Miami Film Festival Announces Call For Entries For It’s 38th Annual Edition
Filmmakers, get ready—the Miami Film Festival is accepting submissions for its 38th annual edition.
The festival announced its call for entries via a press release on June 1. It also made temporary changes to its submissions’ eligibility criteria because of the coronavirus.
It will run from March 5-14 of next year. Last year’s festival was cut short due to the coronavirus, but still awarded more than $100,000 in cash awards.
“We remain hopeful that the festival can return at full strength next year if the conditions are safe in our community,” said Nicolas Calzada, director of events programming at the MFF. “Whether the festival will be fully in-theater, or have an online component, will depend on the particular circumstances, and we will be nimble and adjust as needed.”
To offer more flexibility to filmmakers during the pandemic, films that have received temporary exposure prior to the festival will not be disqualified from consideration. However, the films must not be available online in the United States before the first half of March.
While films that have already been screened anywhere are eligible to participate in competing categories, the MFF will give preference to those that have been screened in less places or that have not been screened at all.
However, films that have been in commercial circulation—meaning they have been screened for theatrical, broadcast, commercial video-on-demand or domestic airline entertainment purposes—before March 19 will not be eligible for the festival.
To qualify in a category, films must have been screened after Jan. 1, 2020. There is no date regulation to participate in non-competition categories.
“We recognize that this year presents extraordinary circumstances and challenges for filmmakers and festivals alike,” Calzada said. “We wanted to make sure that our submission policy reflects this temporary reality and does its best to accommodate filmmakers trying to adjust to this challenging moment.”
Filmmakers can submit entries for short, feature, narrative or documentary films in ten different categories.
Four categories offer cash awards: the $25,000 Knight MARIMBAS Award, the $45,000 Knight Made in MIA Award (FEATURES), the $10,000 Knight Made in MIA Award (SHORTS) and the $10,000 Jordan Ressler First Feature Award.
Other categories include the Ibero-American Feature Film Award, the Ibero-American Short Film Award, the Documentary Achievement Award, the Short Film Awards, the Cinema 360° (Non-competition) and the REEL Music Scene (Non-competition).
Submissions opened on June 1 with a regular deadline of July 31. There is also a late deadline of Aug. 31 and an extended deadline of Oct. 15.
The fees for submittal range between $45 and $100. The price is higher for later submissions. Gold Members of FilmFreeway—the platform where films are submitted—receive a discount.
“We strongly encourage filmmakers whose films meet our eligibility criteria to submit,” Calzada said. “Precisely because these are challenging times, we have been working overtime to remain connected to our audience and continue our core mission of bringing our community the best cinema the world has to offer.”
To submit an entry for the MFF’s 38th annual season, click here.
