Dear Asian filmmakers, the Sundance Film Festival (USA) is accepting Short Films (until September 6th, 2024), Episodic Content (until September 20th, 2024), and Feature Films (until September 23rd, 2024).
* Note in this article we will only post information for International productions. Requirements for American films can be found at the Sundance Film Festival’s website. We also encourage filmmakers and producers to read the complete Rules and Regulations from the Sundance website*
General Rules and Regulations for Submitting a Film:
– If 50% or more of the Project’s financing originated from sources within the United States, the Project may only be submitted in one of the following categories: U.S. Narrative Feature Films, U.S. Documentary Feature Films, U.S. Short Films, Episodic Content (60 minutes or less), or Episodic Content (over 60 minutes). Institute reserves the right to consider the Project for any Festival program, regardless of the submission category selected.
– If more than 50% of the Project’s financing originated from sources outside of the United States, the Project may only be submitted in one of the following categories: International Narrative Feature Films, International Documentary Feature Films, International Short Films, Episodic Content (60 minutes or less), or Episodic Content (over 60 minutes). Institute reserves the right to consider the Project for any Festival program, regardless of the submission category selected.
– If the Project’s final running or exhibition time is projected to be 50 minutes or more, the Project may only be submitted in one of the following categories: International Narrative Feature Films, International Documentary Feature Films, or Episodic Content (over 60 minutes).
– If the Project’s final running time is projected to be less than 50 minutes, the Project may only be submitted in one of the following categories: International Short Films, or Episodic Content (over 60 minutes).
– Incomplete versions of International Narrative and Documentary Feature Films that have been or will be screened as “works-in-progress” still retain Festival eligibility.
– International Narrative and Documentary Feature Films that have been or will be exhibited theatrically at one or more private screenings for which tickets were or will not be made available to the general public retain eligibility for submission to the Festival in all categories.
– International Narrative and Documentary Feature Films that have been or will be released via any home video or public distribution platform (including, but not limited to, Blu-ray, DVD, digital download, streaming, or video on demand) or broadcast on television in any country prior to February 3, 2025 are not eligible for submission to the Festival unless the version submitted is significantly different from the version that was previously made available to the general public. The Institute shall have the sole authority and discretion to determine whether a Project that was previously released via any method described above has been changed significantly from the previously released or broadcast version. The Institute reserves the sole and exclusive right to determine a previously released or broadcast project’s eligibility, without refund of any or all submission fees previously collected from the Applicant, based on the content of the submitted version of the Project as compared with the previously released or broadcast version.
– International Narrative and Documentary Feature Films that have been or will be exhibited theatrically, broadcast on television, or screened at other festivals within their country of origin prior to February 3, 2025 are eligible for open submission to the Festival in their respective categories of submission.
– International Narrative and Documentary Feature Films that have been or will be exhibited theatrically, screened at other festivals, broadcast or streamed on television or the Internet anywhere outside of their country of origin prior to February 3, 2025 are not eligible for open submission to the Festival.
– Short Films do not need to retain any sort of premiere status. U.S. and International Short Films do not forfeit their eligibility for submission to the Festival if they were previously exhibited theatrically or via any home video platform, made available for digital download, broadcast or streamed on television or the internet, or screened at any number of festivals anywhere in the world.
– Projects submitted to the Episodic Content (60 minutes or less) or Episodic Content (over 60 minutes) categories that originate from within the United States are not eligible for the Festival if the entirety of the submitted content has been made available to the general public in any form, including theatrical exhibition, television broadcast, home video, internet streaming, or digital download prior to February 3, 2025.
– Projects submitted to the Episodic Content (60 minutes or less) or Episodic Content (over 60 minutes) categories that originate from outside of the United States remain eligible if any of the submitted content has been released only within their country of origin or not released at all via any platform (broadcast television, Blu-ray, DVD, streaming, VOD, etc.) prior to February 3, 2025.
– Projects completed prior to January 1, 2023, are not eligible for submission to the Institute for 2025 Sundance Festival consideration.
– Projects that have been submitted for Festival consideration in previous years are eligible for re-submission for 2025 Festival consideration only if the content of the submitted Project has changed significantly since the previous year in which the Project was submitted.
– Applicants submitting Projects that contain significant non-English spoken dialogue must provide on-screen English subtitles.
