Its the Sojourn Film Festival - Start Makin' Movies

Sojourn's 5th Annual Cultivate Beauty Film Festival is going public this year. It will be April 27th-29th at the Kentucky Theater. At this point, I would like to brag on my amazing husband, and say that he has won an award at the film festival for at least the last two years, so you have some tough competition comin' at ya'! (The picture is of Alex holding his Best Post-Production Award. Its a golden turtle!) Now here are the rules. So get to makin' a movie!

2006 Sojourn Film Festival- GENERAL RULES

1.) Entries must be original, undistributed works produced, written and/or directed by the submitting filmmaker(s). Entries of works submitted previously in the SOJOURN Film Festival are not permitted.

2.) The submitting filmmaker(s) must be directly responsible for the creative control and direction of the project. Collaborative efforts may be recognized and acknowledged, but only the submitting filmmaker(s) will be awarded any applicable prize.

3.) All entries using copyrighted material (sound or picture) must obtain proper clearances and permission to use the material. Documentation showing this clearance and permission must be submitted with the application. Examples of copyrighted material may include: popular music, stock footage and still photographs. It is the Filmmakers responsibility to obtain rights, clearances and permission. The SOJOURN Film Festival assumes no responsibility for violation of copyright law.

4.) It is to the discretion of the Film Festival advisory board as to what films are deemed appropriate, eligible for entry, & shown in the SOJOURN Film Festival. All rules & guidelines are subject to change. Any change(s) made will be posted & made available to film makers at the earliest possible moment.

5.) The theme of the SOJOURN Film Festival is "Cultivate Beauty". We on the Film Festival advisory board recognize & understand that this theme can mean a lot of different things to different people & perceived in many different lights. We encourage creativity, diversity, & visualization of your own interpretation of this theme. However, entries deemed obscene, pornographic or those films containing excessive violent or inappropriate material are not allowed under any circumstance. The enforcement of this rule will be at the discretion of the Film Festival advisory board.

6.) Submission of an entry automatically transfers unlimited exhibition, duplication and distribution rights for the entry to SOJOURN Film Festival. The media and the contents contained on the media becomes the property of SOJOURN Film Festival. Entries will not be used in any way for commercial purposes. The intent is to allow the Festival to use your entry for promotional or educational purposes. By submitting and entry to the SOJOURN Film Festival, each entrant expressly grants permission to use their name, likeness, hometown, etc...

7.) Entries will be returned to entrants only under the following conditions:
a) The entrant has included self-addressed packaging appropriate to entry type.
b) The entrant has included appropriate postage and postal instructions.
c) At least 60 days have elapsed from the end of the festival.

The SOJOURN Film Festival in no way guarantees the return of any entry and no guarantee is therefore expressed.

8.) No entry will be considered unless the entire entry form is completed. If you are entering more than one project, you must submit a separate, completed entry form for each one.


9.) Each entry must be accompanied by the following:
b.) a 25-50 word synopsis of the filmmakers intent & how you believe this film "cultivates beauty"
c.) the filmmakers biography or resume
e.) appropriate clearances or rights
f.) a detailed description of the production method used including a complete list of credits

10.) Entrants shall indemnify, defend and hold the Festival, its agents and its representatives harmless from and against any and all claims, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses which may be incurred by reason of any breach of these representations, or arising out of any matter contained in the media or otherwise by the Festival's use of the media.

11.) Entries may be disqualified for the following reasons:
a.) inappropriate material
b.) incomplete application materials and documentation
c.) submissions on unacceptable media
d.) entries which are submitted past the deadline of March 27th 2006
e.) entries which have been submitted previously to the SOJOURN Film Festival
f. )if the film festival advisory board and/or the judges feel for any reason (at their discretion) that the film takes away from the overall feel of the film festival & does not "cultivate beauty"

In the case of disqualification, an attempt will be made by the festival staff to contact the entrant. This will allow an opportunity for the disqualification to be remedied.

12.) In case of questions, disputes or misunderstandings the decisions of the Directors of the Festival are final.

13.) Entry is void where prohibited by law. There is NO entry fee for the SOJOURN Film Festival 2006.

Entry formats

Projects submitted to the Panel of Judges are limited to 15 minutes. If your project is longer than this limit, please consider re-editing the program in order to meet the entry requirements. If a submission is longer than the 15 minute limit, only the first 15 minutes (or your own choice of 15 minutes edited down) of the project will be screened. AT THE JUDGES DISCRETION, longer versions of submitted entries may be requested for presentation at the public screenings. Only the versions that meet the festival competition criteria will be judged in the festival competition.

Entries must be submitted on DVD (video mode only). They must conform to the National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) specifications. All entries will be presented as two-channel, conventional stereo soundtracks.

DO NOT SEND THE MASTER COPY OF YOU PRODUCTION. DO, HOWEVER, SEND A HIGH QUALITY COPY.