Open Call for entries for the 55th Directors’ Fortnight
The Directors’ Fortnight is open to both short films and features – be they fiction, documentary, animation or hybrid in form – which display a singular cinematographic language and challenge established formal and representational conventions of mise-en-scène, narrative, cinematography, sound, acting and editing. The committee will pay particular attention to any kind of risk-taking.
It also welcomes genre films (comedy, thriller, horror, sci-fi, etc) that demonstrate inventiveness, display audacity and bring new life to the codes of these cinemas.
| APPLICATION DEADLINES |
| Short and medium length films : march 3, 2023 Feature films : march 24, 2023 |
Registration rules (valid only for the Directors’ Fortnight selection)
Deadlines for submissions, reception of viewing material as well as the dates for the Directors’ Fortnight could be subject to change depending on the evolution of the health crisis.
Except for special cases, all films submitted for the Directors’ Fortnight must fulfill the following requirements:
1 – Films must have been made within the 12 months preceding the 2023 Cannes film festival.
2 – With the exception of foreign films in their country of origin, they should not have been presented at any international festival or film event (except in the context of a film market).
3 – Films must not have been shown on the Internet or broadcasted on TV or commercially released in France.
ARTICLE 1. REQUIREMENTS
4 – If selected a DCP or a 35mm print will be required for the screening.
5 – Every feature film invited to be in competition must be released theatrically in France in accordance with French legislation pertaining to media chronology rules.
ARTICLE 2. SELECTION
The films screened during the Directors’ Fortnight are selected under the responsibility of the Artistic Director, appointed by the board of directors of the Film Directors’ Guild.
ARTICLE 3. FILM SUBMISSIONS
Films submitted for preselection can be presented:
– Without subtitles if the original language is French.
– With French or English subtitles for all other original languages including for English films.
Dates for submissions
Feature films : November 1st 2022 – March 24th 2023
Short & medium length films : November 1st 2022– March 3rd 2023
ARTICLE 4. SUBMISSION FEES
The preselection process begins only after the entry fees are paid.
The payment is made through secured online payment at the time of the registration (only payment by credit card such as: Visa, Mastercard / Eurocard, and American Express is accepted). VAT applies or not depending on which category the company belongs to.
Covering a large part of the running costs of the Directors’ Fortnight, registration fees are not refundable.
Feature films:
Submissions for feature films must include payment of an entry fee of € 200 excl tax (submission on DCP) or € 140 excl tax (submission via a viewing link or an upload of the film to our platform).
Reception deadline for the viewing link material or upload : March 24th 2023
Reception deadline for the DCP viewing material : March 31st 2023
Short and medium length films (running time under 60 min) :
Submissions for short films must include payment of € 30 HT to cover the upload on the film in our platform.
Reception deadline for the viewing material : March 3rd 2023
ARTICLE 5 . PRESELECTION – MATERIAL / SHIPPING
Submissions are validated upon reception of the viewing material.
Picture-locked & work in progress versions are accepted but no more than one version will be considered.
Feature Films :
Feature films can be considered if sent in the following viewing materials: DCP and downloadable viewing-link or upload to our platform during the registration process.
Hard drives will have to be sent to the Directors’ Fortnight office in Paris : Quinzaine des Cinéastes, Bureau des Films, 14 rue Alexandre Parodi, 75010 Paris, France, Tel : +33 1 44 89 99 99.
All packages for aboard shall mention “For cultural use only / No commercial value”. If a film is sent through an express delivery service, all shipping costs, custom duties and taxes in France must be paid by the sender (this must be mentioned on shipping forms). Any cash on delivery package will be refused.
Preselection material will be returned to the sender, at their expens, only upon written request. This request must be received by the Directors’ Fortnight office no later than June 25th, 2023.
All files uploaded to our platform will be erased by mid May 2023.
Short and medium lenght films (running time under 60 mn) :
Short and medium films will be considered only after being uploaded to our platform during the registration process.
Any other format will not be considered.
All files uploaded to our platform will be erased by mid May 2023.
ARTICLE 6 . PRESELECTION – SHIPPING AND INSURANCE
For all the films sent to the Directors’ Fortnight for preselection, all shipping and return shipping, insurance costs as well as custom taxes and fees – and print transport in Paris, are to be paid for by the sender.
In case of loss or damage to a print, the Directors’ Fortnight insurance company will reimburse an amount not exceeding the value of the lab print.
ARTICLE 7 . SELECTION – SUBTITLING
If your film is selected you will be asked to provide a DCP (Digital Cinema Package): Server JPEG 2000 or a 35 mm film print.
