BEFORE YOU SUBMIT

1. Monthly submission for the 1st edition of Asian Cinematography Awards is open to short films, feature films and videos of any genre beginning March 2019.
2. Only the Best Filipino Short Film category is a one time submission with a deadline on 31 October 2019.
3. All films must be presented in their original language with English subtitle.
4. Films must have been completed after 1 January 2017. Premiere status is not required.
5. Films submitted in other Cinematography Awards editions are eligible for re-submission on ACA provided they did not win any other annual CA festival main award.
6. Short film entries must not exceed a running time of 45 minutes.
7. Student films and videos must present proper documentations from their academic institution, example: academic ID of the director/producer or a letter of recommendation from an academic adviser or institution. Any films submitted as student film without proper identification will be disqualified in the category.
8. Student films must be submitted no later than two years after graduation.
9. All submitted films and/or videos must pay the necessary entry fee. Student entries are eligible for discounted fees.
10. Films may only be submitted to additional categories if they have been entered in at least one of the main categories. Main categories are as follows:

Best Cinematography of a Short film

Best Student Short Film

Best Cinematography of a Student Short Film

Best Documentary Short Film (Nature/Wildlife, Ethnographic)

Best Cinematography of a Documentary Short Film

Best Animated Short Film

Best Cinematography of an Animated Short Film

Best Asian Short Film

Best Cinematography of an Asian Short Film

Best Filipino Short Film

Best Screenplay

Best Music Video

Best Community Short Film (LGBT, Gender Equality or other minority themes.)

11. Entry fees are non-refundable in case of any submission withdrawal.
12. All submission deadlines and important dates regarding festival screenings, award ceremonies and its venues are announced on the ACA official website. 13. Any changes to the rules will be at ACA’s discretion.

HOW TO SUBMIT

All entries must be submitted online via FilmFreeway.

1. Complete the submission form.
2. The films must be uploaded to the submission portal as required or direct ACA to a link of your film or video preview upon submission.
3. Complete the outline press kit in the submission form. This includes a synopsis in English, the director’s statement and biography, a full list of cast and crew and additional publicity materials such as trailers, film posters and stills.
4. Pay the entry fee.

AFTER YOU SUBMIT

1. All submissions are screened and evaluated by the ACA Selection Committee.
2. Criteria for judging is based on creativity of visual images, production quality (without irrespective of the cost of production), originality of storytelling and entertainment value).
3. Monthly selections will include Semifinalist and Finalist stages.
4. Submissions will be checked for their eligibility and judged only in their appropriate categories.
5. All monthly finalists and the chosen winners in each category will be announced at ACA website and CA social media platforms and will be notified through email.

AWARDS

1. Monthly semi-finalists, finalists and winners for each categories will receive an ACA digital certificate with verification and a digital copy of the official ACA laurel.
2. Winners of the Best Film of the Month and Best Cinematographer of the Month are chosen from the monthly winners of any film and cinematography categories.
3. “Best Film of the Month” is automatically chosen as “OFFICIAL SELECTION” to the 1st Edition of Asian Cinematography Awards screening and awarding ceremony to be held in Manila, Philippines.
4. All Official Entries vie for the most prestigious awards of the film festival — The Cinematographer of the Year and The Best Film of the Year awards.
5. Winners of both awards will be handed CA’s official statuette called the “Golden Eagle” during the awarding ceremony.
6. Best Asian Film and Best Asian Cinematographer of the Year awards are chosen from all monthly winners of these categories.
7. Ten finalists for the special Filipino themed short films are selected for screening. They will receive an official ACA certificate. The winner of the Best Filipino Short Film and Best Filipino Cinematographer will receive an ACA Plaque and a special sponsor prize.
8. Winners will be chosen by Juries composed of film industry professionals especially invited by ACA festival director for this edition.
9. In case of the recipients’ absence during the award ceremony, ACA will send the statuette to them via post.
10. The winners of ACA will get the chance to be screened at the Los Angeles Cinematography Awards and at the European Cinematography Awards.
11. Other additional award prizes may be given during the ceremony.

SCREENING

1. All official selections are included in the festival programme for exhibition.
2. ACA reserves the right to chose other shortlisted films to be screened in the film festival.
3. All films and videos for screening during the festival will be announced at ACA official website and social media platforms.
4. The filmmakers and/or production companies must provide ACA a copy of their films for screening at least 30 working days prior to festival. This is to make sure the festival have enough time to check for any technical concerns that may occur and resolve them prior to the screening.
5. If sending DCPs, the sender is requested to inform ACA on the means of dispatch and the date of shipment. Postage or shipment costs are the responsibility of the sender. No collect costs are accepted unless authorised by the ACA. Materials should be sent to Cinematography Awards Foundation:FUNDACJA NAGRODY KINEMATOGRAFII, Michalowskiego 8, 02-438 Warszawa, Poland
6. Other exhibition/screening formats and video systems or delivery through any other type of disc require the authorization of the Festival to be uploaded on the Cinematography Awards database. Details on how to do that will be forwarded to the sender. Without authorization, the Festival retains the right to exclude a film from the programme.
7. All screening formats can be returned upon the request of the participants after the festival screening. Please provide ACA with a return address. In case of non confirmation of any return address after two weeks, ACA will return the screener to the address indicated in the original submission entry.
8. ACA is not liable to any loss of screening materials after they have been posted or shipped to the recipient.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EXHIBITION

1. All films must be of standard cinema aspect ratio and resolution (Square Pixels 1.0). Flat: 1.85:1 2K (1998×1080) or 4K (3996×2160) Scope: 2.39:1 2K (2048×858) or 4K (4096×1716)
2. All film screening formats must be subtitled in English.
3. Provide ACA with a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) if applicable. The DCP should be delivered on a EXT2/3 formatted CRU dataport Sata drive. If the package is encrypted, a DKDM should be provided. Sending in a separate DKDM’s is not accepted.
4. Provide ACA with an HD quality digital copy of the film in Quicktime (Pro Res 422) if applicable.
5. H264 files can be accepted provided the images are of great quality.

OTHER AGREEMENTS

1. ACA does not download or make your full preview screener available publicly online.
2. The ACA is hereby granted the rights to utilise an excerpt from any film submitted for promotional purposes of the festival. The individual or production studio submitting the film hereby warrants that it is authorised to commit the film for screening, and understands and accepts these requirements, rules and regulations.
3. In the event of any film being withdrawn from the festival screening for reasons beyond the festival’s control, for example copyright infringement, ACA must not be held liable and the filmmakers or production company agree to accept such liabilities if any.
4. The filmmakers and/or the production company allow ACA to use their film’s Press Kit for promotional purposes.
5. The submission of any films to the festival means that the filmmakers and/or the production company agree without any reservation to all the rules and regulations of ACA.