SIFFCY - Smile International Film Festival For Children & Youth (9)

Festival start: 17 April 2023      Festival end: 23 April 2023

INTRODUCTION
SIFFCY (Smile International film festival for children & youth) is one of a flagship initiatives of India's leading development organisation Smile foundation launched in 2015 with an objective to engage, encourage, educate & empower young people through Good Cinema, screenings of value based films, interactive sessions, capacity building activities & related workshops. The festival has created a benchmark in its category and has already been recognised as a highly credible international film festival for young audiences. The weeklong film festival caters to More than 30000 audiences & 100 international & national industry experts, Jury, Filmmakers during December every year and then travels to other parts of the country reaching out to maximum audiences staying in remote locations, small towns & villages of India.

KINDLY NOTE: This year due to the pandemic situation of Covid-19 (Omicron variant) the festival (SIFFCY) has been planned to be hosted on a hybrid model (Majorly Online + selected physical screenings)

OBJECTIVES

• To Engage,Educate, Encourage & Empower young minds through GOOD CINEMA and film related workshops.
• To promote GOOD CINEMA that meant for children & youth
• To bring together high quality, entertaining, multi‐cultural cinema for children & youth
• To cultivate understanding of other cultures, lives & experiences through the medium of film
• To catalyse critical appreciation and creative pursuit of cinematic art amongst children & youth
• To support the work of talented and dedicated children & young film‐makers and encourage the exchange of ideas amongst them

THE ORGANISATION BEHIND:
Smile Foundation, one of the leading development organisation in India has been working continuously for last 18 years in all core areas to best serve the needs of the people, especially young people keeping in mind all challenges. The foundation is directly benefitting over 15,00,000 children and their families every year, through more than 400 live welfare projects on education, healthcare, livelihood and women empowerment, in over 2000 remote villages and slums across 25 states of India. SIFFCY (Smile International film festival for children & youth) is one of such flagship initiatives of Smile foundation launched in 2015 with an objective to engage, encourage, educate & empower young people through Good Cinema, screenings of value based films, interactive sessions, capacity building activities & related workshops.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2023 EDITION:
Festival Dates: 17-23 April 2023 (New Delhi, India)
Submission Dead Line: 15 March 2023

Professional Jury
• Best Film (Feature-Children)
• Best Film (Feature-Youth)
• Best Director (Feature)
• Best Actor / Actress
• Best Story (Feature)

Professional Jury
• Best Film (Short-Children)
• Best Film (Short-Youth)
• Best Story (Short)

Young Jury:
• Best Film (Short-Children- By Young Jury)
• Best Film (Short-Youth- By Young Jury)
• Best Story (Short- By Young Jury)

Professional Jury
• Best Student film

• ECFA Award -(European Children's Film Association) - for best film
• CIFEJ Award -(International Centre of films for children & young people) - for best film
• Film Critics Circle of India Award - for best film

• Special Mention Plaques may be awarded at the discretion of the Jury.
• Certificate of Participation to all films presented in this section.

RULES & REGULATIONS FOR SUBMISSION (Kindly read it carefully before you submit your films)

1) Films produced only after 1st January 2021 are eligible for submission.

2) Entry fees: Entry is FREE for students (Next-Gen section) and films made by children (Take One section). (Kindly note that our objective is to promote & encourage independent film makers at the same time to keep control on the spam/junk/irrelevant entries. We had been experiencing thousands of spam/irrelevant/irresponsible entries and have to face a lot of difficulties filtering the relevant ones, we may waive off this fees for deserving entries on request. For fee waiver code write to: info@siffcy.org ).

3) Submission format: Online Screener link.

4) Projection format: DCP/ DVD / BLU RAY/ HD Videos (MOV/MP4)

5) Materials: Film screener, Trailer, at least 3 High Res stills from the film, Director's photograph (Head shot), Director's Bio, Synopsis (Long & short both), Cast & Crew detail.

6) Final Deadline: 15 March 2023 (Duly filled entry form & Online screener must reach the festival office before the deadline. OR kindly check for late deadline dates. But this deadline must be strictly observed. )

7) LANGUAGE & SUBTITLES (Films must be submitted in their original language. Films in all languages should be subtitled in English)

8) All Indian films must be censored by CBFC.

