SITGES - Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya (57)

Festival start: 03 October 2024      Festival end: 13 October 2024

The SITGES - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia is a specialized, competitive fantastic genre Festival in accordance with the regulations established by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations). The Festival has also been declared a “Qualified Festival” by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® in the United States. This means that those shorts winning the awards for “Best Short Film” in the Official Fantàstic Selection and “Best Short Film” in the Anima’t category will automatically be taken into consideration by the Hollywood Academy Awards® selection committee.

See festival's Rules and regulations.

ENTRY RULES FOR FILMS AT THE 57th SITGES INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL OF CATALONIA


IMPORTANT

These rules are subject to the official regulations of the Sitges - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia (Sitges Film Festival). Please carefully read the regulations to understand the purpose of each section and the essential requirements to participate in them.

The Sitges Film Festival is an accredited event by the FIAPF (The International Federation of Film Producers Association).


I. REGISTRATION PROTOCOL:

To submit a film to the Festival and facilitate its screening, the following instructions must be followed:

Register the short film or feature film through the official platforms designated by the event: festhome.com.

FEATURE FILMS can be submitted in 1 of the following categories:

a) Fiction feature film
b) Documentary feature film
c) Animated feature film
d) Brigadoon Section (feature films)
e) Sitges Family Section (feature film)

You must register in only one of these five categories.

SHORT FILMS can be submitted in 1 of the following categories:

a) Live-action short films
b) Animated short films
c) Brigadoon Section (short film)
d) Sitges Family Section (short films)

You must register in only one of these four categories.

Notes on the registration of short films in the festival:

Only short films that meet the following conditions will be considered:

 All short films must be in the fantasy genre and produced in 2023/2024.

 The maximum duration of short films will be 30 minutes.

 Short films registered in the generic categories will be eligible for selection for the following sections (more information in the official regulations):

Official Fantasy Section
Main competitive section of the festival. Candidate titles must be short films unpublished in Spain. The winning short film of this section is entitled to automatically enter the preselection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Hollywood to compete in the Oscar® awards.
Small Format New Visions Section (Noves Visions Petit Format)
Competitive section that includes experimental or avant-garde works. Candidate titles must be short films unpublished in Spain.

Anima’t Section
Competitive section for animated short films. Candidate titles must be short films unpublished in Spain. The winning short film of this section is entitled to automatically enter the preselection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Hollywood to compete in the Oscar® awards.

 Short films registered in the Brigadoon section are exclusively within the selection of this section. Brigadoon carries out a selection of independent production, within the themes of horror and fantasy. It is not an essential requirement for the short film to be unpublished in Spain to compete in Brigadoon.

 Short films registered in the Sitges Family section are exclusively within the selection of this section. Sitges Family selects titles aimed at the family audience, specifically focusing on children and young people. Sitges Family is not a competitive section.

Short films presented in the generic categories and in the Brigadoon or Sitges Family sections cannot be productions published on the Internet or platforms.


TEASERS/TRAILERS can only be submitted in the Sitges Coming Soon category. The maximum duration of the submitted pieces should be 10 minutes in this case.

Other considerations:

- All titles submitted in the generic categories and in the Brigadoon section must have english subtitles (if the original version is in a language other than english). Titles submitted in the Sitges Family section must be dubbed in Spanish and/or have Spanish subtitles mandatory.

- Submission of work in progress is accepted. This production status must be indicated at the time of registration by checking the appropriate box or by indicating it in parentheses after the title.

- DVD/Blu-Ray submissions will not be accepted. Likewise, viewing links received outside the official platform will not be considered.

IMPORTANT: Works are not submitted according to the festival's own sections, except in the case of wishing to participate in the Brigadoon or Sitges Family sections, which have programming subject to specific requirements. Participants in the generic categories who are selected will receive a notification indicating the final section determined by the Programming Directorate. This direction reserves the right to offer the section it considers most appropriate regardless of the registration made, if necessary.


