Terms and Conditions for Submission
SUBMISSION RULES & TERMS
Dutch Mountain Film Festival #14 2024
I. GENERAL INFORMATION
II. FILM SUBMISSION
A. CATEGORIES
B. FORMAT
C. MOUNTAIN FILM
D. PREMIERE RULE
III. SELECTION
IV. JURY AND PRIZES
V. TERMS AND CONDITIONS
VI. RIGHTS & DATA PROTECTION
VII. FESTIVAL PRESENTATION
VIII. GENERAL
IX. ADDRESS AND CONTACT DETAILS
I. GENERAL INFORMATION
The Dutch Mountain Film Festival is week-long festival of film which places mountain scenery, mountaineering and mountain culture centre stage. Its films and documentaries pay homage to the great outdoors, the majesty of the mountains, the awe-inspiring role of mother nature, and the diversity of mountain cultures, both near and far. The annual festival puts together an exciting programme of historical dramas, gripping documentaries, accounts of do-or-die and experimental outdoor adventures, and exceptional arthouse films. The best films are presented with a DMFF Film Award.
The film programme is complemented by an array of side events including presentations, workshops, exhibitions, masterclasses, a trail run and a cycle tour. A compelling reason, if one were needed, for mountaineers, lovers of the great outdoors, film aficionados and frequent cinema-goers to pay a visit to the highest, perhaps even the most uplifting film festival in the Netherlands.
The DMFF has been part of the International Alliance for Mountain Film since 2014, but singles itself out by its commitment to artistic productions, a focus on new local talent and cross-border collaboration. Alongside the main event in Heerlen, a parallel programme of films is screened in Aachen, 15 kilometres away in Germany.
Dutch Mountain Film Festival #14 will take place from November 5 to 10, 2024 in Heerlen (NL) and Aachen (D).
II. FILM SUBMISSION
Films can be submitted for entry to the competition, screening and selection at the Dutch Mountain Film Festival by the producer or other authorized parties. Films can be submitted via FilmFreeway or via the IAMF own platform: https://www.mountainfilmalliance.org/submissions/
If the submitted film contains non-English language dialog or text, English and/or Dutch subtitles must be provided. This also applies to German language films.
No films will be accepted after the end of the extended deadline of 7 July 2024.
A. CATEGORIES
Films can compete for a prize in one of the following categories:
DMFF Award (Grand Prix); for the most artistic and original short or feature mountain film.
Best Newcomer Award; aims to stimulate new and upcoming talent and is awarded for a debut production of a mountain film.
Jury Award is a special prize awarded by the jury for a film which deserves special commendation.
Best Mountaineering Film Award for best film on climbing and mountaineering.
DAV Climate Award for a film must throw a critical light on climate change and/or the effects of environmental pollution in the mountains.
Judges will take into account the artistic, cinematographic and film-craft qualities of the film as well as its originality.
Entries can compete for prizes in more than one category.
B. FORMAT
Please make sure your film complies with these technical requirements:
Codecs – H.264/AppleProress + AAC– for the best results we would recommend using either H.264 (MP4) or AppleProress (MOV) for the video codec and AAC (Advanced Audio Codec) for the audio codec.
Frame Rate – 24 FPS or 25 FPS (frames per second)
Resolution – Please provide your film in either a 16.9 ratio or a cinema aspect ratio (1.85 or 2.35), with a minimum resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels
Deinterlacing – Please use a progressive scan on all your exports
Audio – sample rate at 48.000 Hz, 320 kbps
Format – we accept: MPG, MOV, MP4, MKV
Label video files clearly: Title_producer_length.XXX e.g.: mountain_fds_20.mov
C. MOUNTAIN FILM
Entries will be judged on their merits as a mountain film. The mountain film is one of the oldest genres and uses its own imagery. We are all familiar with its clichéd images: death-defying panoramas of mountain ridges, glaciers and rock faces alternating with heart-stopping shots of fingers clawing for hand-holds, boots losing their footing and rocks breaking free. But the harsh mountain world is also portrayed for its symbolic and mythical significance. In this vertical wilderness, human resolve is confronted with all its deepest fears and vulnerabilities. The mountain film tells the story of man’s struggle with nature and records the stunning beauty of the untamed mountain world. The mountain film uses this world as its backdrop or metaphor for narrating the story of man’s confrontation with the unadulterated wilds.
D. PREMIERE RULE
There is no strict rule for premieres. In order to guarantee the highest possible relevance of the competition entries for the audience and the guests, preference is given in all competition categories to those films that were neither shown in a Dutch cinema nor available online before Dutch Mountain Film Festival 2022. The festival reserves the right to show films only out of competition.
III. SELECTION
All submitted films will be viewed and evaluated by the DMFF programmers and professional viewers. All submitted films will receive a notification by email. Notification of the selection for the 2024 program will be sent out by September 2, 2024 at the latest. Please be patient, as the program selection will be carried out step by step due to the high number of submissions and will only be completed by this date.
A notification will be sent by email in any case. (Should the email not arrive due to technical reasons, e.g. spam filters, the status of the film can also be checked via the submission platforms from the beginning of October).
Should the submitted film be selected for Dutch Mountain Film Festival #14, the festival will communicate immediately thereafter the deadline for receiving the screening copy, request further data for catalog, website and/or streaming platform and contact the director/s regarding a visit to the festival. If a film is not selected, please understand that no further feedback is possible.
Once the film has been selected, the logo of Dutch Mountain Film Festival and the text “Official Dutch Mountain Film Festival” can be used for advertising purposes. This logo and the text are available in digital form via the Filmfreeway website.
A finalists list will be selected from all entries and these will be submitted to the jury for appraisal under the responsibility of the management of the Dutch Mountain Film Festival. The selection will take into account the artistic, cinematographic, and film-craft qualities of the film.
