Far South Film Festival ()

Festival start: 23 August 2020      Festival end: 23 August 2020

The FAR SOUTH FILM FESTIVAL showcases short films up to 30 minutes in length told by regional filmmakers in Australia. Due to COVID-19, this year's festival will be online. The festival is run by Far South Film Inc, an association of professional and emerging filmmakers and digital creatives living in South East regional NSW, Australia.

We invite our fellow filmmakers from regional and remote areas of Australia to submit short films under 30 minutes in length that reflect the people, environment and issues that matter to you to our festival.

Cash Prizes: 680$

Major cash prize for Best Film AUD$1000
Prizes may be in the form of cash, filmmaking equipment or in-kind opportunities such as workshops accessible from regional areas of Australia.
Award categories include Best Film, Best Performance, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Use of a Regional Setting, Best Technical Achievement, Diversity Award

Please READ all of the festival rules on this page before submitting your film.

By submitting your film, you warrant that you have read, understood, and will abide by the rules on this page and any additional rules indicated on the online submission form.

KEY DATES
Submissions open 1 July 2020
Earlybird deadline closes midnight AEST 17 July 2020
Final deadline closes midnight AEST 31 July 2020
No late submissions will be accepted.

You will receive an email confirming receipt of your successful submission. If you submitted a film but have not received a confirmation email from the Far South Film Festival, please contact us.

You will be notified by 9 August 2020 if your film has been shortlisted for screening at the Festival.

The last date you can withdraw your film from the festival is 9 August 2020.

ELIGIBILITY
Submissions are open to films by regional filmmakers in Australia.
At least two of the key creatives (Writer/Director/Producer/Filmmaker) must reside in a regional area of Australia as defined at https://farsouthfilmfestival.com/regional/.

If the film is a solo work, that person must reside in a regional area of Australia as defined at https://farsouthfilmfestival.com/regional/.

You may be asked to provide documentary evidence of regional residence by email once your submission has been received. We will NOT ask for photo ID - you will be advised in the email of the various documents you can submit to show your eligibility.

All films submitted to the Far South Film Festival must have been completed within the 2 year period before the festival (ie on or after 23 August 2018).

AWARD CATEGORIES
Final award categories will be determined based on the number, genre and quality of entries received. Judges reserve the right not to make an award for a given category.

Awards are proposed for Best Film (various categories), Best Performance (various categories), Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Use of a Regional Setting, Best Technical Achievement (various categories), Diversity. 
Prizes may be in the form of cash, filmmaking equipment or in-kind opportunities such as workshops accessible from regional areas.

The major prize will be AUD$1000.

SCREENING
Films will be screened online on demand to ticketholders on the festival day 23 August 2020 until midnight on 24 August 2020, only within Australia (geoblocking applies).

Q&As will be streamed live and/or on demand on the festival day and after the festival on demand via this website.

Awards will be announced live on the festival day and the results will be posted on this website and our Facebook page.

Should the organisers decide to tour the festival, your film may also be exhibited or screened in other regional areas of Australia at a later date. 

LENGTH

There are two film length categories, inclusive of titles and credits:

Under 10 minutes
10 to 30 Minutes

All films submitted must be no longer than 30 minutes, inclusive of titles and credits. There is no minimum length required.

If you submit an episodic work (eg web series) the total length of all episodes must be under 30 minutes and it must be submitted as one file.

We hope to expand to longer-form films in 2021.

SUBMISSION FEES

Film Submission Fees go towards prizemoney for award winners, less any costs of our film submission platform. You will be prompted to pay your submission fee when you submit online. No GST is included as Far South Film Inc is not required to be registered for GST. Earlybird fees apply until 17 July 2020.

Fees on the online platform are posted in USD$ and may vary over the submission period due to variations in exchange rates. 

Youth (under 25 years): AUD$10 / $15
Far South Film Member: AUD$10 / $15
Open (all ages): AUD$20 / $25

Please note that the above fees are in ADDITION TO any fees charged directly by the submission platform.

GENRES

We accept any genre, fiction or non fiction, provided it meets the classification and specification requirements below. 

RATING CLASSIFICATIONS

Your film must conform to the Australian Government classification guidelines at https://www.classification.gov.au/classification-ratings for G, PG, M or MA15+ ratings. Films that do not meet - or are unlikely to meet - these guidelines will not be eligible for screening or awards.

You must tell us if your film has already received a rating from the Australian classification board and what that rating is. Otherwise, you should include what you think your rating is likely to be in your submission form, based on the Australian Government classification guidelines.

For the Youth Film category we accept films with a likely G or PG rating: Films must not contain violence or images, language or behaviour that is unlawful or offensive, or that make reference to drug use including smoking or alcohol. Where this requirement is not complied with, the Producer may be contacted to edit the film (if submitted early enough) or the film will not be eligible.