II. REGISTRATION FEES

The Festival will charge a registration fee per work submitted through the screening platform. This fee does not include any registration fees that the platform may apply.

The fee set for the 2024 edition is:

FEATURE FILMS (generic categories and the Brigadoon and Sitges Family sections)

€ 75

SHORT FILMS
(generic categories and the Brigadoon and Sitges Family sections)

€ 50

TEASER/TRAILER

€ 45

Payment will be made at the time of registration through the platform.

The Sitges Film Festival maintains a policy of agreements with film promotion organizations and/or academic institutions worldwide. Please consult with the corresponding offices for waivers, if applicable.

III. REGISTRATION deadlineS

The registration deadlines are:

Generic categories and the Brigadoon section July 15, 2024

Sitges Family section
June 30, 2024

No titles will be accepted after the official registration deadline has passed.

IV. SELECTION OF A WORK AT THE SITGES FILM FESTIVAL

The Sitges Festival will contact the producers/distributors of the selected films, who will need to complete an additional form (entry form) to formalize their participation in the event. This communication will take place (approximately) in early September.

If a film has not been selected, the registration platform will automatically send a notification on September 2, 2024, to all titles that have formalized their registration through this channel.




REGULATIONS OF THE 57th SITGES – INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL OF CATALONIA




THE FESTIVAL

The Sitges - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia (Sitges Film Festival) is a competitive festival, specialized in the fantastic genre, in accordance with the regulations established by the FIAPF (The International Federation of Film Producers Association).

The festival has also been declared a "Qualifying Festival" by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Oscar® awards. This means that short films winning the "Best Short Film" awards in the Official Fantastic and Anima't sections are automatically eligible for consideration in the pre-selection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Oscar® awards.


I. SECTIONS

The Sitges Festival consists of the following sections:

1. Official Fantastic in Competition
2. Sitges Collection Official Section
3. Special Sessions
4. Panorama
5. Órbita
6. New Visions
7. Anima't
8. Seven Chances
9. Midnight X-Treme
10. Brigadoon (competitive section)
11. Sitges Classics (retrospectives and tributes)
12. Sitges Documenta
13. Sitges Coming Soon (teasers and trailers of upcoming Ibero-American releases)
14. Sitges Family (non-competitive section)

1.1. OFFICIAL FANTASTIC IN COMPETITION
Feature Film Selection:

The main competitive section featuring the best showcase of genre cinema, broadly understood. The primary criteria for selection are quality and trend-setting creation. A positive evaluation criterion is that the film's premiere should be at least European. Feature films from all nationalities can compete, but they must be unpublished in Spain and produced between 2023 and 2024.

This is a competitive section with an international jury, chosen by the festival’s direction. This jury awards the following prizes:

- Best Film
- Best Director
- Best Male Performance
- Best Female Performance
- Best Screenplay
- Best Special Effects (visual or makeup)
- Best Cinematography
- Best Music
- Special Jury Prize

Other awards in the Official Fantastic Section in Competition include:

- The Audience Award for the best fantastic genre feature film, awarded by public vote.
- The José Luis Guarner Critics' Award, given by a jury appointed by the Catalan Association of Film Critics and Writers for the best film. This entity also awards the Citizen Kane Award for Best New Director, which is open to all directors who present their debut film in the festival within the official fantastic competition section.

Short Film Selection:
The Official Fantastic Section in Competition also includes a selection of short films, which similarly adhere to the criteria of quality and trend-setting creation as the primary objective. Likewise, productions from all nationalities can compete, provided they are unpublished in Spain and produced between 2023 and 2024. A positive evaluation criterion is that the film's premiere should be at least European. The maximum duration of candidate short films should be 30 minutes.
The winning short film has the right to automatically enter the preselection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for competition in the Oscar® awards.

1.2. SITGES COLLECTION OFFICIAL SECTION
In this section are those productions that do not enter the competition but are particularly interesting for the audience due to their theme and/or the personalities accompanying them. National premieres will be prioritized. This section is competitive, and the award is given by public vote.

