Regulations

21st IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival

29 June – 06 July 2024

Palace of Culture - Pernik, Bulgaria

RULES & REGULATIONS

IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival is an OSCAR® Qualifying Film Festival in the categories: 

BEST SHORT FICTION FILM, International Competition

BEST SHORT ANIMATION FILM, International Competition

BEST NATIONAL SHORT FILM.

IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival is a STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS® Qualifying Festival for short films.

IN THE PALACE Festival Rules and Regulations

1. IN THE PALACE selects only films having their Bulgarian premiere at the Festival. Films publicly shown in Bulgaria or released online on free-access websites or platforms are not eligible for its competition programs. The Festival reserves the right to reject a film at any stage in the case of non-compliance with this rule.

2. The Festival accepts individual and institutional submissions (i.e. from production companies, distribution companies, film academies, national film centers, television networks, creative associations, etc.).

3. Eligible films must be completed after 1. January 2022.

4. Entry fees and deadlines */**:

DEADLINE: 31 December 2023

FEES:

SHORT FILM COMPETITIONS – 20.00 EUR

FEATURE FILMS COMPETITION – 30.00 EUR

MID-LENGHT FILMS COMPETITION – 30.00 EUR

FILM SERIES COMPETITION – 30.00 EUR

* Authors whose films have been selected in any of the past 2 editions of the Festival shall not be charged a submission fee for the ongoing call.

** Authors whose films have been awarded or nominated in previous editions of the Festival shall not be charged a submission fee.

5. IN THE PALACE accept film entries on FilmFreeway platform: https://filmfreeway.com/InThePalaceISFF

6. The Festival Competition Program includes:

I. SHORT FILM COMPETITION

National and international professional and student short films up to 40 min in length.

Eligible films must be produced after 1 January 2022.

Fiction, animation, documentary and experimental short films accepted.

Bulgarian premiere required. Films publicly shown in Bulgaria or released online on free-accesswebsites or platforms are not eligible for its competition programs. The Festival reserves the right to reject a film at any stage in the case of non-compliance with this rule.

                1. OSCAR® QUALIFYING COMPETITION

                National and international professional fiction and animation short films.

                                1.1. BEST FICTION FILM CATEGORY

                                1.2. BEST ANIMATION FILM CATEGORY

                                1.3. BEST NATIONAL FILM CATEGORY (fiction and animation films)

                2. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

                National and international professional documentary short films.

                                2.1. BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM CATEGORY

                3. EXPERIMENTAL COMPETITION

                National and international professional experimental short films.

                                3.1. BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM CATEGORY (experimental films, hybrid forms and formats, digital art works, video art)

                4. STUDENT COMPETITION (Student Academy Awards® qualifying)

                National and international student films. All genres accepted - fiction, animation, documentary and experimental (experimental films, hybrid forms and formats, digital art works, video art).

              Eligible are only films that have been completed during the study years of their directors.

                                4.1. BEST STUDENT FICTION FILM CATEGORY

                                4.2. BEST STUDENT ANIMATION FILM CATEGORY

                                4.3. BEST STUDENT DOCUMENTARY FILM CATEGORY

                                4.4. BEST STUDENT EXPERIMENTAL FILM CATEGORY

II. NOT SHORT AT ALL FILM COMPETITION 

National and international films over 40 min in length.

Eligible films must be produced after 1 January 2022.

All genres accepted.

Bulgarian premiere required. Films publicly shown in Bulgaria or released online on free-accesswebsites or platforms are not eligible for its competition programs. The Festival reserves the right to reject a film at any stage in the case of non-compliance with this rule.

                                1. MID-LENGTH FILM CATEGORY (over 40 min and up to 60 min in length)

                                2. FULL-LENGTH FILM CATEGORY (over 60 min in length)

III. FILM SERIES COMPETITION

National and international pilot or first episode.

Eligible films must be produced after 1 January 2022.

All genres accepted.

Bulgarian premier required. Films publicly shown in Bulgaria or released online on free-accesswebsites or platforms are not eligible for its competition programs. The Festival reserves the right to reject a film at any stage in the case of non-compliance with this rule.

                                1. BEST FILM SERIES CATEGORY

7. The Festival appoints a Selection Committee and a professional International Jury to assess the films to be screened at the Festival.

8. List of selected films will be published on Festival`s official web site.

9. The Festival shall not give feedback about the Selection Committee`s decisions.

10. Representatives of selected films will be notified by email.

11. All technical specifications for the screening of selected films will be sent to the email address provided in the application. Please make sure that the address you provide is correct. If you have not received any communication after the notification date, please contact us asap on films@inthepalace.com to check the status of your film. Submitters of selected films will be sent a catalogue form to fill in and should be prepared to provide: a screening copy of the film in popular digital format, English subtitles burned in the file (including for the ones with English dialogue), a dialogue list and a .TXT/.SRT with time code English subtitle file, a poster, a trailer, 3 stills in 300 ppi print size quality min. 1300px – width, a photo of the Director in 300 ppi print size quality min. 1300px – width, film synopsis and logline.

12. Selected authors and film teams will be invited to obtain accreditation by a given deadline via guests@inthepalace.com. The Festival has the right to decline accreditation.

13. Once a film is selected and screening copy is provided, it cannot be withdrawn from the competitive programs of the Festival.

14. The deadline for receiving screening copies of selected films for the 21th edition of IN THE PALACE is April 30th 2024.

15. The Festival reserves the right to screen the preview copies of the films provided for selection, if the screening copy is late and/or is different from the one selected, and/or in case the technical characteristics of the screening copy are different from the ones accepted by the Festival.

16. The Festival does not pay any screening fees.

17. The Festival will cover the accommodation of one film representative per film of those selected for the competition program. The accommodation provided by the Festival is linked to competition category and screening program and will be arranged based on preliminary accreditation and on a first come, first served basis.

18. The Festival reserves the right to include films that have not accumulated enough selection points for the competition programs, in thematic non-competitive festival programs.

19.  By submitting a film to IN THE PALACE, the submitter declares that they carry the right to manage the authors’ and related rights for the film and all property relationships with the rights’ owners have been cleared and paid for. The submitter agrees for the film to be included in the festival program and other screenings related to the Festival. The submitter agrees for screenshots, trailers and parts of the film to be shown (online and in other types of media) to the purpose of promoting the film’s participation in the Festival.

20. Further to the Festival’s mission to preserve and protect short filmmaking as part of contemporary cultural heritage, all submitted films will be automatically included in IN THE PALACE Video Library for a period of 10 years, and will be accessible for non-commercial and professional viewing. In the absence of an explicit written request on behalf of the rights’ owners at least 2 months before the expiry of the above 10-year period, the permanence of the movie in the Festival Video Library will be automatically renewed for another period of the same duration (10 years).

21. The Festival Director has the right to personally appoint any exceptions and resolve any cases not covered by the present rules and regulations.

22. The submission for participation in the Festival constitutes acceptance of all the present Rules and Regulations.

The Festival reserves the right to cancel an application for participation and undertake action in case of breach of the present Rules and Regulations and/or indecent behavior, acts of aggression and arrogance, intolerance towards difference, etc. that undermine the Festival’s name or impede its normal proceedings.

Any legal disputes shall be resolved by a Bulgarian court.