San Benedetto Film Fest (8)

Festival start: 07 August 2024      Festival end: 11 August 2024

SAN BENEDETTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ( Terms, Rules, prizes and motivations can be translated in 22 languages visiting our site https://www.sanbenedettofilmfest.it)

"MAGICSCREENPLAY" ( Terms, Rules, prizes and motivations can be translated in 22 languages visiting our site https://www.sanbenedettofilmfest.it/magic-screenplay/)


We built a festival in total freedom, without any external conditioning. An International Short Film Competition. A window on cinema from a privileged viewpoint: the city of San Benedetto del Tronto. Born in 2017, the SBFF has become one of the leading international events for the Adriatic Riviera and the Piceno region. The events will take place at the Palazzina Azzurra in San Benedetto del Tronto (AP) on Viale Buozzi 14.

"MAGICSCREENPLAY" - (Collateral Event to the SAN BENEDETTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL) was born from the need to combine the scenic, architectural and natural beauties of the Marche Region in syncrasia with the cultural, social heritage and identity need of the places and the human and professional resources that come from them, evolve and hope for an ever-increasing expansion of training, skills and abilities.

The Contest was born within a strategy of discovery and promotion of national and international emerging talents and represents the exclusive context to select, through a Quality Jury, the best pitch, with a predefined theme, to be declined into a consequent script.

After the selection, the one deemed to perform best will be subjected to development through the creation of a short film with a total length of no more than 15 minutes, produced by the Associated Professionals Association of Art & Management "IL SERPENTE AUREO," in collaboration with and with the support of the FILM COMMISSION MARCHE, the MARCHE REGION and under the patronage of the City of San Benedetto del Tronto.

ARTIST'S VISIONS - VISIONS FROM THE WORLD

- " There is no art form like cinema to strike the conscience, shake the emotions and reach the secret rooms of the soul" Ingmar Bergman

- " Life in the depths is completely different from life on the surface and has mysterious and terrifying aspects" Dario Argento

- " I am not an artist but a craftsman" "The heart must mediate between the brain and the hands" Fritz Lang

- " I steal from every single film ever made. If I like things I mix them together. And if people don't like it, then don't go see it.... I steal from everything.... Great artists steal not make homages" Quentin Tarantino

- " No matter where the world goes, even if I can't speak a foreign language, I don't feel out of place. I think of the earth as my home. "Akira Kurosawa

- " An essential element of all art is risk..." Francis Ford Coppola

- " Cinema is a mode of expression that allows one to express all the nuances of a thing and its opposites..." Catherine Breillat

- " Unlike all other art forms, cinema is able to capture and render the passage of time, to stop it almost to possess it in infinity. I would say that film is the sculpture of time. "Andrei Tarkovsky

- " I am just a storyteller and film seems to be my medium. I like it because it recreates life in motion, enhances it ... it is my way of telling a story. "Federico Fellini

- " The art of film can only really exist through a highly organized betrayal of reality" François Truffaut

- " I work with my dreams or nightmares" David Cronenberg

- " If I can't get the characters to talk, then I give up " Quantin Tarantino

- " The poet stretches out his hand to lead us beyond the last horizon, beyond the top of the pyramid, to that land that extends beyond the true and the false, beyond life and death, beyond space and time, beyond reason and fantasy, beyond spirit and matter." Alejandro Jodorowsky

- " Cinema is the 'only art form in which the works move and the viewer remains motionless " Ennio Flaiano

- " Cinema is a cultural industry. Making films also means assuming a social and moral responsibility. Therefore, we should not produce what we can sell, but sell what we want to produce " Franco Cristaldi

- " I think that scandalizing is a right.... " Pier Paolo Pasolini

- " To act is to listen... " Pupi Avati

- " I think the past affects the ability to tell stories" Joel Coen

- " Cinema is beautiful if it can read reality " Ettore Scola

- " Cinema consists of two things: a screen and chairs. The secret lies in filling them both " Roberto Benigni

Cash Prizes: 1,000$

- BEST SHORT FILM ( Prize € 1000)
- BEST DIRECTING
- BEST PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR
- BEST SCREENPLAY
- BEST ACTOR
- BEST ACTRESS
- BEST ANIMATION
- BEST CASTING
- BEST EDITING
- "SYBILA" AWARD
- "DECIMA MUSA" AWARD
- SPECIAL AWARD OF THE POPULAR SHORT FILM JURY
- CAREER AWARD
- MEMORIAL AWARD.