Submission Categories & Eligibility Requirements:
International Narrative Feature Films:
– Any narrative or non-scripted work of fiction originating from outside of the United States with a running time of 50 minutes or more. In order to qualify as an International Narrative Feature Film, the submitted project must be either scripted or improvisational fiction, or a fictionalization of actual events, and at least half of the project’s financing must originate from outside of the United States. Only films retaining international premiere status are eligible for open submission to this category. Completed films that have been or will have been exhibited theatrically (festival or otherwise) outside of the film’s country or countries of origin prior to February 3, 2025 are not eligible for open submission to this category. Films that have been or will have been made available to the general public in a non-theatrical form, either for free or for purchase, prior to February 3, 2025 are not eligible to submit to this category. This includes, but is not limited to, television broadcast, home video, or any digital or online platform in any country or countries.
International Documentary Feature Films:
– Any nonfiction film originating from outside of the United States with a running time of 50 minutes or more. If your documentary contains re-enactments or other fictionalized depictions of actual events, you may submit it to this category, but we will ultimately decide which of our Festival programs is best suited for your project, if accepted. In order to qualify as an International Documentary Feature Film, at least half of the submitted project’s financing must originate from outside of the United States. Only films retaining international premiere status are eligible for open submission to this category. Completed films that have been or will have been exhibited theatrically (festival or otherwise) outside of the film’s country or countries of origin prior to February 3, 2025 are not eligible for open submission to this category. Films that have been or will have been made available to the general public in a non-theatrical form, either for free or for purchase, prior to February 3, 2025 are not eligible to submit to this category. This includes, but is not limited to, television broadcast, home video, or any digital or online platform in any country or countries.
International Short Films:
– Any film or video project originating from outside of the United States with a running time of less than 50 minutes, including credits. This includes scripted or improvisational fiction, nonfiction or documentary, experimental film or video, animation, music video, or any other short-form film or video project. In order to qualify as an International Short Film, at least half of the submitted project’s financing must originate from outside of the United States. Short films have no premiere requirements or prior screening restrictions that impact Festival eligibility and may have been screened at any number of festivals or other public theatrical exhibitions, broadcast or streamed on television or the Internet, and/or released via any home video or other public distribution platform anywhere in the world.
Episodic Content (60 minutes or less):
– Any live-action, documentary/nonfiction, or animation project presented in or intended to be presented in a multi-episode format, with a total running time of 60 minutes or less. This includes pilots, pilot presentations, multi-episode series, web series, docu-series, or any other film or video project created to unfold over multiple episodes. Projects submitted to this category may consist of single or multiple episodes, but the total running time must not exceed 60 minutes in length. Submitted projects may originate from anywhere in the world, but multi-episode submissions must be delivered digitally as one single and continuous video file or link, not to exceed 10GB in size. Should you choose to submit single or multiple episodes of your project to this category and further episodes will eventually become available, we will only consider submitted episodes with a total running time of 60 minutes or less. Projects originating from within the United States are not eligible to submit to this category if the submitted content has been or will be made available in its entirety to the general public via any public theatrical exhibition or any broadcast, home video, or digital/online platform prior to February 3, 2025. Projects originating from outside of the United States remain eligible if any or all of the submitted content has been released only within the project’s country or countries of origin or not released at all. If some but not all of the episodes have been exhibited theatrically or made available via any other public platform, you may only submit episodes that have not been exhibited theatrically or otherwise released to the public. For example, if the first season of your series is available online, you may only submit episodes from a subsequent season that have not been released to the public in any form.
Episodic Content (over 60 minutes):
– Any live-action, documentary/nonfiction, or animation project presented in or intended to be presented in a multi-episode format, with a total running time that exceeds 60 minutes. This includes pilots, multi-episode series, web series, docu-series or any other film or video project created to unfold over multiple episodes. Submitted projects may consist of single or multiple episodes, and there are no restrictions regarding the total running time of episodes submitted. Projects submittedto this category may originate from anywhere in the world, but multi-episode submissions must be delivered digitally as one single and continuous video file or link, not to exceed 10GB in size. Projects originating from within the United States are not eligible to submit to this category if the submitted content has been or will be made available in its entirety to the general public via any public theatrical exhibition or any broadcast, home video, or digital/online platform prior to February 3, 2025. Projects originating from outside of the United States remain eligible if any or all of the submitted content has been released only within the project’s country or countries of origin or not released at all. If some but not all of the episodes have been exhibited theatrically or made available via any other public platform, you may only submit episodes that have not been exhibited theatrically or otherwise released to the public. For example, if the first season of your series is available online, you may only submit episodes from a subsequent season that have not been released to the public in any form.
– Submission Fees & Deadlines:
Notification Date: December 4, 2024
We recommend filmmakers to read the full Rules and Regulations here: Official PDF File
To submit to the festival please go to: https://filmfreeway.com/Sundance
We remind readers that the Sundance Film Festival will take place from January 23 – February 2, 2025 in person in Park City, United States.
To see other Calls please follow the next link: “Call For Entries”.
Categories: Call for Entry
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