Submission Regulations

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (“MIFF”)

SUBMISSION REGULATIONS FOR THE 65^TH ANNUAL MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (“FESTIVAL”)

28 JULY TO 14 AUGUST 2016

THESE REGULATIONS GOVERN THE SUBMISSION OF ALL FILMS FOR CONSIDERATION FOR THE FESTIVAL AND YOU ARE REQUIRED TO PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING REGULATIONS CAREFULLY TO CONFIRM YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE SAME PRIOR TO SUBMISSION OF ANY FILMS.

FILM SUBMISSIONS

Definition of Short and Feature

A film is considered a Short if it is 40 minutes or less.

A film is considered a Feature if it is 41 minutes or more.

A Short and a Feature shall individually be referred to as a “Film” unless otherwise specified to the contrary.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for consideration, all Films must meet the following requirements: 

• The Film has been completed after 1 January 2015.
• The Film has not and will not be screened in the state of Victoria, Australia, in any form or duration prior to 15 August 2016. This includes television and internet broadcasting. The only exceptions to this requirement are for private cast and crew screenings, and film school graduation screenings.
• The Film is in original language, with English subtitles if the original language is not English.

NB: Under special circumstances the Festival reserves the right to program Films that do not fulfil all of the above requirements. Any Film that does not meet the eligibility requirements above but which is accepted for inclusion in the Festival shall be at the discretion of the Festival and is not something filmmakers can lobby for.

Submission Methods

Submissions are accepted by MIFF by the following methods only:

1. Directly via the MIFF website links;
2. Through the Without a Box website at www.withoutabox.com. You shall be required to have a registered account with the Without A Box website to use this service.

Submission Deadlines & Fees

Payments

• Payment of all applicable Entry Fees must be made at the time of submission of the Film in Australian currency.
• All Entry Fees are payable by Mastercard or Visa only. MIFF does not accept payments via PayPal or through any other payment method.
• Only submissions accompanied by the correct Entry Fee, and received by the allocated deadline, will be considered. Films submitted without payment WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED and the submission will be deleted.
• Please note MIFF does not offer fee waivers.

BY ACCEPTING THESE REGULATIONS YOU UNDERSTAND THE SUBMISSION FEE CANNOT BE REFUNDED.

Preview Screener formats

Please supply 1 copy of your Film on only one of the following formats:

OPTION 1 (PREFERRED FORMAT): Secure online link using Vimeo (preferred) or private YouTube.

• MUST be password protected with no time restrictions applied before 15 August 2016. If the password expires before this date you will not be contacted and MIFF may not be able to consider the Film for selection.
• Links must be emailed to submissions@miff.com.au.
• If you have submitted through the Without a Box website, please do not upload the film to the Without a Box website. Please email as above and include the WAB tracking number.

OR

OPTION 2: DVD (region free).

• One DVD per submitted Film, with the DVD clearly labeled with the Film title, director, run time. 
• If you have submitted through the Without a Box website, please also include the WAB tracking number.
• Please test your DVD on a stand-alone DVD player before sending it and ensure it is packaged so that it won’t be damaged in transit. If the DVD does not play due to damage or technical errors then you will not be contacted and MIFF may not be able to consider the Film for selection.
• DVDs can be sent via post only to:

      Melbourne International Film Festival, Submissions
      GPO Box 4982
      Melbourne, VIC, 3001
      AUSTRALIA

• MIFF will not pay freight or customs charges for preview DVDs.
• MIFF is unable to return screener DVDs.

MIFF does not accept submissions on any format or via any other mode of delivery other than the two Options outlined above. If you submit a Film in a format other than a Vimeo/YouTube link or DVD then you will not be contacted and MIFF may not be able to consider the Film for selection.

Preview Screener deadlines

• Your Film preview screener must be received by MIFF no later than 14 days post the deadline for the submission period you are submitting under.
  • Early Bird submissions screener deadline: 24 December 2015
  • Regular submissions screener deadline: 25 February 2016
  • Late submissions screener deadline: 1 April 2016
  • If your Film preview screener is not received by the appropriate deadline, your submission will be deleted and the Entry Fee for the submission will not be refunded.

Works-in-progress & 'rough cuts'

MIFF accepts submission of Works in Progress (WIPs) only if the following conditions have been met:

• The Film must be at least at picture lock stage.
• The submission is made during the late submissions period ONLY.  If a WIP is submitted during Early or Regular submissions period, MIFF reserves the right to disregard the submission and the Entry Fee for the submission will not be refunded.
• You accept that the rough cut is the ONLY VERSION you can submit. MIFF will not accept further cuts of the Film as you complete them. Please think very carefully about whether or not you should submit the Film as a WIP (see Prior Submissions below).

Prior Submissions

If a Film has been previously submitted to MIFF for consideration for an earlier year of the Festival, it is not eligible for submission to MIFF for the 2016 Festival.  This also applies to WIPs that have previously been submitted, even with significant changes.

Film Selection

Festival programmers select and invite all Films presented at MIFF.  All filmmakers selected to participate will be notified by email at the Festival’s discretion.  All filmmakers will be notified via email by late June 2016 about the final outcome of their submission.  If your contact details change during the submissions period please inform MIFF at submissions@miff.com.au so MIFF can update its records.

MIFF’s selection decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into.  MIFF shall have the right to select and invite films for the Festival in MIFF’s sole discretion.  MIFF does not provide critical analysis or feedback in relation to any submission.

Screening Formats

If the Film is selected to screen at the 2016 Festival, it must be available in one of the following formats:

• 35mm;
• 16mm;
• DCP (DCI Compliant).

All digital files for invited Films screening at the Festival must be sent as unlocked DCPs. 

MIFF will not download or accept digital files sent via ftp.

Shipping and Customs

MIFF will only pay the in-bound freight and customs charges for Films invited to the Festival and for which any invitation has been formally accepted.

Insurance

• MIFF will only insure prints/DCPs of Films invited to the Festival and for which any invitation has been formally accepted, for the duration of the Films stay in Australia and during transit to the Festival.
• Please note that MIFF will not pay any rental or screening fees for submitted films. If you are using a third-party distribution or sales agency to send your Film to MIFF, you are responsible for any fees they charge and MIFF shall have no liability in respect of such fees.

Screenings

MIFF will have the right in its sole discretion to schedule any number of screenings of any submitted Film.

SHORT FILM COMPETITION INFORMATION

MIFF is an Academy Awards®, BAFTA and AACTA accredited festival. 

All Films less than 40 minutes long (including credits) and eligible for Festival selection (see eligibility requirements above) will be considered as Shorts and will screen at the Festival in competition.

The Festival Artistic Director and Short Film Programmer will select Shorts from the official competition program to be submitted to the Short Film Awards Jury.  The shortlisted Shorts will not be made public. The Jury’s processes, discussions and deliberations are strictly confidential and no discussion will be entered into regarding their decisions.

The award winners will be announced during the MIFF Shorts Awards Ceremony during the Festival.

The short films competition are competing for the following prizes:

• Grand Prix for Best Short Film (Academy Awards® Accredited);
• Award for Best Australian Short Film (Academy Awards® Accredited);
• Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker;
• Award for Best Fiction Short Film;
• Award for Best Animation Short Film;
• Award for Best Documentary Short Film (Academy Awards® Accredited);
• Award for Best Experimental Short Film.

The prizes and accreditation status are subject to change in MIFF’s sole discretion and without further notice.