I - INTRODUCTION

II - FILM PRE-SELECTION

III - SELECTED FILMS

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I INTRODUCTION

I - ARTICLE 1

The 71th edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival will take place in the city of San Sebastian from 22th to the 30th September 2023.

I - ARTICLE 2

The San Sebastian International Film Festival has its main offices at the following address:

FESTIVAL DE SAN SEBASTIÁN
TABAKALERA - Centro Internacional de Cultura Contemporánea
Plaza de las Cigarreras, 1, 2ª planta
20012 Donostia – San Sebastián (España)
Tel.: +34 943 481212
ssiff@sansebastianfestival.com

Detailed information can be found on the official Festival website: www.sansebastianfestival.com, which also explains how to contact the Festival and its different departments.

I - ARTICLE 3

The Public Limited Company FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE DE DONOSTIA-SAN SEBASTIÁN S.A. consists in equal parts of the San Sebastian City Council, the Basque Government, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and the Spanish Ministry of Culture, Education and Sport. Its chairmanship is held by the Mayor of San Sebastian. The San Sebastian International Film Festival organisation is headed by its Director, José Luis Rebordinos.

I - ARTICLE 4

The San Sebastian International Film Festival is accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, FIAPF www.fiapf.org, in the "competitive film festivals" category.

I - ARTICLE 5

The San Sebastian International Film Festival seeks to make a positive contribution to the development of the film culture and industry.

I - ARTICLE 6

All films presented at the 71th San Sebastian International Film Festival will be selected by the Festival Selection Committee. The Committee is chaired by the Festival Director and is advised by a network of international delegates consisting of professionals, specialists in the world of film and in film festivals.

I - ARTICLE 7

All films selected for the 71th edition will receive a certificate of participation from the San Sebastian Festival Management.

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II FILM PRE-SELECTION

II - ARTICLE 1

To participate in the San Sebastian International Film Festival, feature films must accept the rules and regulations established by the Management and complete the online film submission form.

The producers or representatives of films with Spanish production or co-production must directly contact the film department films@sansebastianfestival.com before completing the online submission form.

II - ARTICLE 2

Submitted feature films must:

• Be over 60 minutes in length.
• Have been produced in the 12 months prior to the start of the Festival.
• Respect the rules or guidelines for each of its sections.

II - ARTICLE 3

All films submitted will be considered for any of the Festival sections making up the programme, although each section has its own requirements and specifications.

II - ARTICLE 4

The fee for each film submitted for pre-selection by the Festival is:

1. Short and/or medium-length films (up to 59'): €70 (including 21% VAT)
2. Feature-length films (more than 60'): €100 (including 21% VAT)
3. DCP in physical format (2.5 hard drive, CRU or similar): €150 (including 21% VAT) or
4. DCP submitted digitally (Signiant Media Shuttle or similar): €200 (including 21% VAT), no matter what the runtime. In case of choosing this option the Festival will provide with its Signiant Media Shuttle account for the uploading without extra cost.

Said fee will be payable in euros during the film submission process and can be paid either by credit card (Visa, American Express or Mastercard) or paypal.

Films will be considered for pre-selection when the Festival receives the submission fee.

This fee does not include films presented for the Nest, WIP Latam or WIP Europe Sections, each of which has its own regulations and submission form.

II - ARTICLE 5

The network of international delegates, advisors to the San Sebastian International Film Festival organisation, can help you to submit a film and solve your submission queries, and the Festival Films Department films@sansebastianfestival.com will answer queries on how to submit a film to the Festival.

II - ARTICLE 6

The deadline for receiving films submitted for pre-selection is 19 June 2023. The Festival Management reserves the right to accept feature films submitted after this time.

II - ARTICLE 7

World and international premieres will be given priority in the selection process. However, each of the Festival sections has its own requirements and specifications.