1.3. SPECIAL SESSIONS
Here are the screenings that are part of a gala or accompany an event (commemoration, tribute, etc.). There are three main types:

1. Gala Screenings: These include opening, closing, or themed galas.
2. Special Sessions: Special screenings that are part of an event or commemorate a particular occasion.
3. Surprise Screening: A session featuring a surprise film, undisclosed until the screening begins.

1.4. PANORAMA
Competitive section that includes titles from all nationalities, unreleased in Spain, and produced between 2023 and 2024. The theme of the productions must be fantasy and/or horror with an independent approach.

The festival's programming department reserves the right to exceptionally program films previously screened at another Spanish film festival.

1.5. ÓRBITA
Competitive section that includes titles from all nationalities, unreleased in Spain, and produced between 2023 and 2024. It includes titles from genres adjacent to the fantastic, such as thriller, action cinema, adventure, or black comedy.

The festival's programming department reserves the right to exceptionally program films previously screened at another Spanish film festival.

1.6. NEW VISIONS
Competitive section that includes titles from all nationalities, unreleased in Spain, and produced between 2023 and 2024. It includes titles with fantastic themes that focus on experimentation, new languages and formats, and genre hybridization.

The festival's programming department reserves the right to exceptionally program films previously screened at another Spanish film festival outside the official competition of this festival.

The awards for this section are Best Picture and Best Director. Additionally, there is the award for Best Short Film - Small Format New Visions.

This section includes a category for short films made by students from Catalan film schools, grouped under the name New Authorship (Nova Autoria). The selected shorts (chosen from a preselection made by participating schools), in collaboration with SGAE, compete for awards in Best Screenplay, Best Direction, and Best Music.

1.7. ANIMA’T
Anima't is a competitive section that includes titles from all nationalities, unreleased in Spain, and produced between 2023 and 2024. The festival's programming department reserves the right to exceptionally schedule films previously shown at another Spanish film festival outside the official competition of this festival.

Anima't includes a competitive category for short films produced between 2023 and 2024, with a maximum duration of 30 minutes. The candidate shorts must be unreleased in Catalonia. The programming department reserves the right to select advertising, promotional, or music video works that are deemed to have sufficient artistic and cinematic value, provided they are thematically related to the festival's specialization.

The Anima't section jury will award the following prizes: Best Animated Short Film (this production is entitled to automatically enter the preselection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Oscar® awards) and Best Animated Feature Film.


1.8. SEVEN CHANCES
This section is programmed in collaboration with the Catalan Association of Film Critics and Writers (ACCEC). It consists of seven sessions focused on works of fantastic cinema in its broadest conception, as well as on genres related to the festival (thriller, spaghetti western, wu xia, etc.).

The section aims to highlight films of interest that are worth discovering or revisiting, and which will be screened either in their original format or in a restored copy.

1.9. MIDNIGHT X-TREME
Selection of the best independent horror cinema. The competition includes films produced between 2023 and 2024. It is a competitive section, and an award for the best fiction feature film is given through audience voting.

1.10. BRIGADOON
Selection of feature films, short films, and documentaries with fantastic and horror themes. The section includes premieres, retrospectives, tributes, and/or cult cinema. A jury awards the Brigadoon Paul Naschy Award for the best fantastic genre short film in the section.

1.11. SITGES CLASSICS
This section includes productions that are part of the festival's retrospective, specific tributes, commemorations, and/or collaborations.

1.12. SITGES COMING SOON
Selection of upcoming releases of all countries. These productions must be in their final post-production phase.

1.13. SITGES DOCUMENTA
Selection of non-fiction feature film productions, produced between 2023 and 2024, that are thematically related to the festival's specialization.

1.14. SITGES FAMILY
Selection of productions aimed at children and young audiences, intended to be viewed with the family. Sitges Family gathers significant titles for film education (film literacy) and highlights productions with the ability to bring about social change and address themes committed to values. The section is non-competitive. The Programming Direction reserves the right to include titles from other sections in the Sitges Family program that share the same focus on children and young audiences.


