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Cinequest is honored to announce that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has elected to recognize the Cinequest Film Festival as a qualifying festival for the Short Films category for the Academy Awards. Recipients of the BEST SHORT NARRATIVE and BEST SHORT ANIMATION prizes will qualify for consideration for an Academy Award without the standard theatrical run, provided the film complies with the Academy's rules. For more information on Academy rules, please see www.oscars.org or call (310) 247-3000.

SCREENINGS
If selected, filmmakers authorize Cinequest to conduct up to four (4) theatrical screenings during Cinequest Film Festival, Tue, February 28, 2012 -- Sun, March 11, 2012 in San Jose, California. Official Closing Night Party occurs Sat, March 10, 2012. Sun, March 11, 2012 will include screenings of 2012 festival award winners.

FESTIVAL SECTIONS
Filmmakers will not be required to pay for more than one entry fee per film, as the festival programming committees view and consider each film for the appropriate sections.

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.

By submitting to Cinequest, filmmakers will be submitting to consideration for all of the following sections:

MAVERICK FEATURE COMPETITION
Cinequest's Maverick Feature Competition is comprised of 15 to 17 feature films. It is an international mixture of adventurous and personal films that cover a wide range of world views. Films are selected based on high artistic merits and the discovery of a unique and personal vision. The Official Festival Jury, comprised of industry professionals, will select winners for Best First Feature Film and Maverick Spirit Award

NEW VISIONS
New Visions focuses on film artists who re-define their craft by creating new visions. This prestigious section gives emerging filmmakers an opportunity to gain the recognition necessary to launch distribution and promotional campaigns. Films are selected based on creativity and adventurous storytelling. The New Visions Jury will select the top film for the New Visions Award.

GLOBAL LANDSCAPES
Global Landscapes looks at visions from around the globe, and is designed to shed light on regions, territories, or cultures that have a substantial effect on cinema and demonstrate significant global impact or achievement. Films in Global Landscapes are selected based on creative storytelling, unique visions and/or global impact. The Global Landscapes Jury will select the top film for the Global Vision Award

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
Cinequest's Documentary Feature Competition is comprised of 12 to 15 feature documentaries. It is an international mixture of adventurous and thought-provoking films that challenge and inspire audiences. Films are selected based on high artistic merits and the discovery of a unique and personal vision. The Official Festival Jury, comprised of industry professionals, will select the winner for Best Feature Documentary.

SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Cinequest's Short Film Competition is comprised of approximately 75-100 short films. It is an international mix of adventurous and personal films, focusing on the varied visions found in world cinema. The selection criteria for the competition will include content, form and technical achievement

STUDENT SHORT FILM COMPETITION
The Student Short Film Competition is comprised of an eclectic mix of adventurous and personal short films, focusing on visionary statements. All films for this section must be produced as a student but may have been completed after graduation. The selection criteria for the competition will include content, form and technical achievement.

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.

NOTE: ALL FEATURE FILMS AND DOCUMENTARIES 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.

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
• EPK's
• NTSC DVD media screeners of their film
• Trailers and film clips
• Any other marketing materials you wish to be used to promote your film

(NOTE: The publicity team will send a more specific list once films are selected)

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, Submission Tracking Number, and Contact number 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 their Cinequest Film Festival 22 festival screenings:

• 35mm Film Print
• HDCAM (HD-CAM SR tapes are NOT accepted)
• DVCAM
• MiniDV
• Digi-Beta
• Beta-SP

Note: We cannot accept HDCAM-SR Tapes, HDV Tapes, DVDs or Blue-Ray discs for exhibition formats. Dobly-E audio tracks on digital tapes are not supported for exhibition.

SHIPPING:
If a film is selected, the participating filmmakers will be responsible for covering the costs of the shipment of the film to Cinequest. Cinequest will cover the return shipment costs to the filmmaker. If a film is being shipped to another festival, the receiving festival must pay for shipping.