2011 Seattle International Film Festival

Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is seeking features, documentaries, short films and animation for the 37th annual festival.

With over 550 screenings of 250 features and 125 shorts in 25 days, SIFF is the largest film festival in the United States. Attracting audiences over 140,000, SIFF is a great way to get your film noticed.

SIFF is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a Qualifying Festival in the Short Film category.

Objective

The Seattle International Film Festival is seeking features, documentaries, short films and animation for the 37th annual festival.

Prizes

This year, in addition to the Golden Space Needle Audience Awards, SIFF is proud to offer $8,000 in cash prizes in the following juried categories:

• $2,500 – New Directors Competition (International 1st and 2nd time directors)
• $2,500 – Documentary Competition
• $1,000 – Short Film: Live Action
• $1,000 – Short Film: Animation
• $1,000 – Short Film: Documentary

These internationally juried awards are given for excellence in filmmaking, form and content. Additional prizes of goods and services will also be awarded, including a Macintosh Computer System, courtesy of IrisInk and The Mac Store and $1,000 of film stock from the Eastman Kodak Company to the winner of the Golden Space Needle Audience Award for Best Short Film.

Rules

• Films must have been completed no earlier than January 2010.
• Selected films must be made available for Festival presentation in 35mm or digital video (HDCam, Beta SP, or DigiBeta.) HDCam is the preffered digital format. Filmmakers whose films are selected must deliver their film in an acceptable final presentation format. Failure to provide the film in acceptable format may result in the film being dropped from the Festival. No exceptions.
• Foreign language films must be made available with the original language soundtrack and English subtitles.
• Entries may not publicly screen in the greater Seattle area or be televised anywhere in the US before 30 June 2011. Theatrical runs following presentation at SIFF may be excepted from this.
• The FutureWave Youth Shorts competition accepts short films made by youth 18 years of age or younger at the time of submission. A different entry form is required.
• If you wish to resubmit a film previously submitted to SIFF, you must reapply paying the full fee.
• All films must be submitted on DVD (NTSC preferred, PAL accepted). Do not put multiple works on the same DVD.
• If a film is invited to participate, the Festival will not screen a film more than three times as allowed by international regulations. A screening fee of $200 will be charged for any technical screenings made at the request of the filmmaker or distributor.
• Entry materials will not be returned. Incomplete entries will not be considered. Required materials can be submitted digitally on a CD.

How to enter?

You can either enter online (via Withoutabox) or send your entries by traditional mail.

Required submission materials:

• Entry form
• Entry Fee paid by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, money order, or check payable in US funds to: SIFF. International entrants who do not pay by credit card must use an international money order paid in US dollars through a US bank. Entry fees are not refundable.
• Preview DVD (NTSC preferred, PAL accepted). DVDs must be submitted in plastic safe cases and be formatted in MPEG video. DVDs must not include labels or stickers of any kind. Please test your DVD on several makes and models of players. DVD+RW and DVD-RW are NOT acceptable. DVDs will not be returned unless accompanied by an addressed and PREPAID return envelope or express service waybill.
• Key film still – 300dpi JPEG image, captioned with name of actors
• Film description and synopsis (150-200 words)
• Complete principal cast and production credits listing
• Self-addressed, stamped postcard to verify receipt (optional)

All preview DVDs shipping from outside the U.S. must be sent with the following declaration:

“Free entry claimed under #724.12 (960.60). U.S. Tariff Act. No commercial value, for Festival use only.”

Postal Address:

SIFF
400 Ninth Ave North
Seattle, WA 98109

Entry fee

• If your film is 30 minutes or less, the fees are:
  • Received by 1 November 2010: $35
  • Received by 7 December 2010: $50
  • Received by 3 January 2011: $70
• If your film is 31 minutes or more, the fees are:
  • Received by 1 November 2010: $50
  • Received by 7 December 2010: $75
  • Received by 3 January 2011: $100