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MAGICSCREENPLAY

After a careful evaluation and selection phase of the works received, a finalist will be identified who must, within the timeframe stipulated by the aforementioned call for entries, produce the screenplay for the work submitted to the contest. After the procedure listed above, the Pre-Production phase of the work will begin.

SAN BENEDETTO FILM FEST 8th Edition - year 2024 To the best short film Prize of 1000 Euro 1. Purpose

San Benedetto International Film Festival is accessible to deaf people, so please submit products with Italian subtitles. If available, accessible subtitles are even more appreciated. Thank you.

The mission, to which the new board of the "San Benedetto Film Festival" has adhered, is to strengthen and implement the Festival , characterizing the event with highly qualitative and transversal prerogatives with the ambitious spirit of fostering the knowledge and dissemination of cinema, internationally, in all its art forms, with a spirit of cooperation and dialogue, so that it can be a vehicle for knowledge, integration and reflection of anthropic and cultural codes, by virtue of its many forms.


This new approach will be centered on the philosophy of the search for a global consciousness capable of dealing with the complexity of modern society in order to welcome, encourage and support, like the seaside city from which it originates, new entities, paths and communicative languages from all over the world, with special attention to the cinematic poetics of disadvantaged countries and to give voice to the many cultural microcosms that would otherwise have no possibility of expression, with strong socio-cultural connotations.

The "San Benedetto Film Fest" aims to be a vehicle for the cultural dissemination of non-hegemonic values but catalysts of pluralistic and inclusive thinking of identities and autonomous perspectives, a privileged channel of communication and social interaction, support for the collective, historical and anthropological memory of the territories, and a magnifying glass to tell the story of today's society, its spaces, internal conflicts, and the magma of energies and vitality generated in it.

2. Performance period

The sixth edition of the San Benedetto international Film Festival will take place from August 6 to 10, 2024

3. Contest and sections


- DYSTOPIAN FEATURE FILM. Feature Film Competition Of a minimum duration of 50 minutes Dystopian themed.

- SAN BENEDETTO IN CORTO. International Competition for Short Films with a maximum duration of 30 minutes. all film genres and themes are allowed.

SPECIAL SECTIONS (Subject areas for short films).

JUNIOR: Audiovisual Products intended for a children's audience, by content and type of language YOUNG ADULT : Audiovisual Products intended for an audience or an audience of teenagers(12-18 years old) with content and language typical of this literary and film genre BRANDED CONTENT: Audiovisual Products aimed at conveying and consolidating values related to an existing Brand, but without explicit advertising messages open to different narrative formats. Published products must not infringe patents or trademarks, or misuse them. In this regard, read the Film Freeway rules under 8.1 WEB SERIES: a series of fiction products (consisting of at least 3 episodes) made to be enjoyed through the web or on mobile device displays. Webseries episodes must be held together by the same title and/or trademark (if any). It must have an underlying narrative that tells the stories of fixed characters or otherwise a common theme. Episodes must be webnative and broadcast over the Internet. Works such as previews, trailers, size reels, teasers, demo reels, commercials, feature-length sequences for theatrical distribution or home video release, episodes of TV series aired and distributed primarily by a free television channel, pay television, and all cable television, any pilot episodes of TV series that remain unsold, are not considered webseries.An "episode" is defined as a single web series fragment with a maximum length of 23 minutes MOCKUMENTARY: Audiovisual products (max 30 min) representing fictional events with documentary language. In addition to true mockumentaries, fake documentaries and found footage are accepted in this section. Hybrid fictional works that have documentary grafts referring to fictional events are allowed.. Documentaries, docu-films, docu-fictions or docu-dramas ANIMATION SHORTS are not allowed; Any audiovisual product made with any animation technique. POLITICALLY (in) CORRECT: Inclusiveness is our mission. To give voice to all voices in the world, even those who have none, including (and especially) those independent productions that cannot find a market or distributors. We often follow trends and adopt politically correct language, and in most cases this results in clichés and stereotypes. Art has always used provocation; the provocations of 20 or 30 years ago have become the standard today. Section for all those products that go off the rails of a pre-established morality, being irreverent does not mean fomenting hatred toward certain categories or being offensive to someone, great masterpieces of cinema have been opposed, but history has proved them right.

EROTIQUE: In an age when sexuality is cleared through customs, this section aims to recover the meaning of Eros, i.e. the psychological condition linked to passion, desire, healthy obsession, which is nothing but the most intriguing side of love, told through the game of seduction.