Films selected by the Directors’ Fortnight are screened in Cannes with French subtitles (for foreign films) and English subtitles (for French films). Subtitling expenses shall be borne by the producer.
The producer must provide English and/or French subtitle files to Titra Film labs, commissioned by the Directors’ Fortnight to provide electronic subtitling of the official screenings (in English for foreign films in languages other than French or English).
ARTICLE 8 . SELECTION – SHIPPING AND INSURANCE
For officially selected films, only transport costs between screening locations during the Festival are covered by the Directors’ Fortnight. This does not include screenings organized by the producer or rights owner of a film. Storage and insurance costs at the cinema where the screenings are held in Paris (for pre-selection) and in Cannes are also covered by the Directors’ Fortnight.
In case of loss or damage to a print, the Directors’ Fortnight insurance company will reimburse an amount not exceeding the value of the lab print.
ARTICLE 9 . SELECTION – MATERIAL
Information on each selected film to appear in the catalogue must be sent later on to the Directors’ Fortnight office in Paris. A DVD of the film as well as a subtitle list and TV clips must be delivered before the Festival. The TV clips are used by media during the Festival, and later only if authorized by the producer.
Films screened at the Directors’ Fortnight must be in DCP or 35 mm film print only, technically excellent with readable subtitles.
As a promotional means for the entire selection, the Directors’ Fortnight website may, for as long as it wishes, use any photo or digital film clip not exceeding three minutes.
ARTICLE 10 . SCHEDULES
Definitive dates, times and locations of screenings during the Festival will be given to the participants in early May 2023.
During the Festival, selected films may not be screened elsewhere in Cannes before their official presentation at the Directors’ Fortnight, at the risk of being excluded from the event.
ARTICLE 11 . AWARDS
The Directors’ Fortnight is a non competitive section, however a film presented in the Fortnight can compete in independent Cannes prizes. Among which :
All first features presented at the Directors’ Fortnight are eligible for the Caméra d’Or prize, awarded during the official award ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival.
All documentary feature films presented at the Directors’ Fortnight are eligible for the Oeil d’Or prize, awarded during the official award ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival
The films presented at the Directors’ Fortnight are also eligible for the following prizes (based on criteria set by each partner association): the SACD prize and the Europa Cinemas for feature films.
This year, the Directors’ Fortnight, which is the only non-competitive selection, will present the Audience Award
ARTICLE 12 . RERUNS AFTER THE FESTIVAL SCREENINGS
Screenings of selected films are held at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and are traditionally reshown from June 2023 :
In France: in Paris and in other parts of the country
In Belgium: at the Royal Cinematheque of Belgium
In Switzerland: at the Swiss Cinematheque
>> One or two screenings per film in each of the participating theaters.
Participation in the Directors’ Fortnight implies acceptance of all screenings reruns.
Any company or person agreeing to accept the invitation to the Directors’ Fortnight must respect this agreement and must inform their sales agent, their French distributor, and the local distributor of these mandatory screenings after the festival.
The film will be excluded from the Quinzaine label in case any of these screenings is refused.
The Directors’ Fortnight reserves the right to exclude a film from its selection in case one of these screenings is refused.
ARTICLE 13 . PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL
For the commercial release in any country of a film selected at the Directors’ Fortnight, all promotional material (posters, trailers, etc.) must include the logo of the “Quinzaine des Cinéastes (Directors’ Fortnight),” which can be downloaded from our website.
ARTICLE 14 . ORGANIZERS’ LIABILITY
The Directors’ Fortnight reserves the right to use all data from registration forms as provided for by the law no78.17 of 6 January 1978 (In accordance with the data-processing, files and freedoms act, any participant has the right to access and correct only data concerning them. This right is exercised by the Film Directors’ Guild.
The Directors’ Fortnight cannot be held liable for registration applications not received.
The board of directors of the Film Directors’ Guild (Société des réalisatrices et réalisateurs de films, SRF) has the right to settle all cases not provided for in the present regulations. It reserves the right to suspend, cancel, or postpone the event or to modify the rules and regulations, at any time, according to the requirements of its exploitation. No compensation of any kind can be made to the participants.
Participation in The Directors’ Fortnight implies acceptance of the aforementioned rules and regulations.
Should any dispute arise regarding the interpretation of an article in these regulations, their original French version is binding.
For any information concerning the submissions, please contact the Film Department
Phone : +33 1 44 89 99 99
Mail : bdf@quinzaine-cineastes.fr
