| :: FESTIVAL REGULATION | ||
|
QUEER LISBOA Regulations Article 1 | Organization, Objectives and Policy 1.1. Queer Lisboa | Lisbon Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (QL) is organized by the Associação Cultural Janela Indiscreta, a non-profit association. 1.2. QL is sponsored by public and private institutions, through annually renewable protocols, and is open to the public in general. 1.3. QL is an annual event, held every September in Lisbon, during nine days. 1.4. The purpose of QL is the exhibition and promotion of high quality gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, and queer themed films. 1.5. Without prejudice to the filmmakers’ freedom of expression, the graphic and verbal languages, and the points of view expressed by the selected films, do not necessarily reflect those of the Festival Programmers and / or of Associação Cultural Janela Indiscreta. 1.7. Festival extensions may occur in other Portuguese cities, in partnership and co-production with public or private institutions. 1.8. QL selects films of all geographical origins, regardless of political or social issues that might be somehow relevant at that time in history. 1.9. It is QL policy to give high priority to national cinematographic production, whenever our Programmers find that a new Portuguese production justifies its inclusion in the Festival program. This policy extends to Portuguese language cinematographic production of all geographical origins. It is also QL policy to promote Portuguese cinema in International Film Festivals. 1.10. It is QL programming policy to exhibit recent films, produced in the same year or the preceding year of the Festival edition, irrespective of their country of origin, participation in other International Film Festivals and of any prizes they may have won. These films must be unreleased commercially in Portugal, unless our Programmers consider them of high importance for the current program. It is also QL policy to programme annual film retrospectives dedicated to a filmmaker, theme, or other. 1.11. It is QL programming policy to exhibit and promote directorial debuts by young filmmakers. 1.12. It is QL policy to practice lower ticket prices than those practiced by commercial Theatres, unless this is not possible due to contractual agreements with the company or institution running the Theatre where the Festival is held. 1.13. It is QL policy to integrate selected films into film cycles or film programs. Any film may share the bill with other films in one single session, namely if it is a short subject. 1.14. Members of Portuguese LGBT Associations are given a ticket discount, unless this is not possible due to contractual agreements with the company or institution running the Theatre where the Festival is held. This discount is only applied upon presentation of a valid means of identification on purchasing the ticket. The percentage of this discount is determined each year. 1.15. The invitation of Festival Guests is contingent on the sponsorship of private and public institutions. However, QL reserves the right to use a percentage of its total budget to finance a direct invitation to specific personalities, whenever the Festival Programmers feel that their presence is of utmost relevance to the event. Article Two | Film Selection 2.1. QL programs documentaries, fiction, experimental and animated films, be they feature films or short subjects. Acceptable formats are: 35mm, BETA SP PAL, BETA SP NTSC, DIGIBETA PAL, DIGIBETA NTSC and DVD. Please notice that DVD is only accepted in case it is the sole screening format available. If a selected film is only available in a different format, QL will try to negotiate the best solution with the rights holder of the film in question, in order to exhibit the film. Whenever QL has to pay for a transfer copy of the film, compatible with our screening formats, the Festival will be considered the legal owner of this copy, while any and all legal representation, distribution or exhibition rights over the copy remain with the original holders. 2.2. QL considers a short subject any film with a duration lower or equal to 44 minutes, and a feature any film with a duration higher or equal to 45 minutes. Festival Programmers are, nonetheless, free to disregard this parameter, if by analysing the film plot, they decide otherwise. 2.3. If a selected film is spoken in a language other than English, the film copy must be subtitled in English. 2.4. Electronic subtitling in Portuguese of all QL film programmes is dependant on the annual Festival budget to do so. 2.5. QL selects films by direct invitation to the rights holder. The film’s exhibition is subject to negotiation of screening fee and copy availability for the period in which the Festival takes place. The maximum screening fee paid by QL per film is 500,00€ (five hundred Euro). It is QL policy to negotiate the lowest screening fee possible up to this value. The aforementioned fee may be exceptionally exceeded whenever a Festival sponsor, public or private, takes direct responsibility for payment of the screening fee of the film. 2.6. The import and export of print copies of the films programmed by direct invitation of QL is to be paid in full by the Festival, unless the print is in circulation between Festivals, in which case QL will only pay for either the import or the export of the print, but never both. 2.7. No cuts or changes in any film will be made for its public screening, for any reason. Each film will be screened in the best technical conditions available. Article Three | Film Submission 3.1. QL accepts Film Submissions to the Festival program every year. 3.2. Participants have to fill in a Submission Form for each film submitted to the Festival program, signed by its rights holder and sent to QL by post or courier service. Submission Forms sent by e-mail will not be accepted. 3.3. Films submitted after the deadline set every year by QL for film submission (postage date) may not be accepted for selection to that year’s program. Exceptionally, by request to the Festival Director, submitted films may be accepted after this deadline. 3.4. QL accepts preview copies in the following formats: VHS (PAL or NTSC) and DVD (any region). Regardless of being selected or not for the QL programme, preview copies will not be returned, and will be added to the QL archive. 3.5. The decision of the Programmers on each submission will be notified by e-mail before the deadline set by QL to do so each year. 3.6. It is QL policy not to provide explanations in any form of the criteria used in the exclusion of a submitted film from the Festival program. 3.7. QL does not pay any screening fee for the screening of films entered by submission. 3.8. QL may screen each of these films a maximum of two times, whenever possible. 3.9. Prior theatrical or television screenings, or DVD release in Portugal disqualifies films from entry, so as its integral and legal availability on the Internet. 