Festival de Cine de Maracaibo ()

Festival start: 27 November 2023      Festival end: 01 December 2023

The Manuel Trujillo Duran Foundation and the Maracaibo Film Festival Foundation, together with other organizations and institutions of regional and national prestige, present the IX Edition of the Maracaibo Film Festival, which will take place from November 20 to 24, 2023, offering an excellent program of workshops, talks and exhibitions, both in person and virtually.

As in previous years, this 2023 we will open spaces for the creation, promotion and dissemination of new and unprecedented ways of telling, hearing and seeing local stories that are transformed and gain global importance, being vital and unique testimonies of people, individuals and communities.

In this IX edition we have the support of: CNAC, FEDA-LUZ, Fe y Alegría, Ciudad Guayana Children's Film Festival and Barquisimeto Film Festival.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS:
The following awards will be given:
- Certificate for Best feature-length Documentary.
- Certificate for Best Medium-length Documentary.
- Certificate for Best Documentary Short Film.
- Certificate for Best University Documentary.
- Certificate for Best International Documentary (feature film, medium-length film, short film, university film).

General guidelines:

1.- Works by independent film and video makers or film and television production companies wishing to participate in the Festival must comply with the conditions and requirements set forth herein.

2.- This is a DOCUMENTARY FILM festival, therefore works of other genres will not be accepted.

3.- For the purposes of the IX Edition of the Festival, works completed as of November 2022 will be called for competition.

4.- The creators of the aspiring works must be Venezuelans, foreigners with a resident visa in the country, or Venezuelans residing abroad.

5.- The aspiring works must meet the following requirements:
a) National production or co-production with majority national financing.
b) Venezuelan or foreign principal producers with resident visas in the country.
c) Venezuelan producers residing abroad.
d) Spanish version or in native language WITH SUBTITLES IN SPANISH; in case of containing parliaments or texts in a foreign language, it must include SUBTITLES IN SPANISH.
e) Director, main scriptwriter and most of the technical and artistic personnel are Venezuelan, foreigners with a visa residing in the country, or Venezuelans residing abroad.
f) Processing in laboratories or national post-production studies. In the event that any work has been processed abroad for being a co-production condition, admission to the festival will be a decision of the Organizing Committee.
g) Under no circumstances may the duration exceed fifty minutes (50) minutes for medium-length films and thirty minutes (30) for short films. The duration will not be limited in the case of feature films.
h) Under no circumstances may the selected films be exhibited in the city of Maracaibo, in the days prior to or during the Maracaibo Film Festival.

6.- A pre-selection of the works submitted will be made to guarantee the quality of the competition. All the works will be exhibited indicating publicly those that were selected.

Registration:

7.- The inscriptions of the works must be formalized by the filmmakers or production companies in digital format on the platforms https://festivals.festhome.com and https://filmfreeway.com or, alternatively, they can send their materials to the following email: festivaldecinedemaracaibo@gmail.com. The period for the reception of works will begin on August 30, 2023 and will end on September 30, 2023.

8.- For the registration of the works, only the official form designed by the Organizing Committee will be used, which can be downloaded from the festival blog: http://festivaldecinedemaracaibo.blogspot.com/

9.- At the time of registration, the filmmakers or production companies must download the registration form and send it with their data to the following email: festivaldecinedemaracaibo@gmail.com They must also submit the form accompanied by (1) digital copy of the work, two (2) digital photographs of the director, two (2) photographs of the shooting, plot synopsis of the work and two (2) posters, if any. The works made partially or totally through animation techniques, must consign two (2) samples of the designs. (It is not a condition to have all the collections to make the registration)

10.- The Organizing Committee will deliver to the director or the production company an official receipt of all the collections presented.

11.- The Organizing Committee will be responsible for the fate and status of the films deposited as Festival participants.

12.- Registration in the Festival will grant the participant the right to obtain a certificate issued by the Organizing Committee that certifies participation in it, as well as a certificate that indicates that their work is participating in the Festival.

About the works in competition:

13.-The cinematographic works must be submitted to the contest in digital format through the Festhome or Filmfreeway platform or by sending the material to the festival email through a Vimeo link or other downloadable platforms.

About the Jury:

14.- The decisions of the Jury will be unappealable and must be sufficiently substantiated.

15.- The deliberations of the Jury will be secret and the verdict will be announced at the Award Ceremony.

16.- Of the decisions of the Jury, a record will be drawn up that must be signed by the members that comprise it.

Final provisions:

17.- The exhibition of works admitted to the Festival will be done according to the official program prepared by the Organizing Committee.

18.-Any work registered in the festival may be exhibited in the spaces programmed, in order to promote and disseminate Venezuelan Cinema.

19.- Registration of works will not be accepted after the closing date of the submission deadline.

20.- Registration in the Festival implies acceptance of the terms and conditions of this edition.

Organizing Committee