OPPORTUNITIES BULLETIN #237 February 2023

OPPORTUNITIES BULLETIN #237 February 2023

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. Apply now to Rawi Screenwriters Lab’s 18th Edition
2. Amman International Film Festival: Submit your Film
3. Amman International Film Festival: Submit your Project
4. Call for fund: Red Sea Fund
5. Call for fund: AFAC Documentary Program
6. Call for application: SeriesLab & SeriesLab Talents
7. Call for submissions: Heartland International Film Festival
8. Call for submissions: Indy Shorts International Film Festival presented by Heartland Film (Indy Shorts)

Rawi Screenwriters Lab is an annual five-day screenplay development workshop aimed at independent Arab screenwriters working on their first or second narrative feature screenplays. Screenwriters joining the lab will be experience one-on-one mentoring sessions with internationally acclaimed screenwriters (Rawi’s Creative Advisors) from all over the world. The emphasis of the lab is to develop the writer’s individual voice as a storyteller. Advisors and fellows will engage in an in-depth dialogue about the craft of screenwriting and rewriting process, as well as the fellows’ individual visions for their stories.

Over the past 17 years, the lab has supported 131 emerging screenwriters, with a number of Rawi’s Alumni successfully completing their films, which have toured regional and international film festivals receiving many awards.

Each year, fellows and advisors work intensively for five days on their feature narrative screenplays. Each fellow will have several one-on-one story sessions with the lab's creative advisors. The advisors’ guidance ranges from improving the fellow's technique as a screenwriter, to life lessons and practical suggestions to be explored in their next draft. Emphasis is placed on each fellow's individual voice and story.

An advisory committee of writers, established film critics, screenplay editors, script doctors, scholars and film professionals work with the Rawi Screenwriters Lab team throughout the selection process. They are referred to as “Creative Consultants”. The primary short listing is based on script merits: story, originality, characters, dialogue, structure, writing style, individual voices, the status of the screenplay and its suitability to benefit from the Lab. Where applicable, we look very closely at the directing work of the writer.

Important information:

Submission deadline: Saturday, April 15th, 2023, before midnight (Jordan Time).

Lab days: between 23 and 29 November 2023.

For submissions and more details about the Lab, please visit:
https://bit.ly/RFC-Rawi 

For further information and inquires please write to rawi@film.jo or call The Royal Film Commission at 0096264613835, ext. 104 or 108.

International jurors select the Best Feature-Length Narrative Arab film, Best Feature-Length Documentary and the Best Arab Short. The audience selects the Best Début non-Arab movie.
All winning films receive the Black Iris trophy and a cash award. Additional awards are granted to the Best Fist-Time Lead Actor / Actress (for the feature-length narrative category), Best First-Time screenwriter, Best First-time Editor (for the feature-length documentary category).

Rules and Regulations

• Amman International Film Festival – Awal Film (AIFF) requires all submitted films to be Jordanian premiere. Films previously screened in Jordan are not eligible.
• Films that are available in Jordan on any VOD, online platforms, TV, or any other similar media are not eligible.
• Only film rights owners and/or their official distributors are eligible to submit films to the festival.
• All films must be in their original language. If not in English, the film must be subtitled in English.
• Submitted films must meet the conditions mentioned above, in addition to the specific selection criteria as described per section.
• The final selection of all films and their placement in the program are the responsibility of the Festival.

Sections: Arab Feature Narrative Film Competition

• Only films that are 60 minutes or longer are accepted for this section.
• This section is open to any feature-length narrative film released in 2022 or 2023, as long as the director is Arab or of Arab origin, and as long as it is the first feature-length narrative film by the:
o Director and/or
o Screenwriter and/or
o Lead actor and/or
o Lead actress and/or

Arab Feature Documentary Film Competition

• Only films that are 52 minutes or longer are accepted for this section.
• This section is open to any feature-length documentary film released in 2022 or 2023, as long as the director is Arab or of Arab origin, and as long as it is the first feature-length documentary film by the:
o Director and/or
o Editor

Arab Short Film Competition

• Only short films (no longer than 30 minutes) are eligible for this section.
• This section is open to any short narrative, experimental, or animation film released in 2022 or 2023, as long as the director is Arab or of Arab origin, and as long as it is the first narrative short film by the director.
• Short documentaries are not eligible for this section

