I. General statements
1. 17th Węgiel Film Festival will take place in Katowice (Poland) from the 16th to the 17th of April 2020.
2. The festival is organized by students of Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School (University of Silesia in Katowice).
II. Competition requirements
1. The festival is open to student short film productions (the director must be a student during the shooting) from all over the world produced after the 1st of January 2018.
2. There is no limit to the amount of films that a filmmaker or film school may register.
3. Fiction, documentary, animated and experimental student films with a running time no longer than 30 min. in length are eligible.
4. In order to be admitted, the materials must be in English or presented with English subtitles.
5. The film’s submitter must own copyrights to the film and they must not violate third person’s copyrights, otherwise they will bear all the responsibility for it.
6. Festival organizer may add Polish subtitles to the selected films.
7. The Festival does not pay screening fees as it is non-profit.
8. The Festival may use the stills, film excerpts and any other visual material (e.g. trailers, teasers) of the selected films to promote the event and create the festival's promotional material.
III. Submission of films
1. Films must be submitted via FilmFreeway and screeners must be password protected and not available for public online stream. All registrations are to be made online. It is no longer required to send a signed registration form.
2. The deadline for submission is 19th January 2020.
3. The film’s submission to the Festival is free of charge.
4. Once a film has been submitted for participation it cannot be withdrawn.
IV. Notification
1. The festival will not confirm the receipt of submissions and preview copies. We kindly ask you to refrain from calling or emailing us to confirm the receipt of your material. All applicants will be notified via e-mail about the selection or rejection of their film until the 14th February 2020.
2. Films have to be available for Festival screening in the DCP or similar standard.
3. Copies of selected films must be sent before 10th March 2020 as a file transfer to the email address: anna.huth@us.edu.pl
V. Awards
1. Films will be judged by the Jury, composed of professionals working in film industry.
2. The verdict will be announced during official ending ceremony.
3. The prizes will be granted in four categories:
- Best Feature Film
- Best Cinematography
- Best Documentary
4. The Jury has right to grant Special Mentions.
5. The Audience’s Prize and The Organizer’s Prize will also be granted.
6. Only the award of honor will be sent if the author will not be present at the official ending ceremony.
7. Uncollected prizes (except of diplomas) are under disposal of the jury, and it may be granted to another film.
VI. Ending statements
1. The submission of the film is equivalent to acceptance of the regulations.
2. Festival organizer undertakes to comply with all laws relating to the use of films admitted to the competition.
3. The submitted film will be shown during the festival and its fragments may also be used in promotion materials (3 min. max).
4. The submitter of the film is responsible for all duties or taxes connected with sending the film to the festival.