Docsbarcelona, Festival Internacional de Cine Documental (27)

Festival start: 02 May 2024      Festival end: 12 May 2024

DocsBarcelona is an international festival specializing in the documentary genre comprised of international and national competition sections, non-competitive sections, and retrospectives. The Artistic Direction and Programming Committee select all of the documentaries that make up these sections.

DocsBarcelona will celebrate the 27th edition from May 2 to 12, 2024.

DESCRIPTION AND SECTIONS OF THE FESTIVAL

The 27th edition of DocsBarcelona International Documentary Film Festival, organized by PLANETA MED, S.L.U, (henceforth, “DocsBarcelona”) with headquarters in Barcelona, Balmes 207, Pr 2a, Postal Code 08006, CIF number B-61008587, will take place during May 2-12, 2024 (henceforth, “Festival”).
DocsBarcelona is a festival specializing in the documentary genre comprised of international and national competition sections, non-competitive sections, and retrospectives. The Artistic Direction and programming committee select all of the documentaries that make up these sections.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

1.- SECTIONS

The 2024 Festival consists of the following sections:

• Official Selection – Docs&Pearls: Competition that brings together feature documentaries selected from among the most recent national and international cinema productions.

• Docs&Cat: Non-competitive section that brings together a selection of the best documentaries produced in Catalonia.

• Docs&Teens: Competition dedicated to documentaries aimed at audiences between the ages of 12 and 18.

• DOC-U: Competition dedicated to short documentaries created by students ages 18 and over at universities, educational centers, and Spanish film schools.

• Docs&Focus: Non-competitive section that brings together a selection of documentaries that revolve around the same thematic axis that varies each edition of the Festival.

• Docs&Honor: Retrospective of a filmmaker awarded with the “Docs d'Honor” Award at each edition of the Festival.

2.- PARTICIPATION IN THE FESTIVAL

Eligible to participate in this year’s Festival are documentaries that:

- Can be considered as non-fiction due to the film’s form and content.
- Have been produced after the month of January 2023*.
- Have not been commercially released in Spain*.
- Have not been broadcasted on television in Spain
- Have not been broadcasted on any VOD platform in Spain.
- Have not been screened or participated in any other film festival or film festival in Catalonia*.
- In the case of feature documentaries in the competitive sections of the festival, those that prior to the dates of The Festival, have NOT premiered or participated in festivals and film screenings in Barcelona.
- Meet the following conditions in terms of duration:

o Official Selection – Docs&Pearls: a minimum of 60 minutes.

o Docs&Cat: between 31 and 60 minutes for medium-length format and over 60 minutes for feature documentary format.

o Docs&Teens: a minimum of 60 minutes. For this section, the Festival reserves the right to program other durations.

o DOC-U: a maximum of 30 minutes.

o Docs&Focus: a minimum of 60 minutes.

o Docs&Honor: no duration restrictions.

*In certain exceptions, the Artistic Direction of the Festival reserves the right to program documentaries that do not meet these requirements.

3.- SUBMISSION PROCESS

Documentaries that wish to be considered in the selection process of the DocsBarcelona Festival 2024 must be officially registered through the Festhome platform. A submission form found on this platform must be completed in order to officially register for the Festival.

The following submission dates and registration fees have been established:


From September 15 to November 1, 2023: Early Bird fee of 30 euros.

From November 1 to November 15, 2023: Late Entry fee of 40 euros

Documentaries in a rough-cut state will also be accepted as long as the filmmakers commit to completing their documentary by February 2024. If a rough cut of a documentary is selected by the Selection Committee, the Festival will inform the filmmakers and they will have to sign a written commitment to comply with the agreed conditions.
The rights-holders of the selected documentaries are obliged to provide DocsBarcelona a screener link with English subtitles of films that are not in Catalan and/or Spanish for the Selection Committee. A screener with English subtitles must also be provided for documentaries that are not in Catalan and/or Spanish to facilitate screenings for members of the Jury, for those with press accreditation, and/or for restricted screenings online.

The Festival reserves the right to disqualify documentaries that do not meet the eligibility requirements established in these Rules and Regulations.

4.- SELECTION

The Artistic Direction of the Festival together with the Selection Committee formed by six (6) professionals select the documentaries that participate in the different sections of the Festival, with the exception of the Docs&Honor section. For this section, four (4) professionals form a designated Selection Committee.

The Artistic Direction of the Festival reserves the right to choose the section where each film will be screened.

