Markhor International Children`s Film Festival (micff) (2020)

Festival start: 05 October 2020      Festival end: 30 November 2020

Markhor International Children’s Film Festival (MICFF) is an annual film festival held all across Pakistan. MICFF showcases diverse and imaginative films from around the world to educate, enrich and inspire children. Supporting our vision of putting learning through films at the heart of children and young people lives, MICFF will be one of the largest International Children’s Film Festival expected to reach more than 20,000 children and young people in its first season between the months of October and November 2020 dedicated to children ages 3 to 16 years.

Markhor International Children’s Film Festival prioritizes to create a cinematic extravaganza that celebrates the finest and the brightest in international films for children that includes but are not limited to feature films, short films, documentary films, films made by children and young people.

We strongly believe that the films children engage in provide them with imaginative spaces in which they create, play and perform familiar and unfamiliar, fantasy and everyday narratives and this narrative play is closely connected to identity, literacy and textual practices. We live in a world that is surrounded by audio-visual content. Watching some of the brightest and imaginative films enable children to learn basic literacy today. MICFF aims to expose children to films in order for them to learn about different cultures, languages, challenges and their solutions. This festival provides children with a joyous and dynamic setting that inspires younger generations at a grass-root level to participate as agents of change at national and global platforms.

The following awards will be given per category to all the winning films from all across the world.
- Crest and an e-certificate will be given as awards to the Best Films.
- Runner-ups will receive an acknowledgment letter from MICFF for their selected films.

• Best Film Live-Action – Short
• Best Film Animation – Short
• Best Film Live-Action – Feature
• Best Film Animation – Feature
• Best Documentary – Short
• Films by Children – Short/ Feature
• Best Pakistani Film for Children
• Runner-ups

RULES & GUIDELINES

1. CATEGORIES

1) Children 3 – 6 Years Old
2) Children 7 – 11 Years Old
3) Children 12 – 16 Years Old

2. DURATION

2.1 Short films with a minimum duration of 1 minute and a maximum duration of 40 minutes are eligible.
2.2 Feature films with a minimum duration of 40 minutes will be eligible.

3. In order to encourage accessibility for the children who do not understand different accents easily, all films with narration/ dialogue, even the ones in English, MUST have English subtitles.
4. Content should speak positively to children of diverse backgrounds and cultures. We look for films that provide strong role models for all children and do not contain gender, racial or cultural stereotypes and biases. The content of the films should fit our ideals of racial and gender equity, inclusivity, social justice, global awareness, and the best in age-appropriate, visual storytelling for young people.
5. All films must have inlaid English subtitles.
6. Only uncompressed digital files (.MOV/ MP4) formats are preferred to be sent online to us at micff@discoveringnewartists.org

7. CONDITIONS
By participating, you imply that you agree with the following conditions.
1) The participants must ensure that they have the right to participate in MICFF with regard to parties connected with the production/distribution of the participating film and/or other right holders/licenses. The festival or the organizers will not be held responsible for it.

2) The decision of the judges' are final and no correspondence will be entered into. If there is no reply from the email address or phone number provided by the applicant, then the film will not be shortlisted for the final screening.

3) The decision of the selection committee is final for selecting a film and the selection committee is not bound to explain the reason for not selecting a film at the festival. The films will be judged primarily on the following criteria but are not limited to;
• The artistic quality of the film.
• Whether the film is suitable for children under the age of 18.
• Whether the film is suitable under the common social values of Pakistan.

4) Note that, neither our judges nor our selection process discriminates based on race, gender, religion, age, ethnicity, political beliefs, etc.

5) Stories should be culturally authentic, timely, uplifting and of universal appeal to young audiences. Plot-lines, ideally, should be child-driven, FOR children, rather than ABOUT them. Films with bleak messages or unhappy endings are typically not enjoyed and encouraged by our audiences.

6) Films will automatically be disqualified if it contains gratuitous violence or explicit nudity.

7) All members involved in the production, distribution or commercial marketing will be a member of the jury. No member of the jury is allowed to disclose the official selection until it is published by the festival organizers.

8) We encourage you to make a short teaser or trailer. In that case, do not forget to send these trailers as well as any other photos along with your film. By sending the trailer, the filmmaker gives us permission to upload it on our YouTube channel with the festival logo slide in the starting.

9) The festival organizer has the right to include their logo in the promotional videos

10) The organizers reserve the right to make changes in the screening schedule and venues of the films.

11) The supporting materials of the film will be used in the promotional activities for the festival.

12) Parts of the film can also be used for the promotional activities of the festival.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Markhor International Children’s Film Festival
C/O Discovering New Artists
50-E, Sui Gas Society (Near DHA Phase V)
Lahore, Pakistan
+92 322 410 2159 | +92 335 414 2241