The Royal Film Commission Jordan | OPPORTUNITIES BULLETIN #201 February 2020

N.B. The information below is provided directly by the organizers of events, festivals, audio-visual organizations or independent film projects. The Royal Film Commission - Jordan (RFC) cannot be held accountable for it.

In this bulletin:

1. Call for Applications: Rawi Screenwriters Lab
2. Call for Submissions: Malmö Arab Film Festival 2020
3. Call for Submissions: the 45th Toronto International Film Festival
4. Call for Applications: AFAC Open Call for First Grants Cycle
5. Call for Submissions: The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
6. Call for Applications: The World Cinema Fund
7. Call for Submissions: Leeds International Film Festival 

1. Call for Applications: Rawi Screenwriters Lab

This is your chance to apply to the 16th Rawi Screenwriters Lab!

Chosen Arab Screenwriters (Fellows) are granted the opportunity to develop their first or second feature-length narrative screenplays under the guidance of critically acclaimed screenwriters (Creative Advisors). Advisors will have one-on-one intensive sessions and conversations with the Fellows about their projects to embrace their vision and help them find the most compelling way to tell their stories.

Submissions deadline: Sunday, April 12th, 2020 by midnight (Jordan Time).

Lab days: From Sunday, November 29th until Sunday, December 6th, 2020.

For submissions and more details about the Lab, please visit:
bit.ly/Rawi2020En

Or contact:

- Email: rawi@film.jo

- Call: +962 6 461 3835 Ext. 108 / 104
 

2. Call for submissions: Malmö Arab Film Festival 2020

The Malmo Arab Film Festival (MAFF) will take place in October 8-13, 2020, and the selected films will be mainly shown in Malmo as well as in other cities in the region in parallel with the festival days (maximum 4 screenings).

MFF is receiving film submissions and you can take part now.

Rules and regulations:

• Films longer than 70 min should be submitted as feature films, and films less than 70 min should be submitted as short films.
• Films that may participate in the festival are selected by the festival’s judging committee.
  Applicants for participation in the festival have no guarantee that the film will be shown during the festival.
• There is no fee for applying. No compensation will be paid by the festival to showcase the film.
• MAFF only accepts online watching links, any download link will be ignored.
• Notification of approved films will be sent to participants two months before the festival’s start date.
  Selected films to participate in the festival may not be withdrawn.
• Submitted films should be produced in 2019-2020. No contributions that have been produced before the year 2019 will be accepted.
• Submitted films will not be accepted if they have been screened in Sweden before.
• MAFF has the right to manage the use of film clips and photographs from submitted films selected for the festival for all its image or print ads in all pages on the Internet utmost to promote the festival.

NOTE: Private individuals, companies, copyright owners, film producers, and film production companies have the opportunity to participate in the Festival if they meet all requirements.

MAFF’s Awards:

Short Film Competition

Best Short Documentary Film – Prize value 10000 SEK (±1000 USD)

Best Short Film – Prize value 10000 SEK (±1000 USD)

Feature Film Competition

Best Feature Documentary Film – Prize value 15000 SEK (±1500 USD)

Best Feature Film – Prize value 20000 SEK (±2000 USD)

Best Director

Best Script

Best Actor

Best Actress

The City of Malmö´s Audience Award at MAFF

Prize value 25000 SEK (±2500 USD)

Important note for all prizes: Prizes can only be paid by an official invoice issued by a registered company.

Audience Award to Best Feature film

The submission deadline is on the 31st of May 2020.

For further information, please visit: http://maffswe.com/submit/

3. Call for submissions: the 45th Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) ranks among the most prestigious international film festivals in the world. For 11 days, film lovers, filmmakers, industry professionals, and media watch the best in new cinema from established masters and new talent.

Submit your film now!

Submission categories:

- Canadian Features - Canadian feature films with running times of 50 minutes or longer.
- Canadian Documentary Features - Canadian documentary feature films with running times of 50 minutes or longer.
- Canadian Shorts- Canadian films with running times of 49 minutes or less.
- International Features - International feature films with running times of 50 minutes or longer.
- International Documentary Features - International documentary feature films with running times of 50 minutes or longer.
- International Shorts - International films with running times of 49 minutes or less.
- Primetime - Serial content with a minimum of two chronological episodes, including the pilot, featuring a combined running time of 60 minutes or longer. In the case of anthologies, chronological episodes are not required.
- Wavelengths Shorts - Artist film and video with running times of 49 minutes or less.
- Wavelengths Features - Artist film and video with running times of 50 minutes or longer.

SCREENING FORMATS

All selected films must be available to screen in DCP (Digital Cinema Package) by August 14^th, 2020. TIFF may (but is not required to) permit selected films within the Wavelengths and Cinematheque programmes to be screened in the following alternative formats: (i) 35mm or (ii) 16mm. No format exceptions will be made for the Short Cuts programmes.

Early-bird submission deadline & fees is on April 3^rd, 2020.

For more information about the rules and regulations, please visit: https://filmfreeway.com/TIFF

4. Call for Applications: The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) Open Call for First Grants Cycle

The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) opened the call for applications for its first cycle of grants programs on February 1^st, 2020. AFAC will be accepting applications in the categories of: Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Creative and Critical Writings and Documentary Film.

Applications are to be submitted exclusively online via the AFAC website. To apply, please log-in with your username and password. Once you log in you will be directed to the application.

Please consult the Grants Guidelines (available on each program page), Evaluation Process and FAQs before applying.

If you have questions regarding the programs, write to grants management team.

If your inquiry is related to technical matters, get in touch with content management team.

