1. Festival programming staff will select and invite films at their discretion. Films must be principally acted or directed by a person of African descent from any country. African descent means anyone with a degree of African blood, African American blood, or black peoples blood in general regardless of culture. Entrants will be notified, if selected, via email, on or before December 20, 2019. If your film is not selected you may or may not be notified. Please feel free to email us regarding your film’s status after December 21, 2019.
2. Online previews accepted in FilmFreeway. All physical preview copies must be submitted to us in Blu-ray format only. Preview means the copy we will use to review your film for acceptance or not. Do not submit a Blu-ray copy with any type of disclaimer message which flashes on the screen. For example, “Preview Only” or any other type of disclaimer message stating that your copy is for preview purposes only. These types of flashing messages on preview copies is distracting to the film jury panel. Your film will be disqualified if your preview copy includes any type of flashing messages related to the copy being for preview purposes only.
3. If selected, filmmakers are expected to provide the following:
NTSC Region 1 Only (No PAL) (a) Exhibition/Screening copy. This means the actual copy of your film that will be used to screen at our theatre. The format is DCP (unlocked). If locked, the code must be provided. Again, we screen films only in the DCP format.
(b) Your film’s trailer: MP4 only. No .Mov will be accepted. Upon acceptance only, please upload your film’s trailer to either WeTransfer (free service) or similar uploading service and email us an invite or link. (Youtube linked trailers or Vimeo trailers are not acceptable). If your film has not been accepted, please do not email us any trailer link. It be will discarded.
(c) Stills (300dpi). Please upload your film’s stills to WeTransfer or similar uploading service. If your film has not been yet been accepted, please do not email us your stills link. It will be discarded.
(d) Upon acceptance please send us your film’s poster and/or postcards. (Note: poster and postcards are optional. Hard copies only, no electronic files). However, posters are a plus in order properly promote your film.
(e) Upon acceptance, FedEx, UPS, or Express Mail your DCP screening copy to the festival. (Please send two screening/exhibition DCPs. One will be used as backup if needed). All DCPs will be returned pursuant to our return policy.
NOTE: Upon acceptance of your film; your film’s trailer, stills and other materials may be used during the Festival for promotional purposes and in subsequent years for festival promotional purposes. Selected films may be screened multiple times during the course of the Festival at the festival’s discretion. Your press kit material and film may be used to promote the following year’s event, or subsequent years. In addition, your Blu-ray copy will not be returned, but may be archived for research and historical purposes.
RETURN OF YOUR DCP
Your screening copy (DCP) may be returned by having you personally retrieve the DCP after screening or on the last day of the festival. Or by providing us a pre-paid mailer with sufficient postage at the time of submission of your DVP. The San Diego Black Film Festival is not responsible for lost films or damage to any films during shipping, handling, or screening.
SCREENING FEES
The festival will not waive fees and will not pay rental fees under any circumstances. Rather, we devote our resources to producing the best possible showcase for your work and promoting your work as widely as possible with distribution of your product in mind.