北京国际短片联展 Beijing International Short Film Festival (6)

Festival start: 18 November 2022      Festival end: 28 November 2022

The Festival

The Beijing International Short Film Festival (BISFF) is a beloved short film festival in China. During ten festival days, hundreds of filmmakers and artists present their work to a large audience. The festival is a hub where our visionary team organises and stimulates film-related activities to accompany a quality program—robust, eclectic, adventurous—and where emerging talent meets prestigious guests. This is what makes BISFF unique: every year it attracts distinct personalities from the field, who rediscover the magic of cinema at the heart of one of the world’s most dynamic cities.

BISFF 2022 will be held in Beijing at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art and other venues from November 18 to 28, 2022.

For more information about BISFF, please visit www.bisff.co.

The Jury will be invited by the Director of the Festival. To ensure the fairness and impartiality of the awards, persons directly associated with the production or exploitation of a film in competition may not serve as jurors. A Jury composed of five personalities from the world of cinema, art and culture will award the following prizes:

International Short Film Award
All films selected in the International Competition are eligible to compete for three equal International Short Film Awards. The Jury may also award a maximum of two special mentions.
Chinese Language Short Film Award
All films selected in the Chinese Language Competition are eligible to compete for two equal Chinese Language Short Film Awards. The Jury may also award a maximum of two special mentions.
The decisions of the Jury and the Festival Directorship are final.
Outstanding Artistic Contribution Award
BISFF Festival Directorship will award two Outstanding Artistic Contribution Awards, for International Competition and Chinese Language Competition respectively, celebrating films that excel at acting, cinematography, set design, editing, music and other artistic aspects.
Partnership Awards
Separate sets of rules and regulations will be determined for different partnership awards. Independent juries might be involved in some cases. For further information, please follow the official announcements on BISFF website and social media accounts.

The producers and distributors and the buyers and sellers of rights to awarded films undertake to make mention in their publicity and advertising materials (posters, flyers, press-kits, trailers, website, etc.) of the winning of an award at the Beijing International Short Film Festival. The official logos of the various awards will be supplied by the Festival. The logo must not under any circumstances be modified or altered without the prior permission of the Festival. Any publication of a logo must be approved for press by the Festival.

The producers and distributors of award-winning films also undertake to add to the start of all prints released for distribution the official award logo, provided by the Festival, in the context of a theatrical release or a presentation at other festivals.

The Festival is composed of variant screening sections, consisting of respective requests for submission films.

Competitive Sections (open to online submissions):

Eligible for the competitive sections of BISFF 2022 are fiction (with evident narrative-driven structures and intention of portraying figures or events), non-fiction (depicting non-indirectly reality and beyond), and experimental (hybrid and limitless, representing the most up-to-date and daring in cinematic creativity), in live-action, animation and/or any other forms which explore innovative film languages. The Competitions embrace all genres, styles, and subject matters that stretch the boundaries and lay down new tracks in the vast field of cinematic possibilities.
The maximum length of submission is 45 minutes (including credits).

International Competition:
Reflecting the Festival’s aim to cross and blur boundaries and encourage conversions, the International Competition presents a stimulating panorama of the contemporary short film landscape.

Selected films compete for three equal International Short Film Awards.

Chinese Language Competition:
Dedicated to Chinese-language filmmakers from Chinese-speaking regions, or produced and made by Chinese filmmakers, this section opens up various perspectives on Sinophone cinema, showcasing various genres, styles, and subject matters.

Selected films compete for two equal Chinese Language Short Film Awards.

Non-Competitive Sections (not open to submissions):

Echo is dedicated to the development process of moving-image. It offers works from historical filmmakers to whom the Festival pays special tributes, presents newly restored works in film history, also explores untraditional representation and multiplex context.

Astro is a selection of highlight works of one major filmmaker or group. This section is designed to honor auteurs who achieve heuristic influence on the modern moving image, to enable the audience to (re)discover an important auteur and inspire academic discussion.

Neutron is a special program reserved for medium-length films from 46 minutes to 75 minutes. All genres are eligible. This section is dedicated to recent outstanding films, not yet released in China, all of which have received critical acclaim and/or awards at other international festivals.

Other ad hoc sections and special screenings.

* Out of curatorial or practical concerns, the submitted projects may be assigned to a different competition/screening section. The Selection Committee will seek the opinions and approval of the filmmakers and/or producers and distributors before making such adjustments.

5. Awards and Jury
The Jury will be invited by the Director of the Festival. Persons directly associated with the production or exploitation of a film in competition may not serve as jurors. A Jury composed of five personalities from the world of cinema, art, and culture will award the following prizes:

International Short Film Award
All films selected in the International Competition are eligible to compete for three equal International Short Film Awards. The Jury may also award a maximum of two special mentions.

