In case of any questions, please contact program@docudays.ua.
Festival regulations are available at http://docudays.ua/eng/regulations/
Countries from the following list can submit films for free: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde Islands, Central African Rep., Chad, Comoros, Congo, Congo Dem. Rep. of, Cook Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji Islands, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea North, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sudan South, Suriname, Swaziland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
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INTRODUCTION
Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival is held annually in the last week of March in Kyiv. On completion, Docudays UA traditionally presents the best movies in the regions of Ukraine within the Docudays UA Travelling Festival. Films are demonstrated from October to December (inclusive).
OBJECTIVE
To promote popularization and development of documentary film and to raise the level of respect for human rights in Ukraine.
MISSION
We create opportunities for every person in Ukraine to watch the most talented and present-day documentary films from all over the world. This contributes to the development of critical thinking, the creation of active citizen position, and appreciation of the highest value of human dignity. By realizing our mission we promote popularization and development of documentary film and to increase of the level of respect for human rights in Ukraine.
Festival is non-political and non-profit.
ORGANIZERS
Non-Governmental Organization “Docudays”, Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, Centre for Contemporary Information Technology and Visual Arts, Charity Organization “Charity and Health Fund”.
Every year, organizers of the upcoming Festival create Organizing Committee consisting of representatives of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, Non-Governmental Organization “Docudays”, Kherson Regional Charity and Health Foundation (KRCHF), Centre for Contemporary Information Technology and Visual Arts and invited experts in the documentary, human rights, management and fundraising. All decisions on the Festival program, guests, jury members, seminars and workshops are adopted by the Organizing Committee.
SELECTION CRITERIA
- Films made in 2019 – 2021.
- Only films not screened earlier in competition programs of other Ukrainian festivals, on Ukrainian TV, Ukrainian cinema and internet can participate in international competition programs.
- Ukrainian film premieres are given preference in considering the application for the National competition.
- There is no restriction on genre, running time or year of production for non-feature films participating in the non-competition program, films of any timing unrestricted in the year of production are allowed notwithstanding the fact whether the film was screened earlier in competition programs of other Ukrainian festivals, on Ukrainian TV or Ukrainian cinema.
- A film is allowed to be submitted to the Selection Committee only one single time. If a film was not accepted for the competition, the application next year will not be considered.
- Films that were made to order, or represent report on activities of some organizations, or realization of certain projects, spread pronounced propaganda, lobby political or commercial interests, instructional and training films are debarred from participation.
- All hard copies and online-links to film copies sent to the Festival will be kept in the Festival's archives.
- The Festival has right to use short fragments of selected films, not longer than 3 min., for Festival-advertising purposes.
- The festival has the right to upload all the films included in its film program to its online library. The resource is administrated by Docudays UA and functions from the first day of the Festival until the beginning of the next year’s Festival. The purpose of the online library is to provide online access to festival film program solely to the accredited participants and guests during the festival week. The term of a film’s storage in the online library is automatically extended to one year if the film’s rights holders do not express objections to it. Accordingly, the persons accredited by the festival get year-long access to viewing festival materials online (starting with the opening day of the Festival). The access is individual and cannot be transferred to third parties. None of the materials in the online library can be copied, published elsewhere, downloaded, posted, transferred, demonstrated, accessed by or distributed to any third parties.
- Application submission means you comply with the Festival Regulations and acknowledge the Festival right to use submitted materials for non-commercial purposes.
PROGRAM
Competition
The program features creative documentaries in which ethical and legal problems are revealed through expressive artistic means. The competition program consists of three sections.
DOCU/WORLD is the international competition of feature- and medium-length documentaries which are longer than 30 minutes.
DOCU/SHORT is the international competition of short documentaries which are up to 30 minutes long.
DOCU/UKRAINE is a national competition. It includes documentaries of varying lengths, created by Ukrainian directors.
The Festival also awards a special prize to the winner among the films nominated for the RIGHTS NOW! award.
RIGHTS NOW! is a prize awarded to creative documentaries that explore and analyze the contemporary world and make a significant contribution to the discussion about human dignity, freedom and equality. Ten films from all Festival film programs can be nominated for it
Non-Competition
Every year, the Festival chooses the main topic whose different aspects are presented in the non-competitive programs. In addition, the Festival offers traditional programs: DOCU/BEST (international award-winning films), DOCU/ART (films about art and artists), DOCU/YOUTH (the program for children and teenagers), and retrospectives of famous directors.
APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCEDURES
The films that participate in the Festival’s competition programs are selected by the Selection Council. The Selection Council members include professionals in the documentary industry and human rights advocacy. The order of the screenings is determined by the Festival’s Program Department.
Applications are received in several stages:
• The first deadline is on November 20.
• The second and final deadline is December 10.
The consideration of applications for the Festival’s competition programs is performed for a fee. The payment must be completed online during the application process through the FilmFreeway service. The application fee is non-refundable. As they fill in the application, the applicants can select several nominations/competitions which they want to apply for.
CONDITIONS of APPLICATION
You can only apply via the FilmFreeway service. Your application will be considered by the Selection Council only after it is completed and paid for online.
In the application form, you can upload the film directly with the application or provide a closed link in Vimeo/YouTube. Links to downloads in file-sharing services (WeTransfer, MegaUpload, etc.) will not be considered by the commission. Please make sure that your link works until the end of March 2021.
When you submit an application, you confirm that you agree with the Festival Regulations and give the Festival the right to use the materials you provided for non-commercial purposes.
All participants will receive an email about the results of the selection no later than February 20, 2021.