NB! Regulations updated March 8, 2021.
PÖFF Shorts presents films in the following programmes:
International Competition programmes of short films and animation
International Competition programmes of short films and animation for students
National Competition programme for short films and animation
Non-competitive programmes, retrospectives and special presentations
Applicants for Competitive and Non-Competitive Programmes are requested to submit through FilmFreeway or any other submitting platform indicated by the festival team.
Entry applications submitted by post, e-mail or any other form except the online submission form are not considered eligible for selection.
The submission deadline for competitive and non-competitive programmes of PÖFF Shorts is 17th of August 2021.
1 SUBMISSION
FILMS MEETING THE FESTIVAL REQUIREMENTS MUST:
– Be short or half-length films (up to 45 minutes): fiction, documentary, experimental; live-action or animation.
– Completed after the 1st of January 2020 (regarding competitive programmes). Preferable Estonian premiere.
– Be presented in a HD video screening format (minimum 1920x1080px, Prores, DNxHD), DCP.
– Have English subtitles if they are not in English.
– Films submitted to the student film competitions must be directed by a film, animation or media student.
Films produced in Estonia or are Estonian-co-productions are also eligible.
The festival reserves the right to evaluate eligible films for the competition and assign the programme section for the film on a case-by-case basis.
Applicants for competitive and non-competitive programmes are requested to submit the film and required supplementary materials only via the indicated online submissions page.
Entries submitted by post, e-mail or any other form except the online submission form are not considered eligible for selection.
The festival reserves the right to refuse late submissions.
SUBMISSION DEADLINES AND FEES:
Submission fees are to be paid by secure online payment with a credit or debit card. Submission fees are non-refundable.
The early-bird submission deadline is 1st of July 2021;
The regular submission deadline is 1st of August 2021;
The late submission deadline is 16th of August 2021.
The Festival Director and the Programming Committee reserve the right to waive submission fees for selected applicants, to not comment on their decisions regarding waivers. The Festival reserves the right to select films received at any time and through any means, or process and to refuse late submissions.
If you have questions regarding the regulations or submissions process, please email shorts[a]poff.ee.
SUBMISSION MATERIALS:
For a successful submission via the submission platform the applicant is required to:
1) Fill in all fields possible and submit the entry form.
2) Provide a non-expiring screening link – with English subtitles and a password if necessary.
3) Upload high quality stills from the film (jpg).
— Format: landscape, .jpg (.png)
— Aspect ratio: 16:9
— Size: 1920 x 1020 px,1600 x 900 px or 1280 x 720 px (minimum)
4) Provide the film trailer as a non-expiring link or HD-resolution file.
5) Upload a photo of the Director (jpg).
— Format: portrait, .jpg (.png)
— Size: 214 x 317 px (IMDB’s format)
6) Upload a poster of the film (jpg) (if it exists).
— Format: portrait, .jpg (.png)
— Aspect ratio: 1,45
— Size: 555 x 800 px
2 CONFIRMATION OF FILMS AND REIMBURSEMENTS
Upon confirmation of the film, the Festival will inform the applicant no later than the 15th of October 2021.
Upon confirmation of the film to the Festival’s Competitive or Non Competitive Sections the applicant agrees to:
— Confirm participation of the film in the Festival.
— Provide all necessary information and materials (see 1. Film submission). Provide all missing information and materials from the original submission in the way and by the deadline indicated by the festival team.
— Provide the required screening copy (see 3. Technical requirements for screening copies) in the way and by the deadline indicated by the Festival team.
— Grant permission to include the screener in the festival’s video library, reserved for jury and accredited industry members only (restricted access).
— Authorize to screen the film and/or promotional materials (stills, trailer) at the Festival and at any presentation of the Festival programmes, side and promotional events in any location if organised by/or participated in and authorized by the Festival organisation.
Confirmed titles may not be withdrawn from the festival programme after its participation has been officially confirmed and the producer or producer’s authorised representative has verified confirmation of the film to the programme.
If, for exceptional reasons, the film has to be withdrawn three weeks or less before the opening of the festival, the applicant agrees to reimburse all costs to the festival related to confirmation and programming of the film including screening fee (when applicable), print delivery and handling costs as well as associated travel costs for the film delegation.
Please note that the Festival cannot guarantee the use of missing promotional materials in the Festival communications that are delivered after the deadline set by the Festival team upon confirmation of the film in the Festival.
The invoices for the film rights or print loans should be issued and delivered for payment no later than two months from the end of the festival. The festival does not accept or reimburse invoices issued after that date.
If the applicant does not provide the materials required by the Festival by the date set in regulations or by the date agreed with the festival beforehand, The Festival Director and the Programming Committee reserve the right to withdraw the film from the competition.
3 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
3.1 SCREENINGS IN CINEMAS
Screening formats for all films in all festival sections are DCP and video file. PÖFF Shorts requires both versions for it’s screenings.
Provided DCPs must be DCI compliant (http://www.dcimovies.com/) and adhere to all applicable conditions below.
DCPs must be delivered digitally. Information for digital delivery will be provided before the festival.
