Cinequest Regulations and Requirements

Screenings

If selected, filmmakers authorize Cinequest to conduct up to four (4) theatrical screenings during Cinequest Film Festival, Tue, February 22, 2011 -- Sun, March 06, 2011 in San Jose, California. Official Closing Night Party occurs March 6th. March 7th will include screenings of 2010 festival award winners.

Festival Sections

By submitting to Cinequest, filmmakers will be submitting for consideration to all of the following sections with one submission. Simply indicate on the entry form sections for which you want consideration.

  • Feature Narrative Competition
  • Feature Documentary Competition
  • Short Film Competition
  • New Visions Competition
  • Global Landscapes
  • Student Short Film Competition

NOTE: All sections (plus Opening and Closing Night) qualify for the Audience Award as well as the Director's Awards; therefore all films are provided with the opportunity to participate in the festival awards.

Running Time

All running lengths are accepted. Only short films under 40 minutes are considered for the Short Film Competition. Films of any other length are considered for other competitive sections and are not restricted to length.

Marketing and Publicity

Cinequest’s publicity and marketing teams will craft a specific promotional campaign for the festival program as a whole. To assist in this campaign, participating filmmakers will be responsible for providing the following materials by the December/January deadlines to Cinequest, if selected to participate:

  • Digital images
  • Press Kits
  • NTSC DVD media screeners of your film
  • NTSC DV, Mini-DV, or Beta-SP copy of trailer and film clips
  • Any other marketing materials you wish to be used to promote your film

Film Formats and Shipment

SUBMISSIONS:
Films must be submitted on DVD (PAL or NTSC accepted). For submissions, we can only accept REGION 1 or 0 (Region-free) DVDs. DVDs should not include labels or stickers of any kind: only laser printed artwork, if any, should be on the disc itself. If you are burning a consumer disc, please write your Project Title, Film ID#, and Contact# on the disc with a black permanent marker.

NOTE: Rough cuts or works-in-progress for submissions are accepted as long as the completed film will be ready in time for the festival dates. You should always provide a list of which elements of your film are missing.

FESTIVAL SCREENINGS:
Filmmakers must provide one of the following screening formats for the Cinequest 20 festival screening:

  • 35mm Film Print
  • HD-CAM Digital Tape
  • Digi-Beta
  • Beta-SP
  • DV or Mini-DV Digital Tape

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