The deadline for submissions is 30 April, 2023

For more about AIFF: www.aiff.jo

For more information about the rules and regulations: http://aiff.jo/rules-regulations/

To submit your film to the Arab competitions: http://aiff.jo/arab-competition/

To submit your non-Arab début film to the international section: http://aiff.jo/international-section/

Amman Film Industry Days (AFID) – as part of Amman International Film Festival (AIFF) - is organizing three Pitching Platforms for feature-length projects in development by Jordanian and resident Arab filmmakers in Jordan and for projects in post-production by all Arab filmmakers.
Up to 15 projects will be selected to pitch their film projects in a public presentation to industry professionals attending Amman Industry Days, where the best projects will receive in-kind &/or cash awards to help them advance in the materialization of their films.

Rules & regulations for submitting your project

a) Project in Development:
• The project must be a feature-length narrative or documentary in its development stage; shorts are not eligible.
• Projects by all Arab directors (including Jordanians) are accepted for this platform.

b) Project in Development - Awal Project:
• Only projects by first-time Jordanian directors or first-time Arab directors resident in Jordan are accepted for this platform.
• The project must be a feature-length narrative or documentary in its development stage; shorts are not eligible.

c) Project in Post-Production:
• The project must be a feature-length narrative or documentary in its post-production stage; shorts are not eligible.
• Only projects by Arab directors (including Jordanians) are accepted for this platform.
• You must have a producer attached to your project to be eligible for this platform.

The deadline for submission is 30 April, 2023

For more information, please visit: http://aiff.jo/pitching-platforms/

For more information about the Development Fund, Production Fund and the Post-production Fund, please visit the website: Red Sea Film – Red Sea Film Festival

The AFAC Documentary Program supports creative documentary films in the Arab region. The AFAC Documentary grant welcomes submissions of feature-length documentary film projects that are in development, production or post-production phases, as well as short and medium-length documentaries in production and post-production.

About the grant:

The program provides annual grants up to USD 10,000 for development grants, up to USD 50,000 for production grants for feature-length films and USD 20,000 for short and medium-length documentaries, and up to USD 25,000 for post-production grants for feature-length films and USD 10,000 for short and medium-length documentaries.

AFAC reserves the right to distribute its resources for wider impact. Given the high demand for support, it is not guaranteed that potential grantees will be awarded the requested amounts in full. It is therefore encouraged that applicants diversify funding sources for the submitted project.

Eligible Expenses:

AFAC only covers project-related expenses, including artist fees up to 30% of the total grant amount. Neither operating costs nor the purchasing of equipment can be covered by the grant.

Eligible candidates:

The AFAC Documentary Program is open to applications from Arab directors and producers living in the Arab region or in the diaspora. A non-Arab producer can apply for a grant provided that the film director is Arab. It is highly recommended that film projects applying to the production and post-production grants have producers attached to them.

A film producer is eligible to apply with a maximum of two projects per category per cycle provided the two projects are not attached to the same director.

Ineligible candidates:

AFAC will not consider applications submitted by:

·         Members of the AFAC board of trustees, their business partners or family members.

• AFAC staff members, their business partners or family members.

• Members of the current year’s reader and juror committees.

• Applicants with a current open grant.

• Recipients of grants in two consecutive years will not be eligible to apply for the next two consecutive years.

• If a film producer has an open grant, they can apply with another project. If they have two open grants, they are not eligible to apply before the completion of one of the projects.

• A director who already has an open grant from AFAC (regardless of whether the contract is in their name or in the producer’s name).
  Each director may only submit one application in the same category (development, production, post-production).

• If a director has an application that is in process, they cannot submit another application in another category until the result of the current application in process is announced.

• If a grantee has received two grants – one for development and one for production for the same film project – they cannot apply for post-production.

The deadline to submit applications is April 4, 2023 at 5:00 pm (Beirut time — GMT+3).

To apply and for more information, please visit: AFAC (arabculturefund.org)

SeriesLab & SeriesLab Talents, the Torino Film Lab (TFL) long-term initiatives dedicated to seriality, return for a 2023 full of innovation.

SeriesLab targets professional scriptwriters, writer-directors and producers from all over the world. The course is aimed at drama series projects at an early development stage that will join a 5-month programme - from September 2023 to early 2024 - featuring three 5-day long residential workshops and including a final industry pitching presentation in early 2024. For the first time TFL will assign a development grant of € 10,000 to one of the 9 projects selected.