The deadline for the submission of applications is on April 15^th, 2020, 12 midnight Beirut time (+2 GMT).

AFAC’s second call for applications for the Research on the Arts Program (RAP), Cinema, Music, and Training and Regional Events (TR) opens on May 15^th, 2020 and closes on August 1^st, 2020.

5. Call for submissions: The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

Save the Date! The 29th Annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (HSDFF) will take place from October 9th until 17th, 2020.  

HSDFF exhibits in a variety of program categories. Not all categories are competitive.

- Short Films: 40 minutes or less
- Features: Over 40 minutes
- Fees are non-refundable.
- Competition is open to U.S. and International entries.
- Films not in English must be subtitled in English

ELIGIBILITY: Feature and short documentary films completed after January 1^st, 2019 are eligible for HSDFF 2020 with preference given to films premiering after May 1^st, 2020.

Feature-length films that have been released theatrically or broadcast on television nationally prior to the festival will be considered for non-competitive sections only under special circumstances determined by the festival. Short films that are available on VOD or a streaming platform will not be eligible for competition at the festival.

Submissions are received between January and July of 2019, with notification of acceptance no later than September 30th.

SUBMISSION FORMAT: ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED FOR PRE-SCREENING WITH VIMEO OR YOUTUBE LINK. You are required to keep the festival updated with passwords.

You may submit multiple entries but must fill out a separate entry form and PROVIDE an entry fee for each.

Once accepted, if distribution plans accelerate and you find that your film will be released, theatrically or otherwise, before October 17, 2020, the festival asks that you notify them immediately.

For more information, please contact: hsdfi@hsdfi.org

Or visit the website: https://www.hsdfi.org/

6. Call for Applications: The World Cinema Fund

Together with the Federal Foundation for Culture and in cooperation with the Goethe Institute, the Foreign Ministry and German producers, the World Cinema Fund (WCF) works to develop and support cinema in regions with a weak film infrastructure, while fostering cultural diversity in German cinemas.

The World Cinema Fund supports films that could not be made without additional funding: films that stand out with an unconventional aesthetic approach, that tell powerful stories and transmit an authentic image of their cultural roots.

WCF has an annual budget of approximately € 350,000 and supports exclusively the production and distribution of feature films and feature-length documentaries. The support is focused on the following regions and countries: Latin America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Caucasus as well as Bangladesh, Nepal, Mongolia and Sri Lanka.

Funding amounts:

Maximum funding: 80,000 EUR per project

The total production costs of the supported projects should lie between 200,000 EUR and 1,000,000 EUR

The funding must be spent on the production of the film in the aforementioned regions.

Required documents:

- Completed application form
- Two-page synopsis
- Script in English or French (in the case of documentary films, an in-depth treatment and a detailed outline of the visual concept suffice)
- Director’s statement and a description of the director’s visual concept
- The director’s CV
- The writer’s CV
- Profile/filmography of the production company/ies
- Proof of rights ownership
- Detailed budget in euros
- A financial plan in euros and copies of co-production contracts if applicable
- Rights clearance
- The director’s previous films on DVD

WCF supports exclusively the production and distribution of feature films and feature-length documentaries.
The deadline for submissions is on March 3^rd, 2020.

For more information, please visit: https://www.berlinale.de/en/world-cinema-fund/home/profile.html

7. Call for Submissions: Leeds International Film Festival

Founded in 1987, Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) is renowned as a dynamic event with a reputation for challenging and innovative programming.

A qualifying event for both the Academy Awards and BAFTAs, LIFF presents nine national and international competitions for short films with total cash prizes of over $5000.

Awards & Prizes:

LIFF is a qualifying film festival for the Academy Awards and the BAFTAs. The winning shorts in LIFF's Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition and World Animation Competition are eligible for the Academy’s Short Film Awards. British shorts selected for LIFF may be considered for nomination for the BAFTA Short Film Awards.

LIFF awards for shorts and features:

• Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition ($1300 winner prize)
• World Animation Competition ($1300 winner prize)
• British Short Film Competition ($660 winner prize)
• Yorkshire Short Film Competition ($660 winner prize)
• Leeds International Screendance Competition ($660 winner prize)
• Leeds International Queer Short Film Competition ($660 winner prize)
• Leeds International Music Video Competition
• Leeds Short Film Audience Award
• Leeds Audience Award for Best Fiction Feature
• Leeds Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature

Rules & Terms:

Please note you only need to submit into one category: if your film is eligible for other categories then the festival’s programmers will consider it for those also.

Eligibility:

• All films must be submitted to the festival by 10^th August 2020, and all submissions are final no refunds are available.

• All submissions are fairly considered by a broad team of programmers and the date of entry bears no relation to the selection decision.

• If you have more than one film to submit, you may be entitled to fee discounts for multiple entries - please email leeds.film@leeds.gov.uk for more details.

• Only films completed after 1st January 2019 will be considered for the competitive sections.

• Any genre and any length of film will be considered – anything under 45 minutes is classified as a short, anything over 45 minutes is classified as a feature. Maximum film length for the Screendance and Queer Short Film Competitions is 20 minutes

Premiere Policy:

• For feature-length films, though LIFF does not insist on a premiere.
Please contact the festival’s office if you would like clarification on your film if it has already screened or is going to be screened in the UK.

• For short films, the festival does not have a premiere policy.

April 6^th, 2020 is the Early Bird Deadline

For more information, please visit: https://filmfreeway.com/leedsfilmfest

The Royal Film Commission was established in 2003 to promote the audio-visual industry in Jordan. Tel: +962-6-4642266  e-mail: info@film.jo  www.film.jo