Terms of Participation

The Festival’s programming interest focuses on documentary films that deal with historical events and personalities, with socio-political issues, in the present or not, with the promotion of human rights and in general with any cross-border core of reflection that underlines the concerns of contemporary cinematography, under any artistic form.

January 3 – April 30, 2024

  1. The opening date for submitting films to the 9th edition of Beyond Borders | Kastellorizo ​​International Documentary Festival is set as 03/01/2024, while the deadline for the film submission is 30/04/2024. The organization will not accept submissions beyond the deadline. Films that will qualify for the Festival will be notified electronically by 10/06/2024.
  2. The submitted film must be produced in the last 3 years (2022-2024). In the event of a tie between two or more films by the Festival’s programming teams (preselection committee), films that will be world, international or Greek premieres for the Festival will be selected.
  3. Films that have been previously submitted and rejected will not be reconsidered by the organization.
  4. The submission of the candidate films will be done exclusively either by completing the application form available on the Festival website (www.beyondborders.gr), or via the FilmFreeway platform and the Festival’s official profile on the platform.
  5. The cost of applying for each entry through FilmFreeway amounts to 5 euros for the Main Competition and 3 euros for the μicro Competition.
  6. The directors, whose film will qualify for the Festival, will be hosted by the organization in Kastellorizo ​​(part of the travel & accommodation costs).
  7. From 2022, the Festival established the second competitive screening stage, the μicro stage. The μicro will focus on short documentary films, giving prominence to young and/or emerging filmmakers. Undergraduate and/or graduate film students from around the world are encouraged to submit their films for nomination to the μicro. Experienced and professional short documentary filmmakers are also welcome to submit their own films in this category. Films of up to thirty (30) minutes will be accepted in this category, while only films that are the first (1), second (2) or third (3) film of the submitted director will be accepted.
  8. If your film is selected and/or awarded in the μicro section, you agree that it will be screened for a period of five years (October 2024-2029) in a special screening tribute on the German channel, Phoenix/ZDF, as well as on the Greek Parliament Channel Vouli TV for three years (October 2024 – October 2027).
  9. Participants are requested to have filled out in detail all the details of the candidate films to be evaluated.
  10. The creators of the films that will be selected should submit their film to the Festival: Online.
    Specifically:
    • Greek speaking films, where only Greek language is used:
      Copy of the movie with hardcoded (burned) English subtitles.
      Individual file with synchronized English subtitles in .srt format.Copy with hardcoded English subtitles on the movie.
      Attention: the .srt files must keep up with the movie frame rate. If not so, the participation will be disqualified.
    • Greek speaking films, where other languages are also used:
      «Clean» copy of the movie (no hardcoded subtitles).
      Individual file with synchronized English subtitles (for the whole movie) in srt format.
      Individual file with synchronized Greek subtitles (for the parts where any other language than Greek is used) in srt format.
      Attention: the srt files must keep up with the movie frame rate. If not so, the participation will be disqualified.
    • Non-Greek speaking films:
      «Clean» copy of the movie (no hardcoded subtitles).
      Individual file with synchronized English subtitles in srt format. Attention: the srt files must keep up with the movie frame rate. If not so, the participation will be disqualified.
  11. The copy of the film that will be screened at the Festival should have the following specifications:
    • File: mp4
    • Encoding: H.264
    • Resolution: 1920×1080
    • Aspect ratio: 16:9
    • Scan type: Progressive
    • Bitrate: 10 – 12 Mbps
    • Frame rate: 25fps or 30 fps
      • Audio: AAC, Bit Rate: 256 – 320 Kbps, Sample Rate: 48 kHz
      • In case the submitted film wins an award, the organization may request the film in DCP format. The director and/or producer should have this type of file in their possession, if and when requested by the organization.
  12. Qualified participants must, in addition to the film with the above specifications, send a Press Kit that will include:
    • short bio of director (3 lines)
    • credits and production details (credits, country, year, duration).
    • summary of the film in Greek and English (up to 100 words)
    • stills of the film (300dpi, 7cm x 3.5cm)
    • film trailer (if any)
    • copyright release statement from the director and producer
  13. The files should be sent to a specially configured Google Drive folder, which you will receive from the Festival.
  14. Deadline for delivery of all material (film and Press Kit) is 06/20/2024.
  15. Juries made up of established film/television industry professionals decide and award the following Awards:
    • Golden Wreath of Megisti – Grand Prix (10.000 euros prize by The Michael Marks Charitable Trust)
    • Silver Wreath of Megisti (5.000 euros prize by The Michael Marks Charitable Trust)
    • Bronze Wreath of Magisti (3.000 euros prize by ERT)
    • Best Greek Documentary (2.000 euros prize by Greek Film Center & ERT)
    • Special “Odysseus” Award (2.000 euros prize initiated and supported by General Secretariat of Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sponsored by Lady Marina Marks and Alex Sakalis)
    • Special Mediterranean Friendship Award (500 euros prize by EKOME)
    • FIPRESCI Award (1.000 euros by ERT)
    • #ThisisEU Award (1.000 euros by ERT)
    • Golden Phoenix μicro (1.250 euros prize by ZDF/Phoenix)
    • Silver Phoenix μicro (1.000 euros prize by ZDF/Phoenix)
    • Bronze Phoenix μicro (750 euros prize by ZDF/Phoenix)
  16. The Festival, due to its cross-border nature, reserves the right to screen the award-winning films of each edition for a period of two (2) years after the end of the official event, with it’s promotional action Beyond Borders travels.
  17. The Festival reserves the right to reject any application if it is not filled in correctly or if the material does not arrive within the deadline at the Festival offices.
  18. The Festival has the exclusive authority to determine the schedule of film screenings (day and time) and may organize screenings of the films at any venue during the Festival.
  19. The Festival reserves the right to reject any material that is not relevant to the nature and purposes of the Festival programme.
  20. The Festival may use specific excerpts from the film or trailer for promotional purposes.
  21. Participants will be required to give interviews to media sponsors and be photographed for promotional purposes of the event, if requested
  22. The Festival hosts, apart from the competition section, the Panorama screening stage, in which excellent and noteworthy documentary films from all over the world are screened every year, strictly by invitation of the organization.
  23. Part of the Festival will be filmed for the purpose of preserving archival material of Beyond Borders and for its promotion to the general public, through the annual presentation film. The audience or the participants whose presence will be visible in these parts do not have the right to raise any demands from the organizing company.
  24. Parallel actions will take place during Beyond Borders Festival.
  25. The organizing committee of the Beyond Borders Festival reserves the right to cancel the Festival, if this is deemed necessary.
  26. All activities and screenings during the Festival are open and free to the public.
  27. Participation in Beyond Borders | Kastellorizo ​​International Documentary Festival implies acceptance of all the above articles.

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