9) THE FESTIVAL ACCEPTS ENTRIES IN THE COMPETITION & NON-COMPETITIVE SECTIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CRITERIA OUTLINED BELOW:

9.1) INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION (BOTH FEATURE & NON FEATURE)
9.2) 70MM SMILE (NON-COMPETITIVE, VALUE BASED FILMS FEATURE & NON FEATURE)
9.3) THE YELLOW CARPET (ONLY INDIAN FEATURE FILMS, NON-COMPETITIVE)
9.4) NEXT-GEN (FILMS MADE BY STUDENTS, COMPETITIVE)
9.5) TAKE ONE (FILMS MADE BY CHILDREN, NON-COMPETITIVE)

10) FILM TYPES:
10.1) FEATURE FILMS (Fiction: Live Action, Animation, 60 min and above)
It should have been PRODUCED AFTER 1ST January 2021.
Films should be in Digital format.
10.2) SHORT FILM (Fiction: Live Action, Animation, Below 30min) All short films / documentaries shot on film or Video (Digital format) produced after 1st January 2021 within a running duration below 30 minutes are eligible for the festival.
Entries of all short fiction films / short documentaries / short animation shall be accepted only in online digital format.
10.3) DOCUMENTARY (Below 30 minutes)
All short films / documentaries shot on film or Video (Digital format) after 1st January 2021 within a running duration of less than 30 minutes are eligible for the festival.

Entries of all films / documentaries / animation shall be accepted only in online digital format.
10.4) SPECIAL FILMS BY CHILDREN/YOUTH
Films made by children of any age group below 21 years and shot on any format & any length are eligible for the festival (The festival may ask for the age proof of the film maker if required)
10.5) FILMS MADE BY FILM STUDENTS
Films made by Film students of any age group and shot on any format are eligible for the festival (ID Proof issued by the school/college/university is required)

11) RIGHT OF PARTICIPATION

11.1) Participation in the Festival implies adherence to the regulations below. It is the responsibility of producers, distributors, and sales agents, other organizations submitting a film to ensure that they are legitimately entitled to enter a film in the Festival and are in a position to make the exhibition and publicity material available for screening in the festival upon selection.
11.2) In case of dispute of interpretation of the regulations of participation, the Festival organizers shall have the right to adjudicate on all disputes including those relating to the matters not specifically covered by Rules & Regulations, as well as allowing exceptions. The decision of the Festival organizers shall be final and binding on the participants concerned.
11.3) The festival organizers, SIFFCY and/or Smile Foundation reserve the right to exclude films which are not in conformity with the aims of the festival or which could offend the national feelings of any participating country or contain visuals/ dialogues that are discriminatory, offensive or inappropriate for young viewership, without giving any notice/clarifications.
11.4) The festival organizers, SIFFCY and/or Smile Foundation reserve all rights to publish the images, working stills, video footage, posters, trailers and/or all related publicity materials of the films selected in the festival SIFFCY anywhere at any point of time, without any restriction.
11.5) The festival organizers, SIFFCY and/or Smile Foundation reserve all rights to change the format of the festival, postpone, reschedule or totally cancel the festival due to any unforeseen situation, without any prior notice or explanation.
11.6) Submission fees once paid is non-refundable in any case.

Note: All material submitted to the Festival will be retained for archival purposes.

SELECTION

A selection Committee appointed by SIFFCY will select all films. The decision of the committee will be final. And there should not be further question of any kind to it.

Eligibility. The Festival may include the film in a particular section that the committee decides and/or is suitable for that particular section irrespective of the submission category.

LANGUAGE VERSION, SUBTITLES & OTHER TERMS

• The cost of subtitling is the responsibility of the producer of the respective films.
• English translation of the dialogue list must be provided to the festival organizers along with exhibition material.
• Granting permission for screenings of officially selected films during SIFFCY Festival is pre-approved by the rights holder/producer. This is applicable for all selected films.
• The deadline for arrival of the Film Prints/ Provided Exhibition Formats in New Delhi-India of selected films is April 1st 2023. The date stipulated for the film’s arrival in New Delhi must be respected at all costs.

SPECIAL REQUEST FOR NON-COMMERCIAL SCREENINGS AFTER THE FESTIVAL SIFFCY - Smile Foundation, India is committed to sensitize children & youth through meaningful cinemas. Print as well as DVD screenings of Children’s films will tour the country different activities! We request producers/right holders of films selected for SIFFCY 2022 to allow their films to be screened in non-commercial shows/screenings after the festival. We will not be able to provide screening fees for these films, but hope that we have your goodwill and support in reaching your delightful film to children across India. Exhibition Format for these non‐commercial screenings will be DVDs and digital/online.

JURISDICTION

All disputes in respect of any matter relating to the SIFFCY shall be subjected to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts and forums in NEW DELHI, India.

Please Note: This is understood that you agree to all the Terms & Conditions mentioned here when submit your film and by default allow SIFFCY / Smile Foundation to conduct screenings of your film during & after the festival. Also pre-authorize the festival organizers to publish all related publicity materials including video footages, photo , artwork, posters and other related materials of the film anytime, anywhere.

Thanking you
Festival Director - SIFFCY
Website: www.siffcy.org | www.smilefoundationindia.org