Fidba, Festival Internacional De Cine Documental de Buenos Aires (15)

Festival start: 17 August 2027      Festival end: 22 August 2027

In recent decades, and at one time to the emergence of new technologies that have ended up scanning most of the processes of the film, the documentary has known a notorious and systematic growth around the world. In our country, and for more than one decade, a production before linked almost exclusively to fiction has been swelling their ranks with new topics, new approaches, new geographies, new dilemmas.

It is in this context that FIDBA is proposed as the 1st. International Film Festival dedicated to this genre which films with the same fans - as long as we believe that the forms and the doings of the documentary film are different from those of the fiction - may meet and dialogue among them and with the public. If the documentary is a meeting point for the FIDBA, it is insofar as it proposes an interpellation to the little-known memoirs, disturbing present and (our) future in suspension. FIDBA will then be an approach not only among audiences, filmmakers and thinkers linked documentary but also in relation to the always stimulating possibilities that allow you to open this space to other border and heterodox expressions framed inside of what we would call "non-fiction" and that encourage us to dialogue with contemporary expressions that go beyond even the scope of the film.

FIDBA will pay special attention to those filmmakers for whom cinema is linked to a form of research and knowledge of the world that surrounds us as to the portrait of human beings whose conditions of life, in certain historical and social contexts, allow you to ask us about our. It is, therefore, authors who not only reflect reality but also ethical and moral relationship which involves filming the other.

FIDBA aims to become a point of support for filmmakers seeking to widen the perception of reality and to films which represent a step forward in the effort to understand it and anticipate it. So, it will make focus on films whose aesthetic originality put at risk not only an idea of the documentary but also a thought about the same film and its possibilities. Since this focus implies questioning the status of the real front of the camera or of the film in relation to reality, this is as inseparable from the mediations that arises.

AWARDS

- FID:BA will award a statuette for Best Film and Best Director in each competition; these awards will be determined by the jury.

The jury may also grant up to two special mentions per competition, which will be recognized with a diploma.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

Rules and Regulations for Submissions to the International Documentary Film and Arts Festival

2027 Edition

FID:BA, the International Documentary Film and Arts Festival, will take place from August 17 to 22, 2027, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

ELIGIBILITY

Submissions to the Festival are open to national and international films and documentaries, as well as national and international documentary short films.

All productions must have been completed after January 1, 2026.

SECTIONS

The Festival programme will include competitive and non-competitive sections. Submitted films will be assigned to the section deemed most appropriate by the Selection Committee.

For selection purposes, running time will be taken into consideration. The Festival considers a feature film to be a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes, and a short film to be a film with a maximum running time of 40 minutes.

The Selection Committee may move a film to a different section if deemed appropriate.

SUBMISSION

Film submissions to the Festival must be made through this platform.

The producer or rights holder responsible for the film must submit the film to the Festival by completing the submission form through this platform. The submission form shall constitute a sworn declaration whereby the applicant acknowledges having read and accepted these Rules and Regulations.

No submissions will be accepted other than online submissions. For Argentine films, registration is free of charge and submissions are made through other means.

In order to submit screeners for consideration, applicants must complete the submission form in full. Incomplete submissions will not be accepted.

The submission deadline is June 21, 2027.

No film will be considered officially submitted until the online pre-selection screener has been received.

For the selection of foreign films, screeners must be submitted with english subtitles.

Along with the screener, selected participants must upload the following materials to this platform:

*2 (two) film stills, 300 DPI, 10 cm high x 15 cm wide, color, JPG format.

*1 (one) director's photograph, 300 DPI, 10 cm high x 10 cm wide, color, JPG format.

*Director's biofilmography, maximum 450 characters including spaces. Please use the following format: NAME, + 450 characters.

*Film synopsis, maximum 600 characters including spaces.

*Film contact information
*Contact person
*ADDRESS:(ZIP CODE / PO BOX), Province, City. If the city is Buenos Aires, please indicate (C.A.B.A.) – COUNTRY.

Editorial decisions regarding the content of the Festival catalogue shall be at the sole discretion of the Festival.

CATEGORIES

Each participant may submit more than one documentary to the Festival, but only one film per category may compete.

* International Competition for Creative Documentary Feature Films
* Latin American Documentary Feature Film Competition
* International Documentary Short Film Competition
* International Competition for Documentary Feature Films – “New Directors”
* International Competition for New Narratives (experimental films of any length)
* Thematic Panorama Competition (Music, Architecture, Sports, Cinema)
* International Competition for Feature Films – FICTIONS OF THE REAL
* International Competition for LGBTQI+ Themed Feature Films – “Queer Doc”
* International Competition for VR Documentaries
* International Competition for Human Rights Documentaries
* International Competition for Documentaries for Children and Young Audiences

ALL ARGENTINE FILMS MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH FESTHOME.

