RULES AND REGULATIONS

Submission Deadline: March 31st, 2025

General Information

The OpenEyes Filmfest is an independent film festival. It is organized by the Verein zur Förderung der Filmkultur in Marburg e. V. Films of every possible area and genre are welcome – there are no thematic restrictioins. Age certification assigned to the festival in general is 18/NC-17.

Selection of Films

All films submitted are viewed and selected by independent juries, which are also responsible for curating the program. All entrants will be informed by e-mail no later than June 15th, 2025 if their film has been selected.

Audience Award

The OpenEyes festival’s audience awards one winner and two runner-ups in every category (feature film, documentary, experimental film/music video, animation).

Application Requirements

The submitter certifies that all rights and clearances have been obtained for a public screening in the course of the OpenEyes Filmfest.

The following requirements must be met by every film submitted:

1. RUN TIME: 30 minutes max [incl. credits]
   
   
2. PRODUCTION: The final production date must be later than January 1st, 2024. Films from 2023 will be accepted if the film has not yet had a festival screening in Germany.
   
   
3. SUBMISSION FEE: The festival does not charge a fee for submissions via the festival's own platform. Submissions via other platforms (e.g. FilmFreeway) are excluded from this. Any fee paid through these platforms is non-refundable under any circumstances.
   
   
4. VIEWING COPY: Blu-ray Disc, Screener-Link, Digital File, DVD
   LANGUAGE/SUBTITLES: The dialogue of the viewing copy must be in German or English, if not, German or English subtitles must be provided.
   
   
5. SCREENING COPY: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, HD-File [H.264/265, ProRes422, max. 80Mbit/s], DCP. Other formats are only possible after prior arrangement.
   LANGUAGE/SUBTITLES: All films will be screened in their original language version. All festival selections must have English subtitles. [The OpenEyes Filmfest can provide assistance with subtitle creation upon arrangement.]
   
   
6. Every film must be submitted in only one of the following CATEGORIES: feature film, documentary, experimental film/music video, animation. Thereby, the chosen category is the same as the category in which the film will be judged. The responsible jury reserves their right to adapt the category if necessary.
   
   
7. The festival reserves the right to use any PHOTO and PRESS MATERIAL that has been submitted for press and public relation purposes. Furthermore, the OpenEyes Filmfest may create stills from submissions for use in print and online media, as well as film sequences for possible use in the festival’s trailer. In case that only the photo and press material already submitted may be used, it must be noted as such in advance.
   
   
8. The festival has the right to make the viewing work public and for this purpose to discuss the submission publicly (podcast). This also applies to criticism and rejected films.
   In the event that only the submitted visual and press materials may be used, or the film may not be discussed publicly, this must be stated separately in the submission.
   
   
9. Screening copies must be submitted by July 1st, 2024. Should a copy arrive too late, the festival reserves the right to use the viewing copy for screening at the festival.

Viewing and Screening Copies

1. Viewing copies are not returned to the sender. Viewing copies will remain in the archive of the Filmfest, which is entitled to show the film in follow- up events in course of the OpenEyes Festival.
   
   
2. The sender is responsible for the delivery of the screening copy. This includes all shipment fees. Screening copies will be returned or forwarded to other festivals as a parcel at the expense of the festival. The address for postal submissions is:
   
   OpenEyes Filmfest
   Postfach 14 49
   35004 Marburg | Germany
   
   
3. Screening copies which have not been delivered until July 1st, 2025 might not be considered for the festival. In this case, the sender will be charged for the return.
   
   
4. Shipments from non-EU countries must be declared as:
   
   Temporary import
   For cultural purpose only
   No commercial value
   
   
5. Screening copies are insured by the organizer during their stay at the festival.
   
   
6. The festival is not liable for screening copies that are damaged during shipping.
   
   
7. Complaints for damaged copies can only be filed in the span of up to seven days after receiving the return shipment.

Data Protection

By submitting their film to the festival, the submitter agrees that their personal data can be used for the aforementioned course (festival, call for entries, archive), in line with Article 6, paragraph 1, section a of the GDPR. The data will only be saved as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes referred to above and will not be passed on to third parties. More detailed information about data protection and the rights of the data subject according to the GDPR can be found at http://openeyes-filmfest.de/privacy-policy/.