Festival start: 05 March 2021
Festival end: 07 March 2021
WIN £1,000 IN PRODUCTION SUPPORT FOR YOUR NEXT SHORT FILM!
Tired of film festivals taking your cash and giving you nothing in return, making you wonder if they even watched your film? So are we! That’s why we decided to start “The People’s Film Festival”, RUN BY FILMMAKERS FOR FILMMAKERS! We’re committed to giving each and every filmmaker that submits to our festival 100% feedback! And to keep the competition fair, our categories are based on Production Budget rather than genre.
“The People’s Film Festival” provides independent short filmmakers with an unprecedented positive film festival experience while giving audiences access to artistic labours of love. It’s our aim to facilitate the marriage of underground, counter-culture and independent artistic voices with audiences hungry for new ideas. We’re here to support and reward passionate filmmakers who put it all on the line to share with us their stories. We’re here for the love of film.
Kino London runs monthly short film competitions. The winners of the monthly competitions form the Official Selections for The People's Film Festival. All Official Selections are screened during our gala November 2019. Annual winners will be eligible to apply for up to £1,000 in production support for their next short film project.
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Kino London is a unique platform that supports all levels of filmmaking, from absolute beginners through to career professionals. There are over a thousand filmmakers in our London Meetup group, and our mission is to help all filmmakers ‘write it, shoot it, and screen it!’ The Kino International Filmmaking Movement is an initiative explained succinctly by the motto “Do well with nothing, do better with little, and do it now!” Various cells across the globe are embracing this motto to run independently organized filmmaking events with a heavy focus on truly independent cinema, and Kino London is one such cell that has been running filmmaking events since 2009.
MONTHLY FINALISTS (notified with the label "Semi-Finalist") in each of our 3 categories will receive appropriate laurels. Note that Semi-Finalists are not automatically screened. Screenings are reserved for Official Selections. However, anyone can apply to screen at one of our infamous non-competitive Short Film Open-Mic Night's: www.kinoshortfilm.com/short-film-openmic
All OFFICIAL SELECTIONS are eligible for AWARD NOMINATIONS. Nominations are broken down into two categories: 1. Film Fund Qualifying 2. Honorary
£1,000 FILM FUND QUALIFYING NOMINATIONS:
Best Micro Budget Short
Best Low Budget Short
Best Sponsored Short
NINE NOMINEES (three per category) will screen as the finale of the festival and all filmmakers will have the opportunity to pitch their next project.
THREE WINNERS (one per category) will be named by the audience and receive prizes from our sponsors which include Raindance, Filmzie, BorisFX, Zacuto, and more.
Then ONE WINNER will receive £1,000 FILM FUND selected by the audience based on the combined factors of the film they just screened and the vision for their future project.
The festival jury will act as Executive Producers on the selected project to help stretch the fund for a micro budget. The filmmaker themselves will retain all rights to their work.
HONORARY NOMINEES:
Additional Nominees based on jury selection (not eligible to win the film fund) will be named in the following categories:
Best Drama Short
Best Comedy Short
Best Horror/SciFi Short (Award Sponsored by Fun Size Horror)
Best Documentary Short
Best Animated Short
Best LGBTQ Short
Best Foreign Language Short
Best Student Short
Best Performance in a Drama (Sub-genres can qualify based on the tone of the performance)
Best Performance in a Comedy (Sub-genres can qualify based on the tone of the performance)
Best Supporting Performance in a Drama (Sub-genres can qualify based on the tone of the performance)
Best Supporting Performance in a Comedy (Sub-genres can qualify based on the tone of the performance)
Best Ensemble Cast (Drama)
Best Ensemble Cast (Comedy)
Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Original Screenplay
Best Editing
Best Original Score
Best First Time Filmmaker
PRIZES: All Award Winners will receive Laurel & Statuette, plus additional special prizes for certain categories.
After the success of our first annual two day sold out festival held in March 2020, we're excited to reopen submissions for our 2021 event.
WIN £1,000 TO FUND YOUR NEXT SHORT FILM!
Are you tired of wondering if film festivals even watch your submission? So are we!
THE PEOPLE'S FILM FESTIVAL IS RUN BY FILMMAKERS FOR FILMMAKERS!
Our festival jury is a group of working award-winning indie filmmakers who are tired of the status quo of the festival circuit. Rather than just bitch, we decided to do something about it! We started our own festival to help honour great indie shorts and help fund indie talent's future projects.
WHAT MAKES OUR FESTIVAL DIFFERENT?
• We build into the winning filmmaker's future by funding their next project with our £1,000 FILM FUND.
• Each and every filmmaker that submits to our festival gets FREE FEEDBACK regardless if they win or not.
• Our categories are based on BUDGET VS. GENRE, so micro-shorts don't have to compete with fully funded films.