Tapes, Blu-rays, DVD and all other formats are not accepted as screening formats, unless there are no alternatives and with prior acknowledgement from the festival.
All films selected for the festival must be provided with English subtitles, unless they are already in English.
All screening copies for all sections, if provided with any subtitles, must have the subtitles on the active picture area and not in the letterbox area. Dubbed language copies are also refused.
The festival reserves the right to demand new DCP packages free of charge in case of non-compatible DCPs or if other quality standards are not met. These include wrongly placed or missing subtitles, or wrong soundtracks.
Unencrypted DCPs are strongly preferred. In case of encrypted DCPs, the festival requires one test KDM per film free of charge for quality assurance and technical testing for our test-screen or DKDM for laboratory testing. For quality assurance reasons KDM or DKDM is requested to be valid from the date the DCP arrives at the festival but not later than one week before the festival starts till 1 days after the festival.
The producer or film representative is requested to provide appropriate screening KDMs valid from 7 days before the start of the festival and 1 days after the festival, but not later than 72 hours prior to screenings, and 48 hours after the screening. The cost of generating all KDMs will also be the responsibility of the producers or representatives of the film.
If the festival is provided with broken or wrongly assigned KDMs, appropriate new KDMs must be provided free of charge by the film submitter or representative. Quality assurance purpose DKDM does not exempt from providing screening KDMs if not agreed upon otherwise.
The festival supports 2K and 4K content. However, not all screens have a 4K screening capability. The festival therefore cannot guarantee that all 4K films will be screened in a 4K resolution.
We can accept high-frame-rate (HFR) or 3D DCPs, however, we are only able to screen them in selected cinema halls. Please notify the festival office if you are planning on presenting a high-frame-rate DCP.
3.2 ONLINE SCREENINGS
Due to the current situation in the world, the festival also reserves the right to organise the festival online.
Festival uses a screening platform with Studio Grade DRM for screening films online.
Public viewing is geo-blocked outside of Estonia and is limited to an agreed size of the audience (amount of tickets to screening can be limited). Viewing for film professionals and international press members is accessible globally.
The festival reserves the right to refuse and withdraw the screening of the film from the competition or any other section if all requirements are not followed.
Detailed technical guidelines will be available for download along with the festival regulations on the festival website from 1st of June 2021 and also provided along with a confirmation entry form.
Our festival’s technical team, dcinema@poff.ee, will happily help with any queries for all confirmed films.
4 DELIVERY OF MATERIALS
Screening copies should be delivered electronically via indicated means by the festival team upon confirmation.
Festival accepts films uploaded to film distributors' upload environments or can provide its own upload environment. All technical questions and information regarding file formats, DCP’s and upload should be sent to dcinema@poff.ee.
The festival does not accept physical copies for films less than 50GB in file size.
In case of the exceeding file size, details about the delivery of physical copies will be given by the festival team.
5 FILM DELEGATIONS
The Festival may invite members of the crew of any film in any section providing either travel, accommodation and/or festival accreditation.
For Film Delegates in both competitive and non-competitive programmes the Festival can offer a maximum of three (free of charge) accreditations per film, with the preference given to the Director and/or Producer.
For the Film Delegates in competitive programmes the Festival can offer a maximum of two nights of accommodation at the Official Partner Hotel. The Festival does not cover travel costs.
For the Film Delegates in the non-competitive section, the Festival reserves the right to invite guests upon the decision of the Programming committee.
Accreditations need to be confirmed as soon as possible (and no later than the set deadline) after confirming the participation of the film at the festival. A fee will apply for extra or late accreditation applications.
6 AWARDS AND JURIES
PÖFF Shorts festival appoints separate juries for the Animation Competitions, Live-Action competitions and for the National Competition; the juries will choose the winners of each category respectively.
No jury member can be involved in the production or promotion of any film in the competition.
International Live-Action Competition
— Jury prize for Best Film
— Jury prize for Best Student Film (New Talents)
International Animation Competition
— Jury prize for Best Film
— Jury prize for Best Student Film (New Talents)
— Jury prize for Best Children's Film
National Competition
— Jury prize for Best Film
PÖFF Rebels With a Cause Competition short film section
— Jury prize for Best Short Film
Jury prize: EFA awards Short Film Candidate
Juries will also decide upon one European* film in eligible competitions with a candidacy in the short film category of the European Film Awards.
Winners of the International Live-Action Competition Jury prize for Best Film, International Animation Competition Jury prize for Best Film and National Competition Jury prize for Best Film will be eligible to apply for consideration for the annual Academy Awards should they fit the eligibility criteria as determined by the Academy.
Winners of PÖFF Shorts Competition programmes are given priority status for consideration for the PÖFF main competitions in the future.
The awards and jury members will be announced by the Festival Director no later than during the opening press conference of the Festival.
*European according to the rules of European Film Academy, meaning both EU and non-EU, and shall include Israeli and Palestinian.
7 USING THE FESTIVAL LOGO
Films that have premiered at Black Nights Film Festival are welcome to use the official logo of the festival in their film’s publicity and promotional materials. We ask not to modify or alter the logo without prior written permission from the Festival.
www.shorts.poff.ee
shorts@poff.ee