1. Filmfest Hamburg invites films from all over the world to participate in Filmfest 2023. Applications for feature films, documentaries and animation features of any origin are acceptable. The programme of Filmfest Hamburg shall present various cinematographic views from all over the world. In this way the Filmfest shall support the interest in other cultures and facilitate the appreciation of different ways of life. In addition to this the Filmfest shall present the city of Hamburg as a centre of audiovisual media production. The Filmfest Hamburg gGmbH is responsible for the management and the organization of the festival.
2. Eligible for participation are films that
- have a minimum length of 60 minutes
- have been produced after 30 June 2022
- have not been released in Germany
- have not been presented in another German film festival
3. First step to submitting a film is to fill out the online submission form. The submission deadline is 15 June 2023. Submissions have to include a screening possibility of the film. Submissions without a screener will be considered invalid. Missing screeners will not be requested later on. Films shall be submitted digitally (via link). If the file is password-protected, please make sure that the password is viable until the end of the current edition of the festival. Please state the URL in the respective field in the online submission form.
4. Confirmed films can only be screened in 35 mm or DCP (2K/4K, dci-standard) format. Eligible keys must be provided for encrypted DCPs. All films will be screened in original language with German or English subtitles.
5. For selection, films must be submitted in their original language. Films in German and English may be submitted without subtitles, but films in another language should either be subtitled or accompanied by a complete dialogue-list in one of the two accepted languages.
6. The films for the festival programme are selected by the selection committee. The festival management will decide on the different sections of the programme. Television productions will be shown in a special section.
7. For each film selected, the festival must receive detailed documentation, including: a synopsis of the film, a biography and complete filmography of the director, a selection of stills from the film, and a full list of artistic and technical credits.
8. The festival asks producers or distributors of films selected to supply a sufficient number of press-kits, stills, posters and video-extracts of the films for the festival press office.
9. Films entered into the festival will not have more than three public screenings (not including press screenings). Additional screenings have to be authorised by the printlender.
10. It is the responsibility of producers, distributors, or other organizations submitting a film to ensure that they are legitimately entitled to enter a film in the festival. No selected film may be withdrawn from the festival programme after its publication.
11. Applicants whose films were not selected for the festival programme will be informed about the decision before the start of the festival.
12. Film prints will be transported by the official forwarding agent of Filmfest Hamburg only. Detailed shipping information will be given after a film has been selected. Film prints must not be send before these information has been given. Shipping costs of film prints for selected films will be covered by Filmfest Hamburg gGmbH both ways to and from the print lender. In case either pick up or return address is not the print lender Filmfest Hamburg gGmbH will cover the shipping costs for one way. The prints will be returned within two weeks after the end of the festival. Filmfest Hamburg is not covering import charges, taxes or storage fees in the country of the return address.
13. There is a print insurance for the festival period. This insurance is limited to the print value. The insurance cover starts on the takeover of the print by the official forwarding agent of the festival. The insurance cover terminates with the return of the print to the printlender.
14. These regulations are issued in German and English. In case of doubt, the German version is decisive. All matters not resolved by these regulations shall be decided upon by the festival director and in accordance with the international regulations.
15. The application for participation in Filmfest Hamburg 2023 implies the acceptance of these regulations. The festival director has the right to settle all cases unforeseen in the regulations of participation, as well as to permit exceptions from the regulations in special, well-founded cases.
16. Prize money may be subject to withholding tax and may therefore not correspond to the amount shown.
