Submissions for non-Turkish productions 2016 - Terms & Conditions

You need to read and agree to the terms and regulations of the festival
before proceeding to submitting your film. The proceed button is below.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS
1. Dates
The 35th Istanbul Film Festival, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and
Arts, and recognised as a specialised competitive event by FIAPF, will take place 717 April 2016.
2. Aim
The aim of the Festival is to encourage the development of cinema in Turkey and to
promote the commercial distribution of films of quality in the Turkish market.
3. Programme
The programme of the 35th Istanbul Film Festival consists of the following sections:
a) The International Golden Tulip Competition open only to fiction, documentary, or
animated films on arts (literature, theatre, music, dance, cinema, plastic arts), or
literary adaptations;
b) Turkish Cinema 2015-2016, which includes the subsections Documentaries, New
Turkish Cinema and the National Golden Tulip Competition;
c) The Council of Europe Film Award (FACE) Competition within the Human Rights in
Cinema section;
d) Non-competitive, informative sections. Fiction features and documentaries can be
selected for these sections.
e) Thematic sections.
4. International Golden Tulip Competition
a) Fiction, documentary, or animated films (on arts, artists, or literary adaptations)
in DCP (Digital Cinema Package) format and a minimum duration of 60 minutes, or
in 35mm with an optical soundtrack and a minimum length of 1,600 m can be
selected for the competition.
b) The final decision for selection and scheduling will be taken by the Festival
Directorate. Producers, directors, distributors, film institutes, and embassies may
propose titles.

c) All films in the competition will be screened at the Festival in their original
versions, with English and Turkish subtitles.

d) Films will not be considered if released before 1 January 2015, or already released
in Turkey, excluding entries from Turkey.
e) Films in the competition will be judged by an international jury composed of
directors, writers, producers, actors, critics, film historians, and others known for
their involvement in cinema.
f) The jury presents the Golden Tulip Award in memory of akir Eczacba as the
Grand Prize of the International Competition to the director of the selected film. This
prize cannot be shared. The jury may also give the Special Jury Prize for a specific
contribution by a director. This prize cannot be shared.
g) The International Golden Tulip Competition will be supported by the Eczacba
Group with a total monetary award of 25,000 Euros. This amount will be distributed
as follows:
10,000 Euros to the director of the film which wins the akir Eczacba Golden
Tulip Award;
10,000 Euros to the Turkish distributor of the winning film;
5,000 Euros to the director of the film which wins the Special Jury Prize.
h) The directors of competing films will be guests of the Festival for 4 days.
5. Film Award of the Council of Europe (FACE)
a) The FACE award is intended to honour an artistic or documentary film that
promotes human rights in accordance with the values of the Council of Europe and
the principles of individual freedom, political liberty and the rule of law.
The FACE award will be offered to a film selected from entries in the Human Rights
in Cinema section of the festival. This includes films investigating social changes
and individual dramas.
b) The jury, upon judging the films, will present to the director of the winning film
the FACE award, which includes a sculpture in bronze (created by Freddy Ruhlman,
entitled "Spirale de l'lvation"), and a cash prize of 10,000 Euros partly financed by
Eurimages, the Council of Europe fund for the co-production, distribution and
exhibition of European cinematographic works.
c) Films that meet the following conditions will be considered for the Film Award of
the Council of Europe (FACE) competition:

 Human rights-themed fiction or documentary films released between 1 February

2015 and 1 February 2016;
Films in DCP and minimum 60 minutes length, or in 35mm with optical soundtrack
and a minimum length of 1,600 m.
Films which have participated to or have received awards in other festivals are
eligible.

6. Participation to the Festival

Films can also be selected for non-competitive sections of the Festival. Producers,
directors, distributors, film institutes, and embassies may propose titles. (The
deadline for application is 31 December 2015.)
In order to apply for consideration, interested parties should preferably send an
online screener link through the Eventival submission system, or a full-length
preview DVD (PAL format) of the film with appropriate printed material (press kit,
brochure, etc.) These tapes and documents will not be returned.
7. Insurance
The Festival is responsible for the insurance of the prints selected, from the moment
they are received by the Festival to the moment they are collected by the
forwarding agent.
Should a print be lost or damaged, the Festivals responsibility could be engaged
only to the extent of the value indicated by the producer on the submission form. If
the entrant does not send the submission form to the Festival until 1 February 2016,
the print will be valued by the insurance company on USD 2,500.
8. Transport for confirmed titles
a) Film copies confirmed to be screened at the Festival must arrive in Istanbul for
checking, translation and press screenings by 15 March 2016.
b) Both way shipment costs of the prints will be paid by the Festival only if the prints
are sent from and returned to their sources.
c) In case the copy is shared with another festival, the Istanbul Film Festival will pay
for the return transportation charges only. The films must be sent prepaid by the
other festival. No collect shipments are accepted unless authorised by the Istanbul

