CALL FOR ENTRIES 2024
Preamble
IndieLisboa International Film Festival aims to contribute to the discovery in Portugal of new films and directors within the universe of independent film – both national and international.
Article 1
(Objective)
IndieLisboa intends to stimulate the public exhibition of films that are neither distributed nor exhibited within traditional circuits in Portugal. The festival gives preference to films that haven’t previously been shown in Portugal.
Article 2
(Date)
The 21st IndieLisboa will be held from May 23rd to June 2nd, 2024.
Article 3
(Sections)
3.1. The competitive sections of the festival are:
International Competition – a competition for short and feature films that have never been publicly exhibited in Portugal and completed in 2023 or 2024. First, second or third works, that are fiction, animation, documentary or experimental films, can compete, in a clear bet on emerging directors;
National Competition – a competition composed of feature and short films produced in Portugal, or made by artists with permanent residence in Portugal, finished in 2023 or 2024, preferably a world and/or national premiere;
Silvestre – a competition for established authors with more than 3 films in their career. The works that reject consecrated formulas, awaken new languages and mirror the spirit of the festival in their rebellion are shown under the wing of Silvestre;
Brand New – a competition dedicated to the discovery of new talents in Portugal among film students, self-taught authors or others who are open to the cinematographic art;
IndieJúnior – a competition for the children/youth audience (from the age of 6 months to 15 years). Animation, fiction and documentaries can compete;
Smart7 – a competition that was born from an alliance that brings together 7 festivals from 7 different European countries, and has a selection of 7 films that represent each of the member countries.
IndieMusic – a section composed mostly of documentaries about music and its protagonists;
3.2. The non-competitive sections of the festival are:
Director’s Cut – a section comprised of classic titles recently restored or rediscovered and films that reflect on cinema itself, its artistic dimensions and its history;
Mouth of Madness – the films in this section fearlessly march to the edge of the abyss, festively defying any conventions;
Rizoma – new sidebar section showcasing films that highlight relevant topics of today, established filmmakers and avant-premieres. A program aiming to gather the main audience of the festival around cinema as entertainment, reflection and debate.
Article 4
(How to apply)
4.1. All the films that meet the following conditions can apply for the IndieLisboa International Competition:
– short films (up to 59 minutes) or feature films (60 minutes or longer) that are works of fiction, animation, documentary or experimental;
– first, second and third works (excluding works developed in school context);
– produced in 2023 or 2024;
– will have their first public exhibition in Portugal at the festival.
4.2. All the films that meet the following conditions can compete for the Silvestre Competition:
– short films (up to 59 minutes) or feature films (60 minutes or longer) that are works of fiction, animation, documentary or experimental;
– fourth works or further on (excluding works carried out at schools);
– produced in either 2023 or 2024;
– will have their first public exhibition in Portugal at the festival.
4.3. All the films that meet the following conditions can compete for the National Competition:
– short films (up to 59 minutes) or feature films (60 minutes or more) that are works of fiction, animation, documentary or experimental;
– produced in 2023 or 2024;
– films of Portuguese production, or made by artists with permanent residence in Portugal;
– will have their first public exhibition in Portugal at this festival.
4.4 All the films that meet the following conditions can compete for the IndieJunior Competition:
– short films (up to 59 minutes) that are works of fiction, animation, documentary or experimental;
– produced in 2023 or 2024;
– films must be entered in the category dedicated to IndieJúnior on the FilmFreeway platform;
– will have their first public exhibition in Lisbon at this festival.
4.5 Regarding the other sections of the festival, all the films that meet the following conditions can apply:
– fiction, animation, documentary and experimental short and feature films;
– no limitations apply to the number of the previous works made by the director(s);
– produced in 2023 and 2024;
– Portuguese premieres are preferred.
4.6 The festival may, in exceptional circumstances, decide to select films that do not meet one or more of these criteria.
Article 5
(Subtitling)
5.1. Submitted films must have a screener subtitled in English (except for English spoken films).
5.2. Selected films must have a screening copy subtitled in English (except for English spoken films), except for the films selected for the IndieJunior section (that need to provide an unsubtitled exhibition copy). The Portuguese films spoken in multiple languages or in a language other than Portuguese must also provide a list of dialogues in Portuguese as a separate file (formatted at 39 characters per line).
Article 6
(Juries and awards)
6.1. The festival’s official juries, made up of personalities from the cinematographic industry, cultural sector and/or civil society, are:
a) International Feature Film Competition Jury, responsible for assigning Feature Film Grand Prize City of Lisbon and Jury's Special Award.
b) Short Film International Competition Jury, responsible for assigning the Short Film Grand Prize, Best Documentary Award, Best Fiction Award and Best Animation Award.
c) National Competition Jury, responsible for assigning Best Portuguese Feature Film, Best Director of a Portuguese Feature Film, Best Portuguese Short Film and New Talent awards.
d) Brand New Jury responsible for assigning the Brand New Award.
e) Silvestre Jury responsible for assigning Silvestre Award for Best Feature Film and Silvestre Award for Best Short Film.
f) IndieMusic Jury responsible for assigning IndieMusic Award.