The Artistic Direction of the Festival reserves the right to invite documentaries that have not been officially registered through the Festival's platform as long as they fulfill the conditions established for each section.

5.- CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

To avoid conflicts of interest during the selection process of DocsBarcelona 2024 Festival, no member of the DocsBarcelona Selection Committee may be professionally involved with the submitted documentaries.

6.- CONFIRMATION OF SELECTED DOCUMENTARIES

The documentaries selected by the DocsBarcelona Selection Committee will receive a notification over email. They will have a period of five (5) days to confirm their participation in DocsBarcelona 2024, and subsequently, a process will begin to agree on the number of screenings, online sessions, platforms, etc.

Documentaries that are not selected, will receive a notification one (1) month at the latest before DocsBarcelona 2024 takes place.

7.- DOCSBARCELONA AWARDS

Award for the Best Documentary Film: consists of a cash prize of 5000€ (FIVE THOUSAND EUROS) and a statuette. All documentaries in the Docs&Pearls Official Selection are eligible for this award. This award is given by the Docs&Pearls Jury, made up of five (5) national and international professionals.

Jury Award: The documentaries in the Docs&Pearls Official Selection are eligible for this award. The prize is awarded by the Docs&Pearls Jury and is sponsored by Antaviana Films, which contributes post-production services for the director's subsequent work (finishing, conformation, color correction, sound, DCP copies) worth 3000€ (THREE THOUSAND EUROS) and also consists of a statuette. The post-production services part of the award has a two (2) year validity.

Award for Best Catalan Documentary Film: Documentaries produced in Catalonia that compete in the Docs&Pearls Official Selection are eligible for this award. This award is given by the Docs&Pearls Jury, constituted by five (5) national and international professionals.

New Talent Award: Documentaries in the Docs&Pearls Official Selection that are the director's first feature documentary (also in the case of a co-direction) are eligible for this award. This award is granted by the Docs&Pearls Jury and is incompatible with the Best Documentary Film Award. In the event that the final selection does not have a minimum of five (5) documentaries that are eligible for this award in accordance with the above provisions, the Festival organizers may also establish the documentaries that are eligible for the New Talent Award for the 2nd documentary feature by the director (also in the case of a co-direction). This award is sponsored by Filmin and consists of a prize of 4000€ (FOUR THOUSAND EUROS) equivalent of non-exclusive VOD rights for the person, entity, or company holding the VOD rights of the winning documentary in Spain. The aforementioned sum of €4000 for the winning documentary is a flat fee for non-exclusive SVOD and TVOD rights in Spain for the awarded documentary for a total period of eighteen (18) months. The start date of the license must be earlier than May 31st, 2025, and the specific release date must be agreed between Filmin and the VOD rights holder in Spain. The VOD release in Spain is reserved for Filmin and with a holdback of three (3) months before other VOD platforms. After the first three (3) months, the title may be released on other VOD platforms in Spain.

Jury Special Mention: The Docs&Pearls Jury has at its disposal a Special Jury Mention. This mention may be awarded to a documentary from the Docs&Pearls Official Selection which, due to the characteristics considered by the members of the Jury, is worthy of this distinction.

Amnesty International Catalonia Award: Eligible for this award are any of the documentaries in the Docs&Pearls Official Selection that, due to their subject matter, are involved in the defense of the rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, freedom of expression, and the values shared by Amnesty International, as well as showing a high cinematographic value in the struggle to transform unjust realities. This award is given by a jury formed by members of Amnesty International Catalunya and consists of a statuette.

DOC-U Award: All short documentaries participating in the DOC-U Section are eligible for this award. This prize is awarded by the DOC-U Jury and consists of a prize of filming equipment rentals worth 1000€ (ONE THOUSAND EUROS), sponsored by 16nou.

Around Europe Award: All international short documentaries that participate in the DOC-U Section are eligible for this award. It is awarded by the DOC-U Jury, and consists of 1000€ (ONE THOUSAND EUROS) for the creative team of the documentary short film.

Audience Award: All documentaries in the Docs&Pearls Official Selection are eligible for this award. The documentary that obtains the most votes from the audience will receive this award. This award, sponsored by Moritz, consists of a cash prize of 1500€ (ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED EUROS) and a statuette.

Docs&Teens Award: This prize is given by the Docs&Teens audience’s vote for the best film in this section. The winning documentary will be the one that obtains the highest score in the audience's votes. This prize includes a statuette.