All categories are competitive and offer different types of awards.

The Selection Committee reserves the right to include a film in a category other than the one for which it was submitted.

awards

FID:BA will award a statuette to the Best Film and Best Director in each competition, as determined by the Jury.

The Jury may also award up to two Special Mentions per competition, which will be recognized with a diploma.

JURY AND SELECTION

If a film is selected, the person who submitted the film will be notified and provided with instructions for submitting the screening copy through file-transfer platforms.

Once selected, the producer must inform the Festival of the **premiere status** under which the film will be presented at the Festival (World, International, Continental, Regional, National, or Metropolitan Premiere).

The Jury will be composed of recognized national and international professionals and personalities from the audiovisual sector. The members of the Jury will be announced in due course prior to the Festival.

The Selection Committee will be composed of members of FID:BA, who will carry out their work according to the quality and creative standards previously established by the Festival Management.

The Selection Committee reserves the right to change the category of a submitted film if it deems appropriate.

No member of the Jury may participate in any of the competitive categories.

awards may be declared vacant if the Jury so decides.

The Jury's decision is final and cannot be appealed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PARTICIPATION IN FID:BA

Producers and distributors of films selected for the Competitions undertake to include the phrase “Official Selection” together with the corresponding selection, for example, “Official Selection – Short Films”, in all advertising and press materials, using the Festival logo.

This commitment applies both to theatrical releases and to commercial releases on Blu-ray, DVD and the Internet.

Producers and distributors of films receiving awards undertake to highlight such awards in all advertising and press materials, using the Festival logo.

This commitment applies both to theatrical releases and to commercial releases on Blu-ray and DVD.

The Festival logo will be available on the Festival's website.

PARTICIPATION

Participants selected for the competitions must send the required film within seven (7) day of receiving notification. The notification will include information regarding the final format in which the film must be submitted for screening.

Any costs incurred in shipping or transferring materials shall be borne by the selected participant. The Festival shall not be responsible for any damage or loss that may occur to the materials during shipment.

Pre-selection copies will not be returned under any circumstances.

The Festival Organization assumes that producers or filmmakers submitting their works through this call for entries hold the necessary exhibition rights for their works. FID:BA and the Fundación de Altos Estudios en Cine Documental shall be held harmless from any civil or criminal liability arising from the submission or exhibition of the film.

Films that are in an advanced stage of post-production may be accepted. The Selection Committee shall determine whether such films are eligible to participate in the Festival.

Films with more than one director will be accepted.

Once a film has been submitted and selected, it may not be withdrawn from the Festival programme, nor may it be exhibited in any other venue in Buenos Aires prior to its official presentation at FID:BA.

Individuals associated with selected films undertake not to disclose their participation until the Festival programme has been officially announced by the Festival Organization at a press conference. Failure to comply with this provision may result in disqualification.

PRESS MATERIALS

If available, posters, postcards and press materials may be requested for use by the Festival's Press Office.

PROMOTIONAL EXCERPTS

The Festival may use excerpts of national and international films, up to a maximum of 3 minutes, for promotional purposes. For short films, excerpts may not exceed 10% of the final running time of the work.

If excerpts are not made available by the film's producer, the Festival may copy one or more excerpts from the film for promotional use during the Festival.

For the purpose of promoting the Festival programme and each selected film, the Festival may use photographs and digital clips of the films, of less than 3 minutes in length, on its website.

VIDEO LIBRARY / PROFESSIONAL AREA

Selected films will be made available in the Festival's online Video Library for a predetermined period of time. The Video Library will be exclusively accessible to accredited Jury members, press representatives and Festival guests.

By accepting participation in the Festival, the rights holders grant permission for their film to be included in the Video Library.

Demos and trailers will be received and distributed through the Festival's Industry Area.

SCREENING DATES

The Festival Organization shall determine the programme schedule, as well as the dates and screening times for each film.

languageS AND SUBTITLING

Selected films will be screened in their original language version.

For foreign films: if a screening copy with Spanish subtitles is available, this version will be preferred by the Festival. If no Spanish-subtitled copy is available, a copy with english subtitles will be required, unless the film is spoken in english.

In addition, a dialogue list in the original language and in english, including time codes, must be provided, together with a digital file containing the final cut of the film exactly as it will be screened, in order to prepare the electronic subtitles.

ABOUT THESE RULES AND REGULATIONS

Participation in the Festival constitutes acceptance of these Rules and Regulations.

Any matter or conflict related to the organization or operation of the Festival that is not expressly covered by these Rules and Regulations shall be resolved by the Festival Organization.

FINAL CLAUSE

The submission of a film implies full acceptance of these Rules and Regulations. The interpretation and application of these Rules and Regulations shall be the responsibility of the FID:BA Organization.

For any questions or further information, please contact: info@fidba.org