BYZANFEST 2014 – The world’s first Orthodox Christian web short-film festival

Entries Invited for the first ever Orthodox Christian Web short-film festival.

DEADLINE Entry form, film and 3 scene shots (JPEG images) MUST be received by FRIDAY 24^TH JANUARY 2014.

Although the Festival welcomes entries up to the final date, the Festival also appreciates early submissions as it enables any technical/administrative issues to be resolved sooner and avoids the film missing out on being screened. In short: the early, the better – if possible.

Each entry can be either:

–         emailed; or

–         posted

To email, use Google Drive to quickly and easily send your large files to the Festival.

For more details, please refer to the ‘Submission requirements’ section further down.

Each entry must be submitted by either the:

·        director; or

·        producer

This person will be known as the ‘Contact Person’ on the Entry Form and the person responsible to fulfil all submission requirements under the Festival’s Terms and Conditions.

The Contact Person is solely responsible for checking the film complies with all domestic and international copyright laws. This is not the Festival’s responsibility.

The Contact Person MUST be an Eastern Orthodox Christian from a CANONICAL Orthodox Archdiocese. This means an Orthodox jurisdiction which is in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

If you have any questions regarding this please forward your inquiry to chrisav1984@gmail.com

The Festival is looking for films which express Orthodox Christian themes, beliefs, culture and values.

However, an entry’s storyline does not necessarily have to be ‘religious’. What this means is although the film may not appear to have ‘Orthodox’ subject matter, it can still be deemed an Orthodox film because it was created by an Orthodox Christian filmmaker who maintained an Orthodox phronema (‘mindset’) during the creative process, remaining faithful to their Christian sense of dignity, morality and self-respect.

This Festival is a global event open to all citizens, both Australian and non-Australian. The Festival is open to professional, amateurs and students.

 There is no age limit.

The Contact Person can submit up to 3 films for selection.

If the short-film’s main language is not English, it MUST contain English subtitles.

There is no entry fee.

Films do not have to be recent, with a production year no earlier than 2011.
Once the entry form, film(s) and 3 scene shots have been received, each submission will undergo a preliminary round of judging. A short-list will be drafted and another screening will determine the final program. If successful, the Contact Person will be notified and the film will be uploaded to the OFA’s YouTube Channel.

To be nominated for Best Screenplay the screenwriter must be an Orthodox Christian.

To be nominated for Best Youth Film the Contact Person must be between the ages of 10-25 years old.
However, if an entry contains material that is deemed discriminatory or offensive to any group of persons and/or generally distasteful, it will not be screened. Discretion will be used during the judging and selection processes.

The film will be uploaded to YouTube so it must be in a supported format.

Accepted formats include:

The video codec must be:

Preferred video resolution:

The Festival would prefer films in the 16:9 aspect ratio.

If the film was shot in 3:4 or a different ratio it may be broadcasted on YouTube with pillarbox or letterbox bars. To avoid this please format film to 16:9 aspect ratio.

This option is if you wish to submit via email.

If you have a Gmail account, use Google Drive to send your large files. It is also of great convenience to Festival organisers as they can easily download your submission.

You must provide the following in order to qualify for selection:

·        entry form

This option is if you wish to submit via post.

You must provide the following in order to qualify for selection:

·        entry form

By completing and signing Entry Form, the Contact Person agrees to the Festival’s Terms & Conditions, granting the Festival permission to broadcast their film(s).

The Contact Person also grants the Festival permission to use scene shots they submitted for publicity purposes. Images from the film(s) and additional photographs may be reproduced and/or broadcasted on the Festival’s blog, associated websites and/or media outlets. This is not an exhaustive list of media sources.
If the entry is selected for screening and nominated for an award, the Contact Person must be prepared to submit further detailed information about their film and crew. The Contact Person must also be prepared to supply costumes, props and/or actors (if any) for a media photo shoot.

†        Best Film

†        Best Director

†        Best Screenplay

†        Audience Favourite

†        Best Youth Film

Each category will be awarded a certificate and an icon. The saint or Feast have yet to be decided.

Additional prizes may be awarded depending if extra sponsors are found.

GENRES All genres are accepted, including:

·        other…

Following types of films and time limits are set out as follows:
Drama, comedy, thrillers, documentaries Time limit (incl. title & credits): 3 – 7 min Tolerance (incl. title & credits): 8 – 15 min
Animation Time limit (incl. title & credits): at least 2 min, but no more than 7 min Tolerance (incl. title & credits): 8 – 10 min
Experimental, music clips Time limit (incl. title & credits): 2 – 5 min   NOTE: Although the Festival wants the time limits to be respected, yet it remains the discretion of the judging panel to decide whether a longer film should be screened. Time limits are guidelines for what is considered ‘an ideal’ length of time for a film.

Films selected for broadcasting will be uploaded to the OFA’s YouTube Channel and accessible from the OFA blog.

Screening Week will occur from 15^th February – 22^nd February 2014.

Awards night will be 22^nd February 2014.

Voting for Audience Favourite will close Saturday 22^nd February 2014 @ 6pm (Melbourne – EST)

FURTHER INFORMATION OR QUESTIONS Web: www.orthodoxfilmmakersandartists.blogspot.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/OrthodoxFilmmakersAndArtists

E-mail: chrisav1984@gmail.com

Phone: +61 423 273 803

Post: PO Box 3, ROSANNA, 3084 (VIC) Australia

Disclaimer Festival organisers reserve the right to edit information provided. Contact persons are required to supply additional information when requested. All information supplied by contact persons will be respected and not given to any third party without the contact person’s prior permission. The Festival is not responsible for ensuring the film entry has not infringed the laws of any country/copyright owners. This is the responsibility of the Contact Person/copyright holder.