II. awards AND CROSS-CUTTING LABELS

2.I. Focus Àsia Award
All films produced by Asian companies, included in any section of the Festival, whose themes fall within popular genres (thriller, action, fantasy) are eligible for this award. Animation is excluded. These films must be unpublished in Spain. The evaluation of these criteria is reserved for the festival's programming direction.


2.2. Méliès d’Argent awards
awards given to the best European feature film and short film of the fantasy genre included in any section of the festival and as nominated by the programming direction. The winning feature film and short film will compete for the Méliès d'Or awards, organized by the EFFFF (European Fantasy Film Festivals Federation).


2.3. Blood Window Award
All Latin American-produced films included in any section of the Festival, provided that their theme falls within the fantasy genre, will be eligible for this award. The evaluation of these criteria is reserved for the festival's programming direction.


III. OFFICIAL PARTICIPATION PROCEDURE IN CASE OF SELECTION

3.1. The production company or distributor of the selected films will receive an entry form and a proposal from the festival's programming department for their approval. The production company or distributor agrees to complete and submit the entry form to the festival before August 8, 2024. In case the festival needs to share the copy with other festivals, it should be specified in the entry form, indicating the availability of the copy within the dates of the 57th Sitges - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia.

3.2. The company providing the film shall provide the festival with high-quality promotional materials: photographs, posters, press kits, trailers, etc., so that the festival can adequately promote the film. The Festival reserves the right not to return these materials.

3.3. If subtitling the film is necessary, the providing company must provide the appropriate material: reference link, DVD or Blu-Ray, and a list of dialogues and/or subtitles. The Festival will not return these materials, which will be destroyed once the event ends. If the film is distributed in Spanish territory, the distributing company must provide the Festival with a subtitled screening copy. Films participating in Sitges Family must have subtitles in Spanish and/or Catalan or be dubbed in these languages.

3.4. The projection formats for the selected works will be:

- Feature films included in the sections Official Fantastic, Special Sessions, Órbita, New Visions, Sitges Documenta, Panorama, Anima’t, Seven Chances, Midnight X-Treme, and Sitges Classics: 35mm, DCP on physical support (hard drive) or digital transfer. If encrypted, the festival will not cover the costs associated with generating the DKDM or KDMs.

- Short films included in the sections Official Fantastic, New Visions Small Format, Anima’t: Non-encrypted DCP, digital file with HD quality (.mov).

- Feature films and short films included in the Brigadoon section: digital file with HD quality (.mov) or DVD/Blu-Ray.

- Pieces included in the Sitges Coming Soon, Sitges Family, and New Authorship sections: digital file with HD quality (.mov).

3.5. The transportation costs incurred by sending the screening copies are covered by the festival, except in cases where the copy must be sent to another film festival. In this case, the other festival will pay for transportation from the Sitges festival address indicated. The festival will not cover potential costs of digital shipments.

3.6. In case of providing a screening copy in physical support, the festival commits to return this copy as soon as possible, within a maximum of 20 days after the end of the event. The Festival organization commits to delete all digitally received projection materials once the current edition is over.

3.7. If the copy is damaged because of its exhibition at the festival, the owner will notify the festival within one month from the return date. The Festival's liability will not exceed the cost specified in the entry form by the company providing the film.

3.8. The festival organization will decide the days and screening times of the film. No film, included in any section of the festival, will be screened more than 5 times, including the press screening, without the prior consent of the owner.

3.9. Regarding the recording of excerpts from the film for use in television programs, the festival will comply with the regulations established in the FIAPF rules for competitive specialized festivals.

3.10. The festival fully accepts the FIAPF regulations for competitive specialized festivals.

3.11. Participation in the festival implies full acceptance of these regulations.

3.12. Any issue or dispute arising during the festival, not covered in these regulations, will be resolved by the festival organization in accordance with international regulations.

3.13. The festival does not award cash prizes.