The submitted films can be productions of independent directors, individual artists and institutional authors - film academies, film centres, film companies, distribution companies, collectives, creative associations, etc.
Up to 3 film submissions by an individual artist are allowed. Up to 5 film submissions by institutional entities are allowed.
The competition programme includes selected films that are to be screened live and online.
1. Time and place - dates, locations, spaces
The festival is held in Bulgaria, in the cities Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna and online, in the period 15 - 25 November 2020.
Main location - Sofia – competition programme and accompanying programme of the festival - 20-22 November.
Other locations - Plovdiv and Varna - screenings of selected films - 23-25 November.
Online screenings and events – 15-25 November.
2. Conditions for participation
2.1 Deadlines for submission
- Earlybird deadline - 25.05 - 30.06.2020
- Regular deadline - 01.07 - 31.08.2020
- Late deadline - 01.09 - 11.10.2020
- Notifying and announcing the selected films - 26.10.2020
2.2 Film duration
Maximum accepted film duration is 30 minutes.
2.3 Time when the films were made
The festival accepts films made after 1.01.2010.
2.4 File formats
- Submission formats – popular digital formats - MP4, AVI, MOV, MKV or any other format that is accepted by https://filmfreeway.com/.
- Selected films formats - BluRay, DCP, H264, МР4. After a film is selected to be part of the official festival programme, the organiser will contact each author in order to determine the exact technical requirements regarding the screening of their film.
If the film needs to be sent as a hardware copy, the shipping fee is to be paid by the applicant(s).
2.5 Language and subtitles
The festival’s working language is English. If an applying film is not in English, it is mandatory that it has embedded English subtitles.
For the films selected in the competition programme, the festival team will translate and produce subtitles in Bulgarian. In this case, the author must provide a timecode file in English.
For films in Bulgarian, if selected in the competition programme, it is mandatory to provide a copy with embedded subtitles in English.
2.6 Materials from the authors of selected films
The authors of films selected in the competition programme must send video and/or photo material (trailer - up to 3 minutes, poster, film stills/screenshots, other appropriate material, photos of the creators - director, cast, others if applicable), a brief presentation of the main production persons (director, cinematographer, producer, cast) and a list of the production team (credits).
When a film is selected to participate in the competition programme, IPFF is entitled to use the information (in the previous paragraph) provided by the film team for publicity and advertising purposes.
2.7 Copyright
The applicant party must have full authority to submit their film to IPFF and to own the copyright of the work, including all rights to the music used. IPFF is not responsible for any claims made by a third party regarding copyright and related rights.
The applicant party agrees that the films selected in the competition programme will be screened within the framework of the festival programme in the cities of Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna, as well as in the online edition of the festival.
The applicant party agrees that the films selected in the competition programme are kept in the archive of the festival.
2.8 Submission fees
- Earlybird deadline - 25.05 - 30.06.2020 - 10 USD
- Regular deadline - 01.07 - 31.08.2020 - 12 USD
- Late deadline - 01.09 - 11.10.2020 - 15 USD
Submission fees are not refundable.
2.9 Application procedure/platforms and notification
The application will be considered accepted upon the cumulative fulfilment of the following conditions:
- the applicant has completed all the fields required by the relevant platform;
- the applicant has paid the relevant participation fee.
When submitting a film, the applicant agrees, in the event that the film is selected in the competition programme, to give IPFF permission to download a copy or to provide a link to access the film outside/beyond the application platform. The copy or link provided will only be used for access by festival jury members.
3. Categories
The categories are 6:
- Film portrait
- Film self-portrait
- Collective portrait
- Alternative portrait
- Portrait in motion
- Portrait-of-a-film
4. Awards
The awarded films in each category are determined by an authoritative international jury.
Most Wonderful Film Award in each category - a special custom-made plastic
Digital laurels ‘International Portrait Film Festival - Most Wonderful Film Award’ in each category
Digital laurels ‘International Portrait Film Festival – Official Selection’ for all selected films
Audience Award – a favourite project chosen by the viewers in the online edition of IPFF
5. Festival organiser
Portret Films Ltd.
6. Funding
IPFF is an independent film festival that is funded and financed by Portret Films Ltd. and by submission fees from applicants. IPFF does not take advantage of any public resources, national funds or EU funds.
By submitting an application through the FilmFreeway platform, the applicant agrees to all the conditions in this RULES AND TERMS section regarding participation in IPFF.