Official Regulations

ClujShorts International Short-Film Festival

Rules & Regulations

ClujShorts International Short Film Festival is a cultural event that takes place annually in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

ClujShorts is an event fully owned and organized by Persona Association and aims at
establishing itself as a major international festival, contributing to the development and
growth of the regional industry and talent.

Sections

Official Competition – competitive section containing all genres with the highest scores, as decided by the Festival Selection Committee; Short films must not exceed a length of 20 minutes.

Special Screenings (Out of the Competition) – Eligible are works submitted in accordance with festival regulations that were not selected for competition.

Submission Guidelines

All selected and announced short-films will we screened during the festival. The highest scoring ones that also meet the criteria, are chosen for the Official Competition.

For entering the competition, films must be completed on or after January 1st of 2023. Films completed prior to this date are eligible for the Official Selection.

Films previously submitted to ClujShorts International Short Film Festival are NOT eligible.

Running time should be under 20 minutes for entering the competition. Longer short films are accepted as part of the official selection, but not longer than 35 minutes. Ending credits should be included in the running time.

Non-English language works must have English subtitles at the time submitted. Non-English entries submitted without subtitles or with subtitles in other language than English are not eligible.

Please do NOT send stills or press kits. If your film is selected, we will ask you to email us a still image at that time.

Publicity and press materials will not be returned. The additional materials listed above will be sent via e-mail at asociatia.persona.cluj@gmail.com

Works-in-progress will be considered, provided they will be completed prior to the Festival: While entrants are permitted to submit films that are not fully complete (i.e., without final colour correction and sound mixing), please note that the selection committee will only consider the version submitted; subsequent cuts or replacement copies will only be accepted at the request of the programming committee.

You may enter more than one film, but you must complete a separate entry form and pay entry fee for each film. Only films for which the fee has been paid will be considered.

If you wish to submit more than 10 short-films, please contact us via e-mail:
asociatia.persona.cluj@gmail.com

You will receive a confirmation e-mail after completing the submission form(s).

Entrant confirms and warrants required legal authority to submit the entry into the Festival and to use all music, images, and content in the entry.

Entrant will allow usage of clips from the film for promotional use on television, radio, internet, in print, and at live Festival events.

All the submitted films must be available in HD format (preferably H264, 1280 x 720p).

All the submitted films must be normalized at -3 dB. Otherwise, they will be hard limited.

Deadlines

Submissions open on October 1, 2024.

Entries must be submitted online before November 30, 2024 12:00 AM EET by completing the online Submission Form prior to sending a copy of the film.

Any submission and/or material received after the above deadline will not be accepted.

Submit your film online by providing a secure link with password. You do NOT need to mail us any physical materials.

During submission, films and materials can be sent using a private/preview link. A password (if necessary) will be provided to allow the selection team to view the film(s).

All the selected films (Official Selection) must be sent via on-line transfer until the deadline provided by the organizing team.

All further details/materials requested by the organizers during the selection process must be sent by the date mentioned.

Selection and Judging

All entries are pre-screened by the Festival Selection Committee. The selection committee selects the eligible short films for the Official Selection. Short films that did not meet the requirements listed above will be disqualified by the selection committee.

Among the pre-selected films, a number will be selected according to the selection criteria for the Official Competition.

These Official Competition Films are then given to the jury in electronic format.

The jury members will grade individually each short film with a score from 1 to 10, separately for the following categories: script, directing, editing, picture, soundtrack, acting.

The final score will result from the sum of the grades given by all the jury members for each category and for the entire film production.

In case of equal scoring, the organizers will decide if more awards of the same kind may be. Otherwise, it will be considered the note given by the festival’s artistic director, thus establishing the final ranking.

The jury’s decisions, as well as the selection committee’s decisions are final and can not be disputed.

Awards

The following awards can be presented:

ClujShorts Trophy, The Audience Award, Best Student Film, Best Animation, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Soundtrack, Best Script, The Jury Award, The Press Award, Persona Association Award

– All selected short-films (Official Selection) are eligible for: The Audience Award, Persona Association Award, The Press Award.

– The Audience Award will be chosen exclusively by the public. Each viewer will choose the favorite short film by ticking the title of the short film on the voting ticket (ballot). Organizers will centralize all ballots and calculate the percentage number of votes awarded to each short film. The short film with the higher percentage wins.

– The Jury Award decision belongs exclusively to the jury

– The Press Award will be chosen by the committee whose members will be decided by media representatives. The press committee members will view the short film during the festival.

– The Festival organizer reserves the right to offer the Persona Association Award to the short film they consider most eloquent in terms of the issues discussed and the artistic and technical quality.

If any category does not meet the standard deemed award worthy by the judging committee, it’s possible that there will be no award announced in that category.

The prizes for each category of the competition will be announced during ClujShorts Awards Gala.

Results will be posted online at https://clujshorts.ro/ and https://www.facebook.com/ClujShorts.

The winners will be contacted to arrange the details regarding the handing of their prizes. The winners are responsible of providing a correct postal address for delivery.

Terms and Conditions

The submission fee is 10 Euro for each entry. You can pay the entry fee using any major credit card.
Films will not be viewed without payment. All fees are non-refundable.

ClujShorts will not pay for screening fees. All claims of screening fees from the submitter, after the Official Selection is announced, will lead to disqualifying the film/films in question.

ClujShorts is hereby granted the right to utilize any film submitted and/or accepted for
promotional purposes.

The individual or corporation submitting the film hereby warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for screening, and understands and accepts these requirements and regulations.

The undersigned shall indemnify and hold ClujShorts International Short Film Festival harmless from and against all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.

All submitted films will not be returned and will be part of the Festival’s artistic heritage. The organizers reserve the right to use these films for promotional, didactic, educational and cultural purposes.

The entrants are fully responsible for their film contents and the accompanying data submitted.

Entrant will allow usage of clips from the film for promotional use on television, radio, internet, in print, and at live Festival events. This applies to all initiatives/events linked to ClujShorts International Short Film Festival, before, during and after the Festival.

The organizer reserves the right to modify the content of this Regulation.