THRILLER: In addition to the classic detective story, sub-genres are also allowed: Thriller, Noir, Hard Boiled, Pulp, Gangster ,Yakutza, Spy Story, Poliziesco.

I LOVE YOU TO ...DIE: When a relationship becomes toxic to the point of violence, physical or psychological. Often, there is a tendency to underestimate or ignore the possibility that a man can be a victim of violence by a woman, so this section welcomes all those short films that deal with the delicate topic of toxic relationships beyond any gender bias.

CINE-INQUIRY: (Legality, education and good practices of citizenship - making memory and rethinking community identity) understood as historical memory and message of meaningful artistic expressions where film culture is at the service of the microcosm of voices and identities outclassed by the globalisation of information and collective indifference that prevents a social and meditative rooting on the most pressing current events and aspects of social living crumbled by the fluid becoming of liquid society.

San Benedetto in Corto. International Competition for Short Films with a maximum running time of 30 minutes

4. Jury and awards
A commission of experts will meet to select the works to be submitted. The secretariat will announce the final participation in the Festival after the second selection phase by 1 July 2024.

The prizes are as follows:

- Best Short Film Prize ( € 1000)
-Best Director Award
-Best Director of Photography Award
-Best Screenplay Award
-Best Actor in a Leading Role Award
-Best Actress in a Leading Role Award
-Best Casting Award
-Best Editing Award
-Sybila Award (Myths and Legends from around the World)
-Tenth Muse Award (Poetic Cinematography)
-Special Prize of the Popular Short Film Jury
-Career Prize
-Memorial Award

Other special prizes may be awarded at the jury's discretion.

Products entered for the special sections compete for all prizes. Works that best interpret the mood of the relevant section will have the additional possibility of winning a special section prize. These awards are optional, however, and are awarded at the Jury's discretion.

5. Selection

The selection of the finalist works, which will be presented during the event, is the responsibility of and at the sole discretion of the Festival Jury. The list of selected works will be published on the website www.sanbenedettofilmfest.it and reported in the catalogue and other media and will take place in three stages:

- SELECTION OF COMPETITION FILMS: the Jury will draw up the list of selected works, which may bear the title "Official Selection of the San Benedetto Film Fest 2024".

The selected films do not have automatic access to a public screening, but may proceed to the next stage of selection of the finalist films.

- SELECTION OF THE FINALISTS: each judge will view the films selected in the first phase separately and provide their own evaluation. The Jury will then define the list of finalist films. These films, as well as being able to boast the title of "San Benedetto Film Fest 2024 Finalist", will be screened to the public during the days of the festival, according to a calendar that will be published and communicated to those interested by 01/07/2024. The finalist films will proceed to the next stage of the election of the winner, in the prize categories defined in Article 4 above.

- ELECTION OF THE WINNERS: at the end of the screening days, the Jury will announce the winners in each category during an awards ceremony at the end of the festival. The winning films and actors, if any, will not only be awarded the title of "Winner of the San Benedetto Film Fest 2023", but will also receive an award that will be presented during the festival's closing evening. prizes must be collected personally by the winner or, in the event of an impediment, by a person delegated to do so. The non-attendance of the winner or his/her delegate at the award ceremony releases the organisation from any obligation towards the winner, who may still collect the prize at his/her own expense.

6. Rules of participation

The competition is open to directors and production companies submitting short films, not necessarily first works.

a) For the competitive sections, works of any genre are admitted to participate in the " San Benedetto Film Fest ". All films made before 1 January 2016 are excluded. The Management reserves the right to admit to the competitive sections works that, due to their theme, duration or year of production, do not fall within the indicated criteria. The Festival Management may decide to establish competitive subsections dedicated to particular genres, themes or authors. The presentation of works as world or international premieres constitutes a preferential qualification for selection purposes.

b) Registration is completed by uploading the work onto the online platform.

c) The authors of the works selected for the final phase will be asked to send as soon as possible (by wetransfer, dropbox, etc.) illustrative material relating to the film: (posters, trailers, photographs in .jpeg or .tiff digital formats at 300 dpi), the publication of which is authorised and free of charge, both for the catalogue and for promotional purposes in the press. It will also be requested to send a copy of the film with the following characteristics: - resolution: 1920×1080
- encoding: H.264, AppleProRes or PhotoJPEG" .
countersigned regulations, copy of front/back identification document, and completed and signed release letter.

d) The list of works selected for the final stage will be published on the website www.sanbenedettofilmfest.it by 30 July 2024 and interested parties will receive confirmation of this by registration platform and/or by e-mail. Works not selected will receive no further communication.