Reteena Youth Jury Award:  All documentaries intended for a young audience in the Docs&Pearls Official Selection that are part of the Reteena Itinerary, a special selection made by the organizers of the Reteena Festival, a partner of DocsBarcelona, are eligible for this award. This award is given by the Reteena Youth Jury and consists of a statuette.

9.- CONDITIONS OF THE PRIZES

The cash prizes are subject to withholdings and/or taxes determined by the current legislation for Spanish productions and on the basis of international double-taxation agreements for documentaries outside of Spain. The rightsholders will have to present a Tax Certificate in order to receive the established amount without holdings or additional taxes.

The non-cash awards or prizes provided by partners are offered under the conditions set out in Regulatory Rule 8a. Winners may not request modification of any conditions either from the partners or from the Festival.

DocsBarcelona reserves the right to eliminate, modify, or change the list of prizes mentioned above. If this was to be the case, the relevant participants will be duly notified of such circumstances. The prizes will not be exchangeable for any other prize or economic compensation at the request of the winners. DocsBarcelona is not responsible for the use made of a prize by the winners. DocsBarcelona will not be held responsible for any incident that may occur after the prize has been awarded. The prizes are non-transferable and can only be used by the winning participants.

The Festival reserves the right to schedule an extra screening of the winning documentaries of the Best Documentary Film of the Festival Award and the Audience Award on the last day of the current edition of the festival. The rightsholders of the winning documentaries will have to authorize DocsBarcelona to promote up to two (2) free screenings in the following two years after the end of the Festival. DocsBarcelona will notify the production/distribution company in advance in the event that they are held.
The winners commit to mentioning the award received on all their digital platforms.
All DocsBarcelona awards are given to the directors of the documentaries. Therefore, the financial award will be given to the directors of the documentaries, with the exception of the New Talent Award, which establishes that the financial award will be given to the person, entity or company that holds the VOD rights of the documentary screened in Spain.

10.- THE JURY

The selection of the winning documentaries of the 27th edition of DocsBarcelona will be carried out by four (4) Juries:

DOCS&PEARLS JURY: Consists of five (5) nationally and/or internationally-recognized professionals from the audiovisual sphere. Considering all of the documentaries in the Docs&Pearls Official Selection, the Docs&Pearls Jury will award four (4) prizes: the “Best Documentary Film Award”, the "Jury Award", the "Best Catalan Documentary Film Award" and the "New Talent Award". They may also award the "Special Mention of the Jury".

REETENA YOUNG JURY: Consisting of five (5) youth between the ages of 16 and 21, The Reetena Youth Jury will give one (1) prize: the "Reetena Youth Jury Award", considering a selection of documentaries from the Docs&Pearls Official Selection that deal especially with themes related to young people.

DOC-U JURY: Consisting of three (3) nationally and/or internationally recognized professionals from the audiovisual sphere. The DOC-U Jury will award two (2) prizes, considering all of the short documentaries in the DOC-U Section: the "DOC-U Award" and the "Doc Around Europe Award".

AMNISTY INTERNATIONAL CATALONIA JURY: Constituted by three (3) members of the global independent organization "Amnesty International Catalonia". The "Amnesty International Catalonia Jury" will award one (1) prize, "The Amnesty International Catalonia Prize", considering all the documentaries in the Docs&Pearls Official Selection, which involve the defense of the rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, freedom of expression and the values shared by Amnesty International, as well as showing a high cinematographic value in the struggle to transform unjust realities.
None of the awards may be declared void or ex aequo, with the exception of the Docs&Pearls Special Mention of the Jury, which may be declared void.

The Jury's decision is final.

11.- DISSEMINATION AND PROGRAMMING

1. The selected documentaries will receive an Entry Form, together with the Screening Agreement and these Rules and Regulations. The person holding the rights to the documentary will sign the Screening Agreement authorizing participation in the Festival, and he/she will be solely liable to any persons or companies that may have had participation in the documentary. A completed Entry Form must be returned to DocsBarcelona in accordance with the dates established in Regulatory Rule 3ª.

2. The production company and/or distributor must provide DocsBarcelona with information and publicity material (press kit, 5-10 photographs, poster, and trailer) and other promotional materials so that DocsBarcelona can adequately promote the documentary.

3. The production company and/or distributor must provide DocsBarcelona with the dialogue list or subtitles, if necessary.

4. DocsBarcelona reserves the right to request and use extracts (maximum 5 minutes) from the selected documentaries in order to broadcast them in cinemas, television programs, and on social networks, always with the aim of giving visibility to the event.

