Rules & regulations submissions

Read the rules & regulations for film submissions for the Movies that Matter Festival 2023 below.

 

General programme information

The Movies that Matter Festival 2023 takes place from 24 March – 1 April, 2023, in Filmhuis Den Haag and Theater aan het Spui in The Hague, The Netherlands and a smaller festival programme in several satellite cities around the country and online.

The festival features the following programme items:

  • Grand Jury Documentary: 8 documentaries about Human Rights
  • Grand Jury Fiction: 8 fiction films about Human Rights
  • Activist competition: 8 documentaries about Human Rights defenders.
  • Camera Justitia competition: 8 documentaries and fiction films about (inter)national justice and the rule of law.
  • Dutch Movies Matter competition: 8 documentaries and fiction films about Human Rights made by Dutch filmmakers.
  • Shorts competition: multiple shorts will compete for the Shorts Award.
  • Students’ Choice Award in cooperation with the University Leiden.
  • Panorama section, non-competitive. Films in this section also take part in the Audience Award, €5.000.

 

If your film is selected for the festival, you agree to the rules & regulations below.

1. Selection of the film and usage of the publicity materials
  • Selected films can only be shown at the festival if they have English commentary and/or English dialogue, or in the original version with English subtitles.
  • Films should be submitted for final screening at the festival on DCP for offline screenings and MP4 for online screening.
  • Selection decisions made by the festival management are final.
  • If a film is selected, publicity material (press books, posters, stills, clips, trailers, etc.) must be received by the festival organisation by February 10, 2023.
  • Movies that Matter is allowed to use publicity materials for all marketing purposes before, during, and after the festival. This includes using stills, trailers, and clips for promotion of the festival and the organisation of Movies that Matter in general. Parts of some of the trailers and clips will be used in the festival promo reel, and the Activist promotional videos.
  • After official selection of a documentary or fiction film in any Movies that Matter programme, the festival has the right to use three minutes of a documentary or film for broadcasting purposes on national or international television and online.
  • If a film is selected, Movies that Matter can use your photos later for publicity purposes for other publications of Movies that Matter.
2. Shipping if film is selected
  • Movies that Matter will provide the service to upload the film (DCP and MP4) through a service called FilmFetch.
  • DCPs and MP4 files of the film must be received no later than 2 weeks before the start of the festival.
  • The digital file of the film will be removed from the festival servers within 4 months after the festival.
3. Awards
  • Grand Jury Documentary Award €5.000
  • Grand Jury Fiction Award €5.000
  • Activist Documentary Award €5.000. Amnesty International’s Activist documentary award is for the maker of the best documentary in the Activist programme.
  • Camera Justitia Award €5.000
  • Dutch Movies Matter Award €5.000
  • BNNVARA Audience Award €5.000
  • Shorts Award €1.500
  • Students’ Choice Award €1.500. A student jury of Leiden University assigns the award to the best film in the Students’ Choice programme.