Films totally produced in Spain that wish to compete in the Official and New Directors sections and productions wishing to compete for the "Euskal Zinemaren Irizar Saria" Award must be world premieres. They must not have been screened at any other national or international festival or have been publicly premiered or screened prior to the Festival dates.

Films produced or co-produced in countries other than Spain must not have participated in any other festival taking place prior to the dates of the San Sebastian International Film Festival. This excludes festivals accredited by the FIAPF in the category "non-competitive festivals" and national competitions at festivals in their countries of production.

Films produced or co-produced in countries other than Spain must not have participated in film events in their country of production if these are accredited by the FIAPF as falling into the category: "competitive festivals".

In keeping with the requirements and specifications of each section regarding the premier criteria (world, international, national) the inclusion of films in VOD platforms is not allowed, with the exception of cases where their use is strictly professional and with restricted access.

Exceptionally, the Management Committee reserves the right to admit productions which have previously participated in certain non-competitive film events.

II - ARTICLE 8

The formats accepted for the pre-selection process are:

1. DVD
2. Blu-ray (zone or region free)
3. A link: which must be active for a minimum of 15 days and must be included on platforms containing at least one of the following four languages: Basque, Spanish, English and/or French. No links exclusively in other languages will be accepted.
4. DCP (in this case, having completed the submission process, you must contact the film department at films@sansebastianfestival.com to provide the KDM).

In the pre-selection process, the Selection Committee can accept working copies of the films provided that their condition as such has been specified by their producers or representatives.

By accepting the terms and conditions of participation the user authorises the Festival to download the film indicated on the form for its offline viewing. It is the user's responsibility to provide the necessary means for said download.

II - ARTICLE 9

Feature films submitted for pre-selection must be presented in their original version:

• Without subtitles if the original version of the film is in Spanish and/or Basque or in English and French.
• With subtitles in Spanish and/or Basque, English or French for original versions in other languages.

II - ARTICLE 10

Films submitted for pre-selection must be sent by courier or ordinary mail, indicating the tracking number and title of the film, to the following address:

Donostia Zinemaldia – Festival de San Sebastián
Departamento de películas
TABAKALERA Centro Internacional de Cultura Contemporánea
Plaza de las Cigarreras 1, 2ª Planta
20012 DONOSTIA – SAN SEBASTIÁN
Tel.: +34 943 481212
films@sansebastianfestival.com

The cost of sending films submitted for pre-selection will be paid by the individuals or companies responsible for their submission.

Material submitted for pre-selection will not be returned unless specifically requested by the individuals or companies responsible for its submission, who will pay for the cost of its return. Such returns will only be possible within the six months following the Festival and through films@sansebastianfestival.com

The Festival accepts no responsibility for potential damage suffered by material submitted for pre-selection during delivery to or from the Festival.

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III SELECTED FILMS

III - ARTICLE 1

Once a film has received an official invitation from the Festival Director, and prior to the event, the producers or representatives of the selected films must confirm their attendance by duly completing and returning the online submission form to the Festival no later than 1 August 2023.

The Festival will recognise the person who signs this confirmation as the sole representative in negotiating all aspects related to participation of the film in the event and as the sole responsible as opposed to other companies or individuals to have participated in producing the film.

Confirmation by the producers or representatives of the selected film means that they cannot withdraw their film from the programme and that they irrevocably accept all regulations established by the Festival Management. The conditions of the prizes associated with the participation of the film within the Festival, will be equally accepted.

III - ARTICLE 2

The invitation made to each film selected by the San Sebastian International Film Festival will remain strictly confidential between the Festival Management and the producers or representatives of the invited film until such time as the Festival decides to make an official announcement in this regard.

III - ARTICLE 3

The complete San Sebastian International Film Festival programme and all screening times are exclusively decided by the Festival Management Committee.

III - ARTICLE 4

The copy formats must obey the technical requirements of each Festival section.

The supports required for all sections of the Festival will be DCP except in the Zabaltegi - Tabakalera where the original format submitted by the author will be accepted.