6.2. Juries will be able to assign honourable mentions when deemed necessary.
6.3. There are also several unofficial juries and corresponding awards.
6.4. Individuals directly connected with the production or distribution of films presented in the competitive sections may not make part of the respective juries.
6.5. The awards given by the official juries are intended for the producer(s) of the film, with the following exceptions: a) Jury's Special Award (attributed to the international distributor, or to the production company when there is no sales agent); b) Award for Best Director and New Talent Award awarded in the context of the National Competition (attributed to the director(s)); c) the Brand New Award (attributed to the director(s)); d) Audience Award (attributed to the director(s)).
6.6. The payment of the prizes will be made according to the bank details contained in the prize certificate, and IndieLisboa is not responsible for any information provided incorrectly. Any additional bank charges related to the operation are the responsibility of the award winning.
6.7. The payment of the prizes can be made up to 180 days after the end of the festival and after the prize certificate is properly filled in, signed and submitted.
Article 7
(Submissions)
7.1. Submissions must be exclusively made online via filmfreeway.com/IndieLisboa no later than December 22nd, 2023.
7.2. The submission entry must, with no exceptions, include a screener of the film via direct digital upload to FilmFreeway or a Vimeo or YouTube link. The screener link and password must remain active until April 30th, 2024. The film in question may not be considered if this is not the case.
7.3. Please indicate if the submitted version of the film is a work in progress, if relevant.
7.4. The festival guarantees that all submitted films will be watched and considered. The festival is not responsible for the viewing statistics of platforms controlled by others.
Article 8
(Submission fee)
8.1. In order to complete the submission, the payment is required according to the deadline:
Early Bird – July 17th to August 31st, 2023
short films 10€
feature films 25€
Regular – September 1st to November 21st, 2023
short films 15€
feature films 35€
Late – November 22nd to December 22nd, 2023
short films 20€
feature films 35€ waiver only (only for films finished after November 1st)
8.2. The films with a mostly Portuguese production (shorts and features) are exempt from payment and to this effect should fill the corresponding entry form.
8.3. The entry fees are applied to each submitted film.
Article 9
(Re-entry)
In case the project was submitted and considered for the previous editions of the IndieLisboa, it can be re-submitted only in case significant changes have been made and if all eligibility requirements are met at the time of the new entry.
Article 10
(Selection)
10.1. The official selection will be announced one month prior to the festival.
10.2. After the communication of the selection and until its exhibition at the festival, the selected films must not be publicly exhibited in Portugal.
10.3. A film cannot be withdrawn from the festival after being accepted for the selection for any section of IndieLisboa.
10.4. After the acceptance of the selection, the following elements must be sent to [email protected] within 15 days after the communication of the selection:
10.5. until April 30th, 2024 the following materials must be sent to IndieLisboa International Film Festival, Casa do Cinema, Rua da Rosa, 277, 2º– 1200-385 Lisboa, Portugal:
Article 11
(Shipping and exhibition copies)
11.1. The shipping costs of materials submitted to the festival for selection purposes, as well as their return, must be paid by the person/organisation submitting the film.
11.2. IndieLisboa is responsible for covering the shipping costs of import and export of exhibition copies, in the case of physical copies, as well as their insurance. In case the film is sent to another festival afterwards, IndieLisboa is only responsible for covering the costs of the import.
11.3. All exhibition copies must remain at the festival until the end of the festival, and they will only be returned after the festival has closed and, in some cases, subject to authorization, up to one month after the festival’s closure.
11.4. Insurance for all films is at the full responsibility of the festival, in the period between the reception of a film copy by the festival until its return.
Article 12
(Publicity)
The producer (and/or the owner of the exhibition rights for film festivals) of a film that has won award(s) at the festival agrees to mention IndieLisboa and use its logo in all the publicity and press/promotion materials produced after receiving the award.
Article 13
(Extensions)
The selected films can be integrated into festival extensions within four months after the end of the event.
IndieLisboa/IndieJunior extensions are screenings of the selected films in some Portuguese cities. Non-commercial screenings that normally take place in partnerships with municipal auditoriums and film clubs, with a perspective of decentralisation.
If you do not authorize the film to make part of a festival extension, you must send an email to: [email protected] until April 30th, 2024.
Article 14
(Acceptance)
The participation in the festival implies the acceptance of all the aforementioned rules and terms.
Article 15
(Omitted cases)
The festival administration is responsible for any decisions regarding issues not covered by the above regulations, in accordance with the international rules of film festivals.