Films likely to be classified M or MA 15+ must not be screened to anyone under 15 years unless they are accompanied during the viewing by an adult.

As this is an online festival, such films will be screened as separate packages and ticket purchasers will be warned and asked to certify that these conditions will be adhered to when they watch the package online. If selected for an award, only a selected trailer of your film may be screened.

Unclassified material with the following likely classifications, or material that has these classifications, will NOT be accepted for the festival:

X 18+ or RC 
R 18+ 

CATEGORIES

We accept short films up to 30 minutes in duration in the following film categories:

Animation
Documentary
Experimental 
Fiction
Music Video

SECTIONS
Student (Youth under 25 - restricted to G/PG rating only)
Far South Film Members (All ages - restricted to G/PG/M/MA15+ rating only)
Open (All ages - restricted to G/PG/M/MA15+ rating only)

SPECIFICATIONS
Films must be submitted online
We do NOT accept physical film submissions via post or in person
Accepted file formats are MOV or MP4
Maximum resolution full quality HD
Preferred ratio 16:9
Screening film file size limit 10GB 
Films over 10GB must be uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube and Password protected - you will be prompted to enter your video URL and password on submission. If selected you will need to provide a screening file.
PAL 24 or 25 frames per second
Contact us if you are not sure if your film meets the specfications

FILM SELECTION
If your film is selected for screening, we will send you a download request, which you may then authorise or deny, to download your full quality video for screeening.

If you have provided a link only to a Vimeo password protected video, you will need to enable downloading and embedding within Vimeo. Your video will still be password protected. Embedding allows the Vimeo video player to be displayed within the festival interface. To allow embedding, go to your video in your Vimeo account, click 'Settings' > 'Privacy' > 'Where Can This Video be Embedded?' > 'Anywhere'.

FILM PUBLICATION
If selected for screening, the film must not already be publicly available on the Internet. If a film is found to have been publicly published on the Internet or made available via social media prior to or during the date of the Festival it may be disqualified.

RIGHTS

The submitter warrants to the Far South Film Festival that they have obtained all the necessary permissions to enter this film and that the film does not infringe the rights - including copyright - of any third party. This includes the use of music and literary material.

You are advised to obtain signed location and talent release forms and keep these on file. You may be asked to produce these on request.

The film's producer grants Far South Film Inc the rights to:

Exclusively exhibit or screen the film online at the Far South Film Festival for up to 7 days from the 23 August 2020 

Non-exclusively exhibit or screen the film in any subsequent tour of selected films within Australia for a period of 1 year from the date of the festival (Should the organiser wish to extend the touring period beyond 1 year, additional permission will be sought from the filmmaker).
Reproduce the film for inclusion as part of a compilation.
Exhibit or screen the film online either in part or in full for promotional purposes.

Please note that all online festival film content screening/streaming will be under a geo-blocked restriction limited to Australia only.

PRIVACY
The personal information requested on the entry form is being collected by the Far South Film Inc for the delivery of the Far South Film Festival. The personal information will be used by Far South Film Inc for that primary purpose or directly related purposes. If this information is not collected you may not be eligible to enter your film in the Far South Film Festival. The applicant understands that the personal information provided is for administration and promotional purposes and that they may apply to Far South Film Inc for access to and/or amendment of the information. Requests for access and or correction should be made by contacting Far South Film Inc.

COMPLIANCE WITH CONDITIONS
The submitter shall:

Lodge a completed Entry Form through the Festival submission platform. Incomplete Entry Forms will not be accepted.
Comply with State, Territory and Australian law in relation to all matters associated with making a film and entering the Festival contest.
Warrant that COVID-19 regulations that may have been in force during the filmmaking period (if applicable) were adhered to.
Be solely liable for and indemnify and save harmless to Far South Film Inc's committee, members, employees and agents against all liability, claims, actions, proceedings, demands and penalties, to the extent that they are incurred by or brought against or made upon Far South Film Inc, or which Far South Film Inc may pay, sustain or be put to by reason of, or arising out of or in connection with the Producer entering the competition including but not limited to making the film, except where such liability, claims actions, proceedings, demands and penalties arises out of or in connection with a negligent or wilful act or default of Far South Film Inc, its committee, members, employees and or its agents.

WITHDRAWAL
Entries may only be withdrawn in writing/email by the Producer. Entries cannot be withdrawn after 9 August 2020. By submitting your film to the Far South Film Festival for consideration, you acknowledge this condition of entry and waive your right to withdraw your film from the Festival after this date. If you withdraw your film, the entry fee will not be refunded.

JUDGING

The decision of the judges will be final and no correspondence will be entered into. Far South Film Inc members may enter films into the Festival, however these members may not be on the judging panel.