last year – so that you can see why we are the epicenter for Indic cinema.

Indic Film Utsav is now OPEN and accepting submissions from filmmakers. Filmmakers can take advantage of Early Bird deadline to submit films without submission fee. Winning entries in a variety of categories will be awarded PRIZE MONEY along with laurels. Indic Film Utsav has chosen FilmFreeway as the platform for filmmakers to submit their films.

Indic Film Utsav will select a lineup of feature films, documentaries, short films, micro-shorts, and episodic pilots to be showcased at the Festival under both competitive as well as non-competitive categories. While filmmakers can be of any nationality and live anywhere in the world, submissions must have a subject matter that, generally speaking pertains to India.

Indic Film Utsav is a platform for filmmakers that are committed to forgotten and untold indigenous and Indic civilizational stories that inspire, uplift, challenge and captivate audiences. Indic Film Utsav seeks films spanning across Indian arts and culture and everything else in-between. Film genres ranging from popular ones such as action, romance, comedy, horror, drama, musical, fantasy etc., to niche genres such as religious, children, sci-fi, parody, biopic etc., are welcome. Selected films will cater to audiences across the world since Indic Film Utsav is a global online film festival. Indic Film Utsav has a strong commitment to the power of positive cinema. 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 Indic Film Utsav.

Awards & Prizes

(a) Narrative Feature Films - The Narrative Feature category is for fictional films of any genre that run 60 minutes or longer including animated. Films submitted to this category will be eligible for our Narrative Feature Competition. Note that acceptance to the festival does not guarantee inclusion in Competition.
Two Awards in this category-
i. Jury Award – Best Film (INR 1,00,000 along with a plaque)
ii. Audience Award – Best Film

(b) Documentary Feature Films - Any nonfiction film with a running time of up to 90 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 your category. Note that acceptance to the festival does not guarantee inclusion in Competition.
Two Awards in this category-
i. Jury Award – Best Documentary (INR 1,00,000 along with a plaque)
ii. Audience Award

(c) Short Films - Any film with a running time of 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.
Two Awards in this category-
i. Jury Award – Best Short Film (INR 50,000 along with a plaque)
ii. Audience Award

(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.
Two Awards in this category-
i. Jury Award – Best Ultra-Short Film (INR 20,000 along with a plaque)
ii. Audience Award

(e) Wildlife Short Films – Any wildlife subject-oriented 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.
Two Awards in this category-
i. Jury Award – Best Wildlife Short Film (INR 50,000 along with a plaque)
ii. Audience Award

Note- Indic Film Utsav may institute additional awards as deemed fit.

Rules & Terms

Indic Film Utsav assumes that you have read the rules and regulations below.

GENERAL

Each year, Indic Film Utsav will select a lineup of feature films, documentaries and short films to be showcased at the festival. All submissions must have a subject matter that pertains to or have reference to Indic culture. Films that are disrespectful or insulting to any religion, cast, creed, gender, culture, or region will not be accepted.

(e) Wildlife Short Films – Any wildlife subject-oriented film with a running time of less than 40 minutes including credits. This includes scripted, documentary, animation, or any other short-form film. Note that acceptance to the festival does not guarantee inclusion in Competition.

Other points to note-
Indic Film Utsav may decide to categorize a certain film as a Premier, such as-
• World Premier (never screened anywhere in the world)
• International Premier (screened only in the country where the submitter is a resident)
• Asia Premier (never screened in Asia)
• India Premier (never screened anywhere in India), etc.
Such films must also be never screened anywhere online or released as video tape/disk/VOD. Private screenings to cast and crew, producers, and distributors and family members are exempt from this rule.

Indic Film Utsav is a competitive film festival with a non-competitive category too, when certain films may be accorded a PREMIER SCREENING status.

ENTRIES
• Films that have been completed as of January 1st, 2019, are eligible for submission.
• As a submitter, you are responsible for all omissions and commissions about 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.
• Films produced, financed, or initiated by a major film studio or television network are ineligible for competition, but may be considered for a special screening.
• 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.
• Indic Film Utsav reserves the right to disqualify the entry in case discrepancies are found in the information submitter has provided in the submission form.
• Submitter must provide proof of identification such Passport / DMV ID / Aadhaar Card along with address proof.
• Submission of entries during the Early Bird period requires no submission fee. A non-refundable submission Fee is applicable to all entries submitted after September 11th 2021.
• Payment can be made as a money order, cashier’s check, demand draft, online transfer, or via PayPal only. Cash is not accepted. Any local tax laws, if any, will be applicable.

• Submission Fee details are as follows-
---Early Bird Deadline – NO FEES. FREE SUBMISSION!
---Regular Deadline – (a) Features and Documentaries @ INR 1,000 or equivalent in any other currency and (b) Shorts/Wildlife Shorts and Ultrashorts @ INR 500 or equivalent in any other currency

• Submission Deadlines
---Submission Opens on August 31st, 2021
---Early Bird Submission Deadline is September 11th, 2021
---Regular Submission Deadline is October 1st, 2021
---Selection Confirmation Date to Filmmaker is October 8th, 2021
---Final Screening Version Submission Deadline is October 15th, 2021
---Official Line-up Announcement Date is November 1st, 2021

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

• For Indic Film Utsav 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
---the submission fee is credited to Indic Film Utsav account and
---film screener has reached Indic Film Utsav on time

• Indic Film Utsav only accepts media via one single password-protected online streaming location for screeners. Indic Film Utsav is not responsible for security of the content if submission is via a down-loadable link. All content shared with Indic Film Utsav will be destroyed/deleted once the festival is over.

• Films submitted to Indic Film Utsav must comply with the following specifications-
File Size: Up to 2GB (This is maximum, anything bigger will be automatically rejected)
File Format: MP4 with codecs: H.264 video with Stereo AAC
Resolution:
---HD: NTSC, 1280x720 (720p, 16:9 aspect) or 1920x1080 (1080p, 16x9 aspect ratio)
---SD: Resolution: NTSC, 640x360 (16x9 aspect ratio) or 640x1080 (4x3 aspect ratio

• 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 DCP version.

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

• Films 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 DCP is submitted within the deadline for final cut DCP submission. If selected, a final cut DCP of the film in DCP format must be available to the festival by the established final cut DCP 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 all selected films, Indic Film Utsav will request the following items-
1. Title (Original as well as English)
2. Language (Original as well as Dubbed, if applicable)
3. Exact Duration in minutes
4. Screening Format, Shoot Format
5. Color or B&W
6. Year of Production
7. Country in which 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 (not exceeding 250 words)
21. Blurb of film (50 words or less)
22. Director’s biodata and filmography
23. 3-5 High Resolution Stills (minimum 300 dpi) of the film
24. 1-2 High Resolution Still (minimum 300 dpi) of the director
25. 1-3 High Resolution Still (minimum 300 dpi) of the poster

• 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.

For more information regarding Indica Pictures as well as Indic Film Utsav, visit www.indicapictures.com or email namaste@indicapictures.com.