The Dutch Mountain Film Festival will also select films for the DMFF special selection.
IV. JURY AND PRIZES
Prizes are awarded in all categories by an expert jury. The jury consists of three film industry, art and mountain professionals, are international and diverse by category and gender. Their expertise is brought in upon invitation. The members of the jury will not be related to any significant degree with the film entries. A separate jury of mountain professionals will decide on the winner for the Best Mountaineering Film Award. All films are made available to the jury members for viewing in the best possible quality.
4.1 Crossborder DMFF Award (Grand Prix)
Prize money of € 1,500 and a work of art will be presented to the winner of the ‘DMFF Award’ (Grand Prix) for the most artistic and original mountain film.
4.2 Best Newcomer Award
The ‘Best Newcomer Award’ will be awarded to the director of the best debut mountain film. The award consists of a work of art and prize money of € 1,000.
4.3 Jury Award
Will be awarded to a special mention of the jury. The award consists of a work of art and prize money of € 500.
4.4 Best Mountaineering Film Award
Prize money of € 1000 and a work of art will be presented to the winner of the Best Mountaineering Film Award for the best climbing film.
4.5 DAV Climate Award
Prize money of € 1000 and a work of art will be presented to the winner of the DAV Climate Award for the film which throws a critical light on climate change in the mountains or the effects of environmental pollution.
V. TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Entries must be submitted no later than 7 July 2024. Entries will only be accepted if these are received in time and are complete. The festival is not obliged to view films that have been submitted late.
For a full entry, the Dutch Mountain Film Festival accepts complete entries via https://filmfreeway.com/festival/DMFF, with at least 3 stills (preferably also a poster and trailer).
or https://www.mountainfilmalliance.org/submissions/.
All information submitted remains in the possession of the Dutch Mountain Film Festival. Any material made available is required to be free of copyright. The Dutch Mountain Film Festival will only use this for promoting films as part of screening at the festival and to promote the festival itself. The festival therefore retains the right to make the material available to third parties who are responsible for media coverage (including the website, the program and press releases). The text for the program, press releases and the website will be based on the material submitted and will be written by the editorial board affiliated with the festival.
It will not be possible to screen the film at the festival if these criteria are not satisfied. The selection and admission of the films submitted will fall under the responsibility of the Dutch Mountain Film Festival.
VI. RIGHTS & DATA PROTECTION
By submitting a film, the submitter guarantees that he/she owns all rights to the film (especially intellectual property) or is authorized to make the submission on behalf of the rights holder(s), and that no rights of third parties will be infringed upon by a screening or other use for the purposes of the festival. Should the rights of third parties nevertheless be violated, the festival will indemnify the submitter.
In the event of a selection, the submitted film may be shown five times (including reruns) for public and online during the online festival period in December 2024. If the film wins an award at Dutch Mountain Film Festival 2024, the film may also be shown twice in the cinema in the framework of best-of programs following the festival. In this case the submitter will be informed in advance.
With the submission of the film, the festival is allowed to use the film title, credits and the name of the director as well as film stills and film excerpts (max. 40 seconds) for general promotion in the context of reporting on the festival (incl. TV, web, cinema, showreel). The festival also reserves the right to grant representatives of the press or selected industry visitors password-protected access to the film.
With the submission for Dutch Mountain Film Festival the festival is allowed to process the given data for the purpose of handling the festival and its archive. This consent is the legal basis for the data processing (according to the GDPR—General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union). The data will only be stored as long as necessary for the above mentioned purpose and will not be passed on to third parties.
The regulations for submissions to Dutch Mountain Film Festival are published in English.
VII. FESTIVAL PRESENTATION
The festival aims to present each selected film in the best possible form, in its original format and in the presence of the directors and film teams.
For all competition films, individual texts will be written and published in the catalog, on the website and/or on the streaming platform. The texts can also be used further with reference to the authorship (Dutch Mountain Film Festival).
The guest service will contact the director (or another representative of the creative team) in order to enable a personal presence at the screenings. The festival supports an environmentally friendly journey to Heerlen or Aachen.
The festival actively seeks to connect filmmakers with industry representatives, programmers, each other and public by organizing its own industry program, holding receptions and meetings, and providing guest lists with contact information (with the consent of the respective persons).
The festival cannot pay license fees for screenings within the competition. The festival is willing to pay a screening fee for the presentation of films outside the competition. If the film has been submitted for a competition and is presented outside of the competition, screening or license fees can be paid.
The festival vehemently pursues the goal of protecting the films from any external access or abuse in case of presentation on the streaming platform. In case of a public presentation on the streaming platform, all competition films will be regionally blocked (“geoblocking”) and can only be viewed after registration on the platform. Only accredited persons can access the platform without geoblocking.
VIII. GENERAL
Participation in the Dutch Mountain Film Festival implies unconditional acceptance of these regulations, of the Regulations relating to Prizes and Jury and of interim decisions made by the festival management. In all cases which are not covered by these regulations, the management of the Stichting Moving Mountains will decide.
The screening program for the Dutch Mountain Film Festival will be drawn up under the responsibility of the director. The full program will be published in October 2024.
Image rights for the festival logo are vested in the Dutch Mountain Film Festival. Use of the images in the form of photographs or reproductions of any other nature may only be made after obtaining written permission for this from the Dutch Mountain Film Festival beforehand.
IX. ADDRESS AND CONTACT DETAILS
Dutch Mountain Film Festival (DMFF Awards)
Korinthe 2
6343 DK, Klimmen
The Netherlands
For questions regarding the regulations and/or registration:
E-mail: festival@dmff.eu
Website: www.dmff.eu