CRITERIA

Non-fiction films made after 1 January 2022 are eligible for entry in FSA 2024. Films made in this period that have been submitted to FSA in previous years, but have not been selected, may be submitted again. Entries must necessarily be on Southasian themes or subjects, while the filmmakers need not be Southasian. Entries may cover any subject pertaining to Southasia: from people, culture, lifestyle, and adventure to environment, economy, politics, and history. Entries that have not been released publicly will receive some priority. Films can be shorts for feature-length but we only accept shorts longer than 10 minutes. Films may be in any Southasian language, but have to be subtitled or dubbed in English.


CATEGORIES

Film Southasia accepts entries in the following categories; Competitive, Non-Competitive and Student films.


LENGTH

Both shorts and full length feature productions are welcome. However, for shorts, the film duration must be more than 10 minutes.

FEES

There is no charge for entry.


DEADLINES


Regular Deadline: 31 July, 2024

Entries must be submitted through FilmFreeway.com along with an application.


Extended Deadline: 15 August, 2024

Filmmakers must contact FSA in order to get a deadline waiver code to submit films after 31 July, 2024


Notification Date: 10 September, 2024

Directors/producers of entries which have been selected will be notified and asked to submit copies in professional video format for screening at FSA.


Selection Announcement: 15 September, 2024

List of selected films will be publicly announced on our website and our social media handles. 


Submission of final version of selected films: 1 October, 2024

Filmmakers must submit the final version of their entry through FilmFreeway.com for screening at FSA before this date.


SUBMISSION FORMAT

Films must be submitted via online screener ONLY. We do not accept DVDs, pen drives or hard drives.

If selected, the film you upload to FilmFreeway.com must meet the following criteria:

Video bitrate: 15-25Mbps

Video Codec: h.264, h.265, Apple Prores 422 HQ/422

Video Container: MP4, MKV, MOV

Audio: 128-320 Kbps, AAC or PCM, 2 channel stereo

Resolution: FHD (1920×1080)

Cinemascope videos should HAVE black bars (Letterboxed) inside 1920×1080

Subtitles should be in English and should be on the bottom of the VIDEO AREA (NOT on the black bars)


PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL

The festival reserves the right to use up to 10 percent of the entry’s running time for promotional use. Production stills, filmmaker bio-sketches and other information submitted in the entry form may also be used for promotional purposes on the web, print, television etc.


JURY AND AWARDS

Films submitted in the competitive category are judged by a three-member jury.

The ‘Ram Bahadur Trophy’ carries a cash prize of USD 2000, while the Jury Award, Debut Film Award and Award for Film on Surviving the Anthropocene with an All-embracing, Inclusive Approach each carry cash prizes of USD 1000.The Best Student Film Award carries a cash prize of USD 500. All awards come with citations. Selections made by the FSA Jury are final.


SELECTION

FSA ’24 will select a maximum of 45 films in the competitive category and a varying number in the other categories.


PARTICIPATION

As in the past, FSA expects to host the maximum number of delegates of selected films. Besides attendance in screenings and the camaraderie among filmmakers coming from a spectrum of Southasian societies, November and early December is also a pleasant and culturally vibrant time to be in Kathmandu Valley. FSA offers complimentary food and accommodation to delegates, who will have to bear their own travel costs to and from their home countries.


RETURN OF SUBMISSIONS

The final submissions of the selected films will be deleted from all our databases at the filmmaker’s request unless filmmakers want the FSA Archive to retain a copy.


THE FSA ARCHIVE

All submissions will be catalogued for the FSA Archive. These copies will be maintained as a record for FSA and will be made available to interested student bodies, Universities, other interested institutions, researchers and  journalists only with the express permission of the filmmakers. 


COPYRIGHT

It is the sole responsibility of the filmmaker to ensure s/he owns full copyright to the submitted film. The filmmaker is required to clear all contents of the submitted film from any and all actual or potential legal claims and issues and must have express permission from all parties involved in the production of the film. FSA reserves the right to disqualify any film with unauthorised inclusion of copyrighted/trademarked content or materials. In the event that any claim, dispute, action or proceeding is asserted by any person or entity that alleges that the film makes unauthorised or unlawful use of any copyrighted content or material, the filmmaker shall fully indemnify FSA from any liability in connection therewith and from any fees and expenses that may be incurred in light of such claims.