The third edition of the Film O’Clock International Festival takes place between February 28 and March 4, 2023, simultaneously in seven countries united by the 25th meridian east, in the same time zone: Romania, Lithuania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt, and South Africa through the distribution of the festival’s agenda in seven partner cinemas / physical partner venues. Even if Film O’Clock was born as a hybrid event, the strategy of the 2023 edition is to focus on physical spaces, and to return to cinemas. We understand that the entire planet has missed the interaction in the cinema. We all missed the physical meeting that helps establish better the connection between filmmakers and viewers and eventually between each other. We understand the value of live communication in person, which is difficult to convey in text format or using emoticons. The moment has come to meet in person. As we already set from the very beginning, the festival’s programme contains only films produced in these countries, the focus being on films whose authors share a strong artistic vision, and different forms of cinematic storytelling. The concepts that form the base for Film O’Clock International Festival have two main drives: film as a narrative device for steering emotions and ideas, and quality time – spent together, the most valuable resource. Although positioned on the same meridian we are rarely aware of the fact that we share the same time with people that are far away both geographically and culturally – and that exactly this time, the founding idea of the festival, can bring us closer. The Festival is an annual event, competitive and non-specialized, and the third edition of the festival is organized and produced by Creatrix Fama and ABI Foundation. The Festival programme contains a short film competition and a series of non-competitive special projections of classics for the feature length films. We respect the cinema heritage of each country and we wish to bring into the spotlight classic films because we really believe that they have shaped and enriched the cinema culture. The main prize will be awarded by the public through its vote. A special prize will be rewarded by the Festival’s organizers for a short film that brings an innovative vision that promotes cinematic excellence. Additional scheduling will contain Q&A sessions with the representatives of the films selected in the Festival, and two industry events, which will be held online.
General Rules:
1. The short films can be individually subscribed into the competition filling the application form from the Festival’s website: www.FoC-IFF.com until January 16th, 2023. The selection collective will choose up to 18 short films for the International Short Film Competition. The selected films must be mainly produced from at least one of the following countries: Romania, South Africa, Egypt, Greece, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Lithuania.
2. Production of the selected short films must have finished after January 1, 2021.
3. Each film will be followed by a Q&A session with the creative team and other special guests, streamed online and simultaneously through the Festival’s communication channels. The attendance at the Q&A session of at least one member of the crew team is required.
4. The preselection notice shall be communicated to the distributor/ film producer by the end of January 2023.
5. Disclosure of a film’s preselection and final selection to third parties is not allowed before the publication of the official selection on the Festival’s website: www.FoCIFF.com.
6. A film confirmed in the public schedule of the Festival – competition and special projections – can’t be withdrawn.
7. The projection’s schedule and the order of the films in the projection is established by the Festival.
8. The Festival has the right to project the short films selected for the competition twice during the Festival in the seven venues in the participating countries. The winning short films will be projected one more time after the Closing Ceremony.
9. The schedule established by the selection collective will be officially announced by mid-February 2023, the latest.
10. The films’ screenings will be in physical venues, in one venue in each of the seven participating countries (Lithuania, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt and South Africa), according to the technical specifications established by the Festival. The screening copy must be delivered by the film director/ producer along with the subtitle files/dialogue list in English and in the film’s original language.
11. The screening copy must be sent online according to the technical specs sent by the Festival, and no later than the deadline established by the Festival, in order to assure the best organizing conditions.
12. The Festival reserves the right to use stills and video excerpts for the promotion of the film and the Festival (max 3 minutes).
13. The audience will choose through on gross value of 7 00site vote: THE BEST SHORT FILM prize with a Euro. The prize will be awarded to the producer le gal person. The Jury individual or 500 prize offered by the organizers, with a gross value of Euro, will be awarded to the director. There are no financial compensations except the prizes listed above.
14. The participation confirmation means the acceptance of the cu rrent regulations, including the confirmation that the distributor/ producer owns the distribution rights for all territories participating in the Festival and that the image rights of the persons in the film have been cleared.
15. The Festival reserves the right to change these Regulations at any time and without notification.
Deadline: January 16, 2023
Submissions here