Film Festival. Storage, customs, insurance and handling charges in Turkey will be
covered by the Istanbul Film Festival.
d) Films will be returned within two weeks after the closing of the Festival. The
consignee will be notified of the shipping details. The Festival is not responsible for
storage fees at the airport.
e) Copies and air waybills should be sent directly to the Festivals address below:
Istanbul Film Festival
Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts
Sadi Konuralp C. No.5
ihane 34433 stanbul, TURKEY
Phone: +90 (212) 334 07 20
Fax: +90 (212) 334 07 02
E: film.fest@iksv.org
f) The DCP copies must be sent to the Festival in their original hardcover cases
clearly labeled with the title of the film. The entrant should send a notice of dispatch
by airmail, e-mail or fax to the secretariat of the Festival indicating the title, date
and way of shipment.
9. Rights
Films not meeting the technical requirements for public screening may be
disqualified.
Participation in the 35th Istanbul Film Festival implies the acceptance of these
regulations.
All issues not covered by these general regulations will be resolved by the Istanbul
Foundation for Culture and Arts in accordance with the international regulations of
FIAPF for film festivals.
NATIONAL COMPETITION
A National Competition is held among the films screened in the Turkish Cinema
section of the Istanbul Film Festival.
1. Date
The 35th Istanbul Film Festival will be held 7-17 April 2016.
2. Aim

The aim of the Golden Tulip National Competition is to encourage the realisation of
highly qualified films of art in Turkey, to support the development thereof; to make
sure that the qualified products of the cinema of Turkey reach the viewers; to
provide for these films to be screened for international film critics, festival directors,
representatives of distributors and televisions; and thus contribute to the foreign
promotion of the cinema of Turkey.
3. Awards
a) The jury, upon evaluation of the films participating in the National Competition,
selects the Best Film and Best Director to present them with the Golden Tulip Award.
The first runner-up is given the Special Jury Prize. The jury also gives the Best
Actress, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematographer, Best Editing, and Best
Music awards.
- In the appraisal for the Best Film and the Best Director, the jury may present both
awards to different films as well as giving both to the same film.
A monetary prize of 150,000 TL and the Golden Tulip Award are presented to the
producer of the Best Film. This award is given to a single film, and cannot be shared.
The jury also presents a director deemed appropriate, the Golden Tulip Best Director
Award and 50,000 TL. This award is also given to the director of a single movie, and
cannot be shared.
- The jury, along with the main awards, bestows a Special Jury Prize in memory of
Onat Kutlar. This award cannot be shared; it is given to a single film. Efes delivers a
monetary prize of 60,000 Turkish Liras to the producer of the selected film.
- In principal, the Jury evaluates leading parts for the Best Actress and Best Actor
categories. However, these awards can be given to supporting parts of
extraordinary performances. The Best Actress and Best Actor thus selected are
bequeathed an honorary plaque and a monetary prize of TL 10,000 each.
- Those selected by the jury in the Best Screenplay, Best Cinematographer, Best
Editing, and Best Music categories will be bequeathed an honorary plaque each.
b) Debut fiction films from Turkey featured in the festivals Golden Tulip
International, Golden Tulip National, Turkish Cinema-Out of Competition, New Turkish
Cinema, and Human Rights in Cinema sections are eligible for the Seyfi Teoman
Best Debut Film Prize. The director of the film to win this award will be given 30.000
Turkish Liras through CMYLMZ Fikirsanat.
c) The FIPRESCI Prize: The jury comprising of members of the International
Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) evaluates the films participating in the National
Competition and selects the best film.