5. In general, participation in the Festival implies that DocsBarcelona may use a participating documentary exclusively for promotional and non-profit purposes by means of the use of images, cuts, fragments, and/or photographs from the documentary, among other manifestations of the same, or of the complete documentary and/or its soundtrack. Likewise, DocsBarcelona may use the image of the participants and winners for the sole purpose of the selection process, promotional events, and awards ceremony. The use of the documentaries and images of the participants and winners described above may be made in any medium, format and/or mode of exploitation, including the rights of fixation, reproduction, distribution, public communication, and making them available to the public (always within the framework of what is established in this stipulation of the present Rules and Regulations) and does not entail any type of obligation and/or remuneration in cash or any in-kind award on the part of DocsBarcelona in favor of the owners of the documentaries other than that of being awarded the prize in the category in which they have participated.

6. DocsBarcelona reserves the right to not return sent materials, except for screening copies.

7. All selected documentaries will be screened in their original version. In the case that English is not the language of the film, they will have to display on-screen English subtitles.

8. Documentaries must have a screening copy available in the following formats: DCP, optimum quality digital file or Blu-ray. The Festival will not accept copies that do not meet the minimum conditions for large screen exhibition.

9. Producers/distributors must send the screening copy of their documentaries with sufficiently in advance before the beginning of the festival. The costs of transporting the screening copies will be decided on a case-by-case basis. As a general rule, the Festival undertakes to return the prints 15 days after the end of the Festival and in no case will cover the cost of return postage if the print goes to another festival.

10. In case of damage to the copy as a consequence of the exhibition at the Festival, the owner shall notify the Festival within one month from the date of return of the copy. DocsBarcelona will cover, at most, the costs of making a new screening copy. DocsBarcelona reserves the right not to return the sent material, and take the projection copy.

11. The Festival does not consider the payment of screening fees for the documentaries selected. Whenever the budget allows for it, the Festival will try to invite a representative of the documentary. In the event that an economic remuneration is agreed upon for exhibition rights, the amount will be subject to the withholdings and/or taxes determined by current legislation for Spanish productions and on the basis of international double taxation agreements for foreign documentaries. The rights-holders will have to present a Tax Certificate in order to receive the total amount without withholdings or taxes.

12. Regarding participation in the Festival, the Festival organizers will decide the screening dates and times of each documentary. No documentary will be screened in situ without the prior consent of the owner, with whom the Festival will agree on the number of in situ screenings on a case-by-case basis.

13. The Festival organizers will determine the terms and conditions of participation and exhibition of selected documentaries on the online platform/s with which they work, and will inform the production companies/distributors/representatives of these conditions. The conditions of online participation will be conveniently agreed upon between the festival and the documentaries participating in the Festival.

12.- TREATMENT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

The information of participants and winners will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU), 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal information and the free movement of such information and the Organic Law 3/2018 of 5 December on the Protection of Personal Information and Guarantee of Digital Rights (LOPDGDD).

DocsBarcelona will collect the personal information of the participants and winners in order to manage participation, send prizes, and carry out media campaigns aforementioned in these Rules and Regulations. Once the Festival has ended, DocsBarcelona will keep the information provided by the participants until the expiry of the legal obligations according to the type of information. Once these deadlines have expired, personal information will be definitively deleted.

Participants and, if applicable, those whose documentaries have been selected, are only obligated to complete the forms corresponding to each case, with the data highlighted with an asterisk, as this is the minimum information necessary to be able to take part in the Festival. The rest of the information requested may be provided on a voluntary basis.

Interested parties may exercise their rights of access, deletion (oblivion), opposition, limitation and portability by sending a letter to DocsBarcelona, Carrer Balmes, number 207 Principal 2a, postcode 08006, Barcelona, indicating reference "Protección de Datos DocsBarcelona" or by sending an e-mail to: info@docsbarcelona.com.
The Festival requires that the information be provided truthfully and completely, and that they be kept and updated, something that’s made possible with the cooperation of the participants. If the personal information is uncertain, incomplete or outdated, DocsBarcelona will be released from the responsibility for each specific case, in good faith of the Festival and any consequence related to the aforementioned, and in a last case scenario, DocsBarcelona will not declare the beneficiaries of the Festival.