If the format is DCP, the Festival Technical Department will send the server certificate to the producers or representatives of the film in addition to the coordinates for receiving the KDMs.

Under no circumstances will DVD or Blu-ray formats be accepted for the Festival programme.

The Festival Technical Department, tecnica@sansebastianfestival.com, will be pleased to receive specific indications from the owners or representatives of the invited films for their optimum screening and to solve any technical queries they may have.

The Festival Management reserves the right to reject copies found during control by its Technical Department to be unsuitable for screening. In the event of irregularities in the copies, the Festival Management will issue the film owners or representatives with the corresponding technical report.

III - ARTICLE 5

The producers or representatives of successful submissions must send, at their own expense, and 15 days prior to the start of the Festival:

• An original language copy (the producers or representatives are free to send the Festival as many copies of the film as they wish):
  • With Spanish subtitles if the original version of the film is not in Spanish.
  • With English subtitles if the original version of the film is in Spanish and/or Basque.

If the original version language of the film is in Basque, the Festival will provide additional electronic subtitling in Spanish.

The cost of subtitling the copy will be paid by the producers or representatives of the film.

The Festival will provide additional electronic subtitling in English for films subtitled in Spanish when the original version is not in English. The screening of this electronic subtitling will be carried out by the subtitling company hired for this purpose by the Festival.

• A DVD of the final original version of the film with subtitles in English and the corresponding list of subtitles in English for the purpose of creating the additional electronic subtitles.

• A trailer from the film to be used for advertising purposes by the San Sebastian International Film Festival at its galas and on its official website.
  The above should be sent to:

  Donostia Zinemaldia – Festival de San Sebastián
  Departamento de películas
  TABAKALERA Centro Internacional de Cultura Contemporánea
  Plaza de las Cigarreras 1, 2ª Planta
  20012 DONOSTIA – SAN SEBASTIÁN
  Tel.: +34 943 481212
  films@sansebastianfestival.com

III - ARTICLE 6

The transport and insurance costs of the copies of selected films will be paid by the participants until their arrival at the Festival offices or at the premises of its customs agent.

The San Sebastian International Film Festival will insure the copies from the moment of their arrival at the Festival offices or at the premises of its customs agent, until such time as they are returned.

The cost of returning the copies of films selected by the Festival will also be paid by participants. Returns will only be made after the Festival closing date.

In the event of damage to a copy during the event, the Festival limits its responsibility to the cost of having a new standard copy made at current laboratory rates.

III - ARTICLE 7

If the film format is DCP, the cost of generating KDMs will also be the responsibility of the producers or representatives of the film.

III - ARTICLE 8

The documentation required by the Festival for its press releases, official catalogue and website (synopsis, technical and artistic credits, bio-filmographies, pictures of the director/s and film stills) will be extracted from the online submission form, which must be duly completed no later than 1 August 2023.

The Festival Documentation Service, documenta@sansebastianfestival.com, will coordinate this material and will assist participants in solving any questions they may have in this respect.

III - ARTICLE 9

The Festival Press Department, prensa@sansebastianfestival.com, will request the necessary promotional material for its distribution to accredited news media at the Festival.

The cost of sending this promotional material to the Festival will be paid by the producers or representatives of the film.

III - ARTICLE 10

The Festival Industry Department, industria@sansebastianfestival.com, will require necessary material for consultation by film industry attendees at the Festival.

The cost of sending this promotional material to the Festival will be paid by the producers or representatives of the film.

III - ARTICLE 11

In the event of disagreement (related to organisation or running of the event) or failure to comply with these rules and regulations, the Festival Management reserves the right to the final decision based on the FIAPF regulations for International Film Festivals.

In the event of discrepancy in the interpretation of these rules and regulations, the Spanish version will apply.

All doubts arising from the interpretation of these rules and regulations will be solved by the San Sebastian Festival Management. 

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FAQ - Film registration

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