4. Conditions of Participation
For the films to participate in the National Golden Tulip Competition, the following
conditions are envisaged:
a) Turkish feature films realised between 1 February 2015 and 31 January 2016 can
participate to the Festival. For a film (or a co-production) to be deemed Turkish
production, it must possess at least one of the below qualities:
i. The local producers share should be at least 51%; or,
ii. The technical and artistic contribution of the local producer should obtain at
least 14 points out of a possible 22 with regards to the below National Film Technical
and Artistic Contribution Chart:

ITEM
POINTS
Director
3
Scriptwriter
3
Original score composer
1
Lead actor 1
3
Lead actor 2
2
Character actor
1
Artistic director
1
Director of photography

1
Editor
1
Sound Engineer
1
Location
1
Laboratory
1
Language used (Turkish)
3

b) The films should at least be 60 minutes long, in DCP or 35 mm format, and fit to
be commercially screened in movie theatres.
c) Films which have won a Best Film Award at another festival are not eligible for the
competition. Films which have participated to, or have won awards at any other
Istanbul festival, which have been shown at a national TV station (including
subscription channels), or have been distributed on DVD are not eligible for the
programme.
d) Films that have been publicly known as the production of a country other than
Turkey at national or international festivals in the world and/or commercially
circulated as such are not eligible for the competition.
5. Application
The producer(s) applies to participate in the festival as the legal owner of the film. If
there are more than one legal owners, then the submission form must include the
signatures of all legal owners or their written consent in attachment. The owners
can participate in the festival with as many films as they wish.
In order for the films applying for the Festival to be promoted and to be included in
the Festival catalogue, below documentation should be submitted to the Festival
Office until Friday, 30 January 2016, 17.00 hours, along with the submission forms.

a)

Online screener link (valid for at least 3 months)

b)

Technical features

c)
DVD copies of the film subtitled in English in order for foreign guests of the
Festival to watch at the videotheque and to be kept at the Festival archive later on
(3 copies)
d)

Turkish and English synopses

e)

Press book or electronic press kit

f)

Film stills (high res)

g)
h)
i)

Directors photograph (high res)

Directors statement
Posters (5)

j)
(in case the screening copy is not subtitled in English) Dialogue list for
subtitle translation or English subtitle list
k)

Trailer or excerpt in quicktime format and an online link to such.

Turkish films are screened with English subtitles. If the owner of the film cannot
supply an English subtitled print of the film, the Festival will prepare electronic
subtitles.
The last day for submission of the prints of the films the participation of which in the
competition are finalised is one week before the Festival, at the latest. The
screening copies are submitted to the Festival Office at the KSV (Istanbul
Foundation of Culture and Arts). The films are taken back from the same place
within a week after the Festival ends. The DCP copies must be sent to the Festival in
their original hardcover cases clearly labeled with the title of the film.
6. Jury
Films to be screened for the competition are evaluated by a jury determined by the
Advisory Committee of the Istanbul Film Festival. The festival reserves the right to
not disclose information regarding the selection of films. The jury comprises film
producers, directors, screenwriters, actors, film critics, film historians, academics,
and prominent people in branches of art connected to cinema, from Turkey and
abroad.
The final judgment with respect to the inclusion of a film in the festival is entered by
the festival directorate. In order for the competition to be held, at least 6 films

should compete. If the number of films determined until 30 January 2016, the
deadline for submission, does not reach six, then the competition is not held; the
films which have applied are screened at the Festival out of competition.
The President of the Jury is appointed by the Festival Directorate. The jury
designates its own working system. Members of the jury should view the films in
competition, the screening arrangement of which is determined by the Festival
Directorate, within the duration of the Festival, in formal screenings in movie
theatres or in private screenings, individually or collectively. The Festival Directorate
keeps an observer with no voting rights at the decision-making session of the jury.
The President of the Jury, before the decision is announced, submits to the Festival
Directorate the minutes signed by all members.
7. Insurance
The Festival is responsible for the insurance of the prints selected, from the moment
they are received by the Festival to the moment they are collected by the
forwarding agent.
Should a print be lost or damaged, the Festivals responsibility could be engaged
only to the extent of the value indicated by the producer on the entry form. If the
entrant does not send the entry form to the Festival Office until 30 January 2016,
the print will be valued by the insurance company on 2,500 US Dollars.
8. Authority
The authority of any resolution concerning subjects not separately established in
the regulations belongs to the Istanbul Foundation of Culture and Arts. The Turkish
film owners, producers and directors of the Turkish films participating in the
program of the Istanbul Film Festival are considered to have accepted the rules of
these regulations.