If there are any doubts regarding the treatment of personal data, participants can contact DocsBarcelona through the following e-mail address: info@docsbarcelona.com.
Should any dispute arise in the course of data processing, the affected person may refer the incident to the Supervisory Authority: Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, calle Jorge Juan, 6, Madrid, 28001

13.- WARRANTY OF ORIGINALITY AND AUTHORSHIP

By participating in the Festival as stipulated in these Rules and Regulations, the participant guarantees that the documentary is original and unpublished and is not subject to contracts, assignments or licenses to third parties of copyright or intellectual property rights or other rights, except those of the authors themselves. Likewise, by submitting the documentary, the participant guarantees that the documentary is free of any lien or encumbrance. In any case, the participants and/or authors of the documentaries will hold DocsBarcelona harmless from any claim, complaint,
or demand to third parties in relation to the possible rights that may derive from the documentaries.

14.- PROMOTION

Once the Festival is over, the directors who have been awarded prizes may be asked to attend subsequent promotional events. In this sense, these directors will have to be predisposed and available to attend a promotional event related to the awards and DocsBarcelona. In no case will these obligations be an obstacle to their professional tasks and they will always be duly communicated sufficiently in advance, so that they can be combined with the commitments of these directors.

15.- RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL

Participants may choose to withdraw from the Festival. However, this cancellation is not admissible if, being a selected documentary, it takes place during the dates of the Festival. The withdrawal must be communicated two (2) months prior to the Festival's start date.

Should a documentary abandon the Festival during the Festival, DocsBarcelona reserves the right to claim damages from the persons responsible for the inscription of the documentary in the Festival.
In the event of withdrawal, interested parties must notify DocsBarcelona in writing of their decision to withdraw from the Festival by sending an e-mail to info@docsbarcelona.com with a brief explanation of the reasons for their decision.

Withdrawal can only be made by the person who has formalized the submission to the Festival.

From the moment of receipt of such a communication, DocsBarcelona will discard the documentary in question, and it will lose any option at the Festival's prizes. Neither DocsBarcelona nor its sponsors or collaborators will have any other obligation towards the participants who communicate the withdrawal of a documentary, nor towards the documentary itself or towards any third party that has directly or indirectly participated in the documentary.
The reinstatement of a documentary that has been voluntarily withdrawn will not be permitted.

Notwithstanding the above, and in order to guarantee equal participation for all audiovisual works, the right of withdrawal must be exercised as soon as possible and, in any case, no later than two (2) months after the Festival's starting date.

16.- RESERVATIONS AND LIMITATIONS

DocsBarcelona reserves the conditions of cancellation of this call for submissions of the Festival or to change or increase the conditions for technical reasons or other reasons that could interfere with the normal development of the same call, which is stipulated in the Rules and Regulations. Likewise, DocsBarcelona could declare void the present call for submissions if irregularities in the identifying information of the awardees are detected.
DocsBarcelona may discard entries that are abusive or fraudulent, or that use abusive or fraudulent methods or breach the Rules and Regulations.

If the irregularities are detected once the prizes are given, DocsBarcelona reserves the right to activate pertinent legal actions against the people who have allegedly committed the irregularities in order to obtain the return of the prize and recover any damages that their actions may have caused to the Festival.

DocsBarcelona reserves the right to change the budget set for the present Festival Call for Submissions. DocsBarcelona is not responsible for the veracity of the information provided by the participants.

Thus, if the information provided is not correct or has errors, DocsBarcelona does not take responsibility for not being able to contact the potential guarantors to communicate the results or to manage the awards.

17.- CONTACT

DocsBarcelona will respond to inquiries and questions from persons interested in participating through: Email: info@docsbarcelona.com
Telephone: +34 93 393 12 00

18.- ACCEPTANCE and CONSENT

Participants are informed that simply participating in the Festival implies full acceptance of these Rules and Regulations.

The contrary statement by the participant will imply the exclusion of the participant from the Festival and DocsBarcelona will be released from the obligation of the participant.

The DocsBarcelona Festival reserves the right to modify these RULES AND REGULATIONS at any time and without prior notification.

19.- LEGISLATION AND JURISDICTION

Any dispute that may arise from the interpretation of these Rules and Regulations is resolved in accordance with applicable Spanish regulations. The parties expressly waive any other jurisdiction to which they may be entitled and will submit to the Courts of the City of Barcelona to settle any differences in the interpretation of these Rules and Regulations.

20.- PUBLICATION AND CONSULTATION

The present Rules and Regulations will be published on the website www.docsbarcelona.com from 15th of September of 2023, being these that will regulate the present Call for Submissions or the Festival. Inquiries can be made visiting the website www.docsbarcelona.com.