SeriesLab Talents takes shape more as an international writers’ room, designed to give voice to 5 professional scriptwriters who want to boost their experience on drama series working together on one project. The programme consists of three 5-day long residential workshops in September 2023, November 2023 and early 2024, ending up with a final networking industry event, during the last workshop.

This year the two programmes will be quite connected, giving a chance to the participants to
network and exchange ideas with each other; especially because they’ll share the new Head of
Studies Eszter Angyalosy, experienced Hungarian screenwriter with a background at HBO Hungary.

The SeriesLab call for applications is available here, while the SeriesLab Talents is available here.

Deadline To Apply: March 31, 2023, 12:00 pm CET (noon)

The 32nd Heartland International Film Festival will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, October 5-15, 2023. Filmmakers participating in the festival attend numerous screenings of their films and other special events designed to allow interaction between filmmakers and audiences. Filmmakers from around the world are invited to submit films; student filmmakers are welcomed in each category as well.

Eligibility:

To be eligible for Heartland International Film Festival, films must comply with the following:

• The film must have been completed on or after January 1, 2022, and be longer than 40:01:00 minutes in length.
• The film must be available for up to three in-person screenings during the Festival, October 5-15, 2023, and a secure virtual offering with an attendance cap and US geofence (virtual period may be after the posted in-person dates). Selected films cannot play theatrically in the Central Indiana area from the time of selection through the duration of the event.
• There must not be a screening fee attached to the film.
• Heartland requires a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) for every film in addition to a high-quality digital backup file. No Blu-rays, DVDs or 35mm prints will be screened at the festival.
• The film cannot require dual projection (interlock) or separate soundtracks.
• Non-English language films must be subtitled. Please do not send us an un-subtitled version with the intention of providing a subtitled version later. Please ensure that all subtitles are hardcoded to your video file as opposed to using hidden subtitles that need to be turned on in order to display on the screen.
• Titles streaming prior to the Festival via TVOD are still eligible for consideration (SVOD titles are not eligible). Titles with a wide broadcast release/wide online availability (YouTube, PBS, etc.) at any point prior to the Festival are not eligible. Any change in release plans for invited films must be discussed with the Festival ASAP.

You can benefit from the waiver code granted to the RFC’s contacts through: ROYALJORDANIANFEATURES23

Deadline for submission: May 21, 2023

For more information, please visit: Heartland International Film Festival - FilmFreeway

An Academy Award®-qualifying film festival in all three categories (Live Action, Documentary, and Animation short film categories), the winner of the Narrative, Documentary, and Animated Grand Prizes will qualify for the Academy Awards without the standard theatrical run, granted they meet all the other requirements needed to qualify.

Eligibility:

To be eligible for Indy Shorts, films must comply with the following:

• The film must have been completed on or after January 1, 2022.
• The film must be available for up to 2 in-person screenings during Indy Shorts, July 18-23, 2023, and virtually on-demand via Eventive Virtual Festival (US geofence, 250 cap per program).
• There must not be a screening fee attached to the film. Heartland will not pay a screening fee to any film featured in the festival; there are no exceptions.
• The film cannot require dual projection (interlock) or separate soundtracks. Non-English films must be subtitled in English.
• Films must provide an H.264 or ProRes copy suitable for exhibition by the deadlines communicated. Failure to provide film print files and/or other requested film contract materials can result in your film being pulled from the lineup.
• Premiere status does not affect eligibility, but if a Premiere status is confirmed with the festival at the time of confirmation it cannot change. Indy Shorts has the right to pull the film from the lineup if this status is changed after confirmation.
• Short films available prior to the festival via paid or unpaid streaming/online services are still eligible for Festival consideration.
• No public/in-person exhibition of your film can take place in Indiana from the time of confirmation through the Indy Shorts event. If your film is not available online at the time of confirmation, it is highly suggested that you do not make it available until after the event.
• Short films that have already applied for the Academy Awards (in 2022 of before) are not eligible for the Grand Prizes. Titles that have already applied for Academy consideration are still eligible to be official selections and are eligible for other awards.

You can benefit from the waiver code granted to the RFC’s contacts through: ROYALJORDANIANSHORTS23

Deadline for submission: April 16, 2023

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