7. Timeline
Competing works must be submitted no later than the following deadline: 18 May 2024.

8. Screenings

a) The calendar and times of the screenings are the sole responsibility of the "San Benedetto Film Fest" Management.

b) The finalist audiovisual products will be screened in their original language; authors of films in a language other than Italian are obliged to provide a copy subtitled in Italian; Italian subtitles will be given a preferential rating, certainly by the popular jury.
For further information: E-mail: info@sanbenedettofilmfest.it

c) The Management of the "San Benedetto Film Fest" will publish a festival catalogue and information material on the works submitted.

9. General Rules

The Festival will take place at the Palazzina Azzurra location or other destination at the discretion of the Festival management.

a) Participation in the selections of the " San Benedetto Film Fest " foresees a cost, by way of reimbursement of expenses, of € 15,00 per audiovisual work.

b) Application for admission to the " San Benedetto Film Fest " implies unconditional acceptance of these regulations. Selected films, the availability of which has already been confirmed by those eligible, may not subsequently be withdrawn from the Festival.

c) The Management of the " San Benedetto Film Fest " may take decisions on matters not provided for in these regulations. The Court of Ascoli Piceno shall have jurisdiction over any disputes, and the Italian version of these regulations shall prevail.

NEW prizes AND MOTIVATIONS

The establishment of a special prize for the genre "Mystery", myths and legends from all over the world, named "Sybila", in honour of the local and fascinating mythology and of the splendid landscape and mountainous context that characterises this territory, aims at spreading the cinematographic culture of myth, legend, mystery, symbolism with a view to deepening the exploration of themes that are not based on scientific parameters but are rooted in the precious background of the centuries-old tradition of many countries in the world.

Sybila will welcome audiovisual material capable of significantly ascribing new dimensionalities to mystery and the unusual, folklore and myth, thus merging in a broad anthropological perspective with innovative and performing film syntax.

The addition of new special prizes to the Award, denotes the effort of the "San Benedetto Film Fest" to be representative of the widest possible range of professionalism that is expressed within the film context:

- 'Decima Musa' Award to Cinematographic Poetics. Cinematographic language is a complex language and cannot be evaluated according to a sterile analysis, in search of the perfection of the shot if behind it there is not that sort of 'invisible'; that emotion that remains even when the film is finished; the poetry of images that cannot be described either by words, or by that lapse of time that passes between one take and another. We therefore wanted to establish a special award for those films that manage to create atmosphere and arouse emotions through the narrative poetry evoked by the images. In ancient Greece, it was the Nine Muses who inspired poets and artists. The 'seventh art' being a fairly recent invention, the role of inspirer of the cinematic arts is commonly attributed to the 'Tenth Muse'.

- Best Director's Award: which does not exhaust itself in the aesthetic, albeit fundamental "mise en scène", but which is able to metaphorise from a collective, artistic and cultural point of view a message that can convey rhythm, action and intensity and to interpret it in a meaningful and vital style.

- Prize for the Best Director of Photography: who can translate into lighting philosophy, colour gradations and camera movements, in an indicatively impactful manner, an artistically, culturally and emotionally relevant point of view.

- Best Screenplay Award: who can combine the practice of writing, layered theorising and knowledge of drafting mechanisms with the complexity of the social and cultural ecosystem with considerable emotional pathos.


MAGICSCREENPLAY

TO WHOM IT IS ADDRESSED
The Contest is open to emerging authors of any nationality and proposes the development of a screenplay (resulting from the selection) for a short film of a total length of 15 minutes on an argument track provided by the Competition Direction in collaboration with the foreseen Institutional Bodies.

All Italian and foreign authors who have reached the age of 18 on the date of the competition deadline (18 May 2024) may participate.

Each competitor may participate by submitting only one work, strictly adhering to the narrative focus identified in this call for entries.

TERMS OF SUBMISSION OF WORKS
"MAGICSCREENPLAY 2024" - 1st Edition has defined the dead line for the submission of works (a pitch with a presentation elevator), scheduled no later than 18 May 2024.

THE CONTEST
The Contest envisages the establishment of a single session, at the moment, reserved for those eligible, as specified above.

The script will consist of a folder, provided with an initial explanatory elevator pitch signed by the author and must follow the development of the track provided by the competition organisers. This year's theme is "The Border".