3.10. If the film is selected, it is the responsibility of its rights holder to guarantee its availability for QL. 3.11. The screening copy must be sent to the Festival by its rights holder (at his/her charge) up to 10 days before the Festival opens. The Festival will take charge of the transportation and costs of its return. 3.12. If the screening copy is in transit between Festivals, QL will only pay for either the import or export duties of the copy, never both. 3.13. The Festival holds the right to use film stills and up to 90’’ (ninety seconds) of film footage for promotional purposes. Article Four | Competition 4.1. QL comprises Competitive Sections and non-Competitive Sections. 4.2. QL comprises three Competitive Sections: Best Feature Film, Best Documentary, and Best Short Film. 4.3. The Feature Film Competition awards the Best Feature Length Fiction Film, the Best Actor, and the Best Actress. This section comprises a minimum of 10 films. 4.4. The Documentary Competition awards the Best Feature Length Documentary. This section comprises a minimum of 10 films. 4.5. The Short Film Competition awards the Best Fiction or Documentary Short Film. This section comprises a minimum of 20 films. 4.6. All selected Feature Films, Short Films or Documentaries, national and international, with a) a queer theme, b) produced in the preceding year or in the same year of the Festival or unreleased in Europe until the preceding year of the Festival, c) and that have not been commercially distributed in Portugal before the Festival, are eligible for competition in one of the three categories. 4.7. QL Programmers short-list the films for the Competition Sections. This selection is of the sole responsibility of the Festival Programmers, who are under no obligation to provide explanations in any form of the criteria used in the selection. 4.8. Prize winners are announced during the Closing Ceremony of the Festival. 4.9. The monetary value of the prizes is determined by the sponsorship of a private institution, to be renegotiated annually. However, a minimum of 1.000,00€ (one thousand Euro) is established for the Best Feature Film; of 1.000,00€ (one thousand Euro) for the Best Documentary; and of 500,00€ (five hundred Euro) for the Best Short Film. 4.10. The cash award will revert to the film director. When the film has more than one director, the amount of the award will be shared in equal parts by all directors. 4.11. The cash award is paid through bank transfer. 4.12. In the eventuality that a screening fee has been paid for the exhibition of the awarded film (in any category), the value of the fee will be discounted from the global prize value, if such has been agreed beforehand with the legal rights holder of the film. Article Five | Jury 5.1. The International Jury is composed by renowned programmers and directors of International Film Festivals, filmmakers, actors or other cinema professionals, or renowned professionals of other cultural disciplines. 5.2. Five jury members are responsible for selecting the Best Feature Film, the Best Actor, and the Best Actress. 5.3. Three jury members are responsible for selecting the Best Documentary. 5.4. If, for any reason, a jury member fails to attend the Festival, no substitution will take place. Article Six | Audience Award 6.1. The Best Short Film is an Audience Award, for which each audience member is given a ballot at the beginning of each screening, on which s/he may cast a vote on each film in competition on a scale of 1 to 10. 6.2. Several films and / or short film programmes may appear on each ballot. 6.3. At the time of each screening, only the votes attributed to the film or films listed in the correspondent short film programme may be filled in. Ballots with votes for films or film programmes screened at different times will not be considered valid. Ballots are to be placed in the box available at the end of each screening. 6.4. A Festival staff member is annually named responsible for this award and for counting the votes. 6.5. For each film, the average of votes is calculated, considering the number of ballots entered for that specific film, with a valid vote on it. 6.6. Validation of a given ballot is individual for each film entry, unless a visible disregard of the Audience Award rules is detected in that or any other film in the same ballot. 6.7. The Festival staff member responsible for the Audience Award should notify the Festival Director of any doubts or dubious issues regarding the votes. The final decision to validate a specific ballot rests entirely with the Festival Director. Void ballots will be destroyed. 6.8. Valid ballots will remain in the Festival archive for the period of one year. 6.9. A minimum of thirty valid votes is required in order for a short film to be eligible for the audience award. Article Seven | Accreditations 7.1. Television and Film professionals (Industry), so as Media professionals (Press), may request an Accreditation to the Festival Office in order to participate in QL. 7.2. Accreditation holders are given free access to all screenings of QL, subject to ticket availability. A ticket must always be obtained at the Box Office prior to each screening, at a maximum of one ticket per screening. 7.3. Industry and Press accreditation holders are granted free access to all Festival activities and priority in booking interviews with Festival guests. 7.4. Accreditation for QL can be requested each year from the 1st July. 7.5. Accreditation for QL can only be approved and issued by the Festival organization. 7.6. QL Accreditation is personal and cannot be shared. 7.7. During the Festival, the organization has the right to ask for further legal identification to the Accreditation holder, and to cancel the Accreditation in case of any irregularity. 7.8. For either a Press or Industry Accreditation, a name, photograph, and company / institution name are required. 7.9. Accreditations are not sent by post or by any means handed out before the Festival, and should be picked up at the Cinema from the first day of the Festival. Article Eight | Insurance 8.1. QL has insurance over all film copies while at the Theatre in Lisbon, and only during the month of September. Under no circumstance is QL responsible for damage or loss of the films in transit. 8.2. All the Festival team and volunteers are insured against accidents while at the Theatre where the Festival is held. Article Nine | Acceptance 9.1. Participation in QL implies the acceptance of these Festival Regulations, as well as of any other decision taken by the Directors Board of the Associação Cultural Janela Indiscreta and / or the Festival Director, and duly communicated to the participants. Festival Regulations approved by the Directors Board of the Associação Cultural Janela Indiscreta on 26th October 2008.
|
||