Chinese Language Short Film Award
All films selected in the Chinese Language Competition are eligible to compete for two equal Chinese Language Short Film Awards. The Jury may also award a maximum of two special mentions.

Outstanding Artistic Contribution Award
BISFF Festival Directorship will award two Outstanding Artistic Contribution Awards, for International Competition and Chinese Language Competition respectively, celebrating films that excel at acting, cinematography, set design, editing, music, and other artistic aspects.

Partnership Awards
Separate sets of rules and regulations will be determined for different partnership awards. Independent juries might be involved in some cases. For further information, please follow the official announcements on the BISFF website and social media accounts.

The decisions of the Jury and the Festival Directorship are final.


Entry conditions
A Selection Committee made up of film experts will assist the Artistic Directorship in the scouting and selection of works for the Festival.

The selected films of competitive sections must have been completed after June 1, 2021.

Films selected for International Competitions must not have been previously released in China or shown in other film festivals in mainland China. World/International premieres are favored.

All Chinese productions and co-productions in the Chinese Competition must not have been commercially released or broadcasted in China before the festival (this includes festival selection, theatrical release, National TV broadcasting and VoD release). For any previously planned screenings, please contact the programming team with a written explanation.

Films submitted for previous editions of the Festival may not be submitted again, not even in a new version.

7. Submission of Films for Pre-selection

Submission is subject to a registration fee to be paid during the online submission process.
Films must be uploaded during the submission process.
All films must be submitted in their original language with English or Chinese subtitles. For preselection, English-language films do not require subtitles.
Screeners can be private (password-protected) downloadable links (Vimeo, Youtube, etc.) or DVDs (-R if possible) to be sent to the address given at the end of the submission form.
The festival keeps the viewing material for the sole purposes of documentation, promotion and viewing by professionals on its premises for a maximum period of one month after the festival, and will only return the viewing material upon formal request by the sender.

8. Deadlines

Films completed between June 1st, 2021 and June 1st, 2022: Online submission should be completed and viewing material be sent with a postmark on August 12th, 2022, at the latest.
Films completed from June 2nd, 2022 onwards: Online submission should be completed and viewing material be sent with a postmark on September 16th, 2022 at the latest.
* There is no guarantee that films registered or sent and postmarked after the above-mentioned deadlines will be previewed.

9. Selected Films

Invitations for the films to participate in the festival are extended by each section’s curators before October 10th, 2022 when the official selection is announced on the Festival website.

The producers and distributors of the selected films agree not to withdraw the films from the Festival program after it has been announced, and not to screen or broadcast the film in China before the end of the Festival, with the exception of press or professional screenings they may organize.

The producers and distributors of all films selected undertake to make mention in their publicity and advertising materials (posters, press-kits, trailers, website, etc.) of the selection of the film for the Beijing International Short Film Festival, by featuring the official logo which will be supplied by the Festival. The logo must not under any circumstances be modified or altered without the prior permission of the Festival. Any publication featuring the logo must be approved by the Festival.

Films in the competitive sections may have up to three public screenings during the Festival, and in non-competitive sections, up to two public screenings.

10. Screenings
The accepted screening formats include 16mm, 35mm, DCP, Digital files (contact festival staff for details), and other formats upon request. Blu-ray is only accepted as back-ups. The Festival prefers the original exhibition format of the completed work. Only quality prints or digital copies will be accepted. The Festival reserves the right to refuse to allow the participation of any film that fails to meet the technical requirements for a public screening of good quality.

The participant is liable for all costs of transportation and customs clearance for both outward and return shipments. If the return shipment of the selected films entails costs, these will be billed to the participant before the end of the year. The Festival reserves the right to refuse any shipments entailing additional costs.

As far as possible, the Festival will respect the wishes of participants concerning the return shipment of their films. The Festival accepts no liability for any forwarding errors that may result from a lack of instructions, or from erroneous information provided by the participant. As a rule, films will not be returned before the end of the Festival. Films will be returned to participants within the two weeks following the end of the Festival.

For more details for Subtitles and versions please turn to BISFF 2022 Technical Guidelines.

11. Award Winners
The producers and distributors and the buyers and sellers of rights to awarded films undertake to make mention in their publicity and advertising materials (posters, flyers, press-kits, trailers, website, etc.) of the winning of an award at the Beijing International Short Film Festival. The official logos of the various awards will be supplied by the Festival. The logo must not under any circumstances be modified or altered without the prior permission of the Festival. Any publication of a logo must be approved for press by the Festival.

The producers and distributors of award-winning films also undertake to add to the start of all prints released for distribution the official award logo, provided by the Festival, in the context of a theatrical release or a presentation at other festivals.

The submission and participation of a film in the Beijing International Short Film Festival imply acceptance of the Rules and Regulations for submission. In any unforeseen eventuality, the decision of the Festival Directorship is final.

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Beijing International Short Film Festival
Website: www.bisff.co · Email: contact@bisff.co
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