HOW OUR FESTIVAL WORKS:
Each month leading up to the festival we review all films submitted within that month and announce a list of 9 MONTHLY FINALISTS.
Those 9 MONTHLY FINALISTS are comprised of the TOP 3 films in each of our 3 budget based categories: Micro-budget (£0 - £999), Low Budget (£1000 - £4999), Sponsored (£5000+).
Each month we choose 3 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS (1 per category) to screen at our annual gala event!
Only Official Selections are eligible for nominations and awards, and to compete for the £1,000 film fund.
Finalists from previous months are still eligible to become an Official Selection any month leading up to the annual gala.
ABOUT KINO LONDON:
Kino Short Film has been running since 2009. It is a unique platform that supports all levels of filmmaking, from absolute beginners to career professionals. There are over 1400 filmmakers in our collective, and we pride ourselves on being approachable in an all too often intimidating industry. We are infamous for our unique Short Film Open Mic which gives filmmakers an outlet to screen for free without having to go through a curation process. Additionally we offer a Short of the Week series, workshops & classes, networking opportunities, short film production support and sponsor The People’s Film Festival - run by filmmakers for filmmakers.
More info on kinoshortfilm.com
REQUIREMENTS
• Submissions are open to anyone.
• All film must be 15 minutes or under.
• All genres accepted.
• No premiere status is required.
• All submissions must include production budget.
• Films depicting real-life illegal or exploitive acts will be rejected.
• All films, not in the English language, are required to have subtitles.
• Films must have completed post-production after January 2017.
• The payment of an entrance fee is required.
• Entry fees are non-refundable.
• By submitting your film to The People’s Film Festival you confirm you own the rights to distribute and showcase the film.
• The People’s Film Festival will not be held responsible for any copyright issues or infringements.
• By submitting your film you acknowledge that The People’s Film Festival reserves the right to promote your film on our website and social media.
• The internal jury of The People’s Film Festival will select the official selections at their sole discretion.
• The films are judged on the quality of the project as compared to their production budget.
• Entry does not guarantee acceptance into the festival.
• Official Selections will be automatically eligible for special awards.
• All winners will receive Festival Laurels and winners who attend the festival in person will also receive award statuette. Award statuette available for winning filmmakers not in attendance only if filmmaker agrees to cover the price of shipping.
• The People’s Film Festival does not make your film available online to the public without your consent.
• By Submitting to The People’s Film Festival you agree to be put on our mailing list.
• The People’s Film Festival director has the right to make decisions about matters not provided by these rules.
• Rules and terms and conditions are subject to change at the discretion of The People’s Film Festival.
• By submitting you declare that you have understood, and agreed to the rules and terms of The People’s Film Festival.
TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR THE £1,000 FILM FUND
• Kino London will provide a £1000 film fund each year, following the annual ‘The People’s Film Festival’ event.
• The recipient will be decided by "The People", the audience present at the annual gala awards show.
• The fund will be provided to the named filmmaker from the winning project.
• Funding may contribute towards, or cover, the full budget of the film project. Any remaining funds not utilised for the film, will kept by Kino London.
• Funding will be provided in a number of formats, including but not exclusive to, direct total payments, installments, cover for production costs, equivalent value of crew and cast hire, subsidising of production by Kino members.
• Funding must contribute towards pre-production and production costs. Funds will not be provided solely for post-production or distribution purposes.
• The filmmaker must present a project plan to the Kino London jury within three months of being selected, to include project proposal, story outline, proposed budget, timeline, and distribution plan.
• Filmmakers will be expected to complete the film within twelve months of receiving funding.
• All films must acknowledge Kino London in the credits as a funding partner.
• TPFF Festival Director and Jury Members must be named as Executive Producers on the final project.
• The filmmaker will retain all the legal rights to their own work, but they will grant Kino London the right to screen the final film and the right use all production stills, promotional materials, and the filmmakers likeness for their own marketing.
• Filmmakers will be expected to present the film at a Kino London event within six months of completing the film.
Micro Budget Film
Short Films 15'<
Standard Fee18.3$ -8% 16.84$
Submissions deadline
31 Dec 20
Save up
1.46$
Submit
Ideal for emerging filmmakers strapped for production cash. To qualify for this category, your film's production budget must be between $0 - $1000. Don't forget to include your production budget when submitting.
Low Budget Film
Short Films 15'<
Standard Fee18.3$ -8% 16.84$
Submissions deadline
31 Dec 20
Save up
1.46$
Submit
To qualify for this category, your film's production budget must be between $1000 - $5000. Don't forget to include your production budget when submitting.
Sponsored Film
Short Films 15'<
Standard Fee18.3$ -8% 16.84$
Submissions deadline
31 Dec 20
Save up
1.46$
Submit
To qualify for this category, your film's production budget must be $5,000 + or have been made through a film school. Don't forget to include your production budget when submitting.
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