Blue Danube Film Festival (7)

Festival start: 01 October 2024      Festival end: 05 October 2024

In 3 countries - Austria, Hungary and Slovakia.

Meet the best films and filmmakers of the Danube region on 1st to 5th October, 2024. The 7th Blue Danube Film Festival will take place in Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava.

The Blue Danube Film Festival is a film festival, which showcases independent films from the Danube region and the world. We encourage creativity and experimentation. We are open to all kinds of films. The Blue Danube Film Festival aims to inspire and motivate talented filmmakers, who are looking to engender new forms and who explore the condition of our society through critical lens.

Films are evaluated by our professional jury within the context of their entry category with regards to generally accepted filmmaking quality criteria (ie.: subjective vision, production quality, aesthetic position, structure, cinematography, direction, creativity, etc.).

We screen the selected films in Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava in art cinemas and cultural centers.

We can only accept films by directors from the following 18 Countries in the broader Danube region and CEI member countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Italy, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the categories Fiction, Animation, Documentary and Experimental you can submitting films from all over the world.

BDFF 2024 is the region's first film festival that actually crosses borders. It will “Sail up” the Danube from Budapest via Bratislava to Vienna. We show the audience approx. ten feature-length and forty short films in the three cities and five festival locations.

During the festival, two juries (long and short films) will evaluate the films and the winners who (if the budget allows it) receives not only media attention but also prize money.

Three super-short films under five minutes will be selected and promoted using the augmented reality app ARGO can also be brought to life on posters and flyers.


We are looking forward to the movies!

Cash Prizes: 830€

www.imdb.com/event/ev0025280/2023/1/
www.imdb.com/event/ev0025280/2022/1/
www.imdb.com/event/ev0025280/2020/1/

Categories:

Best Fiction Film - Prize Money + Certification

Best Documentary Film - Prize Money + Certification

Best Animation Film - Prize Money + Certification

Best Experimental Film - Prize Money + Certification

Best Fiction Region Film - Prize Money + Certification

Best Documentary Region Film - Prize Money + Certification

Best Animation Region Film - Prize Money + Certification

Best Experimental Region Film - Prize Money + Certification

Best Super Short Region Film - Prize Money + Certification

Best Feature Region Film - Prize Money + Certification

Best Director (Feature Region Film) - Prize Money + Certification

Best Actress (Feature Region Film) - Prize Money + Certification

Best Actor (Feature Region Film) - Prize Money + Certification


All winners will receive Prize Money and Certifications and Gold Laurels, with the "WINNER" label to be used as the filmmaker sees fit for marketing and promotional purpose.

All the movies we choose will receive "Official Selection" laurels to be used for marketing and promotional materials as the filmmaker sees fit.


Special awards:
Depending on the nominating films in each category, the jury will award additional prizes, the "Best Director" or "Special Jury Award" awards.
The Student Jury will also award the best film by category.


Total Prize money (planned): 2000 EUR.

1. Blue Danube Film Festival accepts all forms and genres, produced after January 2023, (January, 2021 for Super Short films).

All films must have English subtitles. Films that have already participated in the previous Official Selections of Blue Danube Film Festival will not be eligible for the competition.

2. Blue Danube Film Festival only accept digital submissions of HD quality (720p or better).

3. The total length of the Super Short movies is maximum 5 minutes, of the Features movies min. 70 minutes and the movies in other categories are maximum 30 minutes.

4. We can only accept films by directors from the following 18 Countries in the broader Danube region and CEI member countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Italy, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the categories Fiction, Animation, Documentary and Experimental you can submitting films from all over the world.

5. Each filmmaker can submit several projects, but each production must be accompanied by a separate entry and fee.

6. All fees are non-refundable.

7. The filmmaker shall certify to have full rights. They are responsible for acquiring copyrights, licenses and releases for media used in their films. The filmmaker will indemnify the organizers of the Festival against all claims, demands, costs, damages, expenses (including legal fees), proceedings and losses resulting from the screening of the film at the Festival or from claims by any third parties.

8. Films submitted must not strengthen the racial, ethnic, religious, gender or politic conflicts, incitement to offenses or other violations of law or must not be pornographic. Applicants whose films does not meet these requirements can be excluded from the competition by the Organizers.

9. By submitting their film, filmmaker gives Blue Danube Film Festival the right to post their posters, trailers, website and social media links on our website. If the filmmaker wants to keep his movie private, we will only mention the movie title, director and a movie poster (if one is available).

10. The Festival treats all submissions with utmost care and confidentiality. The filmmaker agrees that if his film is selected for public or online screening, the Festival can download it for screening. The filmmaker does not ask any financial compensation for the screening.

11. Official Selection movies can be viewed in cinema, Cultural Centre (Vienna, Budapest, as well as some of them in Bratislava). Online only if allowed by the filmmakers.
Selected films of the Super Short category can be viewed in cinemas and online on our website or using the AR-Go application if filmmakers allow.

12. All selected films and winners will receive the laurels and certificates via email. Money prizes will be sent by transfer.

13. The selected films can be screened by BDFF maximum 2 times after the Festival.

14. The jury's decision is final.

15. The Festival reserves the right to make any necessary changes in regulations or scheduling.