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OFFICIAL RULES

Eli​gibility Criteria:

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  • Acceptable submissions are limited to student productions that are produced, written, directed, planned and technically executed entirely by students in British Columbia, Canada. The involvement of parents, teachers and professionals is limited to minor, non-creative roles (ie. technical advice, funding). Directors, camera operators, editors, etc. must all be students enrolled in an elementary, middle, and/or secondary school in BC and be between grade 8-12.

  • Students from grade 8 through 12 are eligible to participate. For submissions involving students from various grades, entry level is determined by the highest grade of all students involved with the production. 

  • Films can be submitted to one category only.

  • Non-students may be used as actors and for voice-overs as long as they were directed by students. Non-students are not eligible for awards.

  • Only films completed after May 1, 2023 are eligible for submission. Films that have been submitted in the past are not eligible for resubmission.

  • Total running time, including credits, is no longer than 10 minutes with the exception of the category LONG FORM which accepts entries in any style with a running time between 10-30 minutes including credits.

  • If your film is over 10 minutes and submitted to a category that is not Long Form, the BCSFF has the right to place the film in the Long Form category and judge it alongside other films in that category.

  • Please take note of the running-time restrictions for each category. If no restriction is listed, the maximum running-time is 10 minutes (excluding Long Form). If your film submission does not follow the category time restriction, it may be disqualified or placed into another category.

  • Individuals may enter as many productions as they wish; however, EACH ENTRY MUST BE SUBMITTED SEPARATELY.

  • The BCSFF reserves the right to add/remove/combine submission categories and/or awards categories without notice.

  • Film credits must be fully filled out and included at the end of the film/animation production and/or filled out in FilmFreeway. If film credits are not filled out properly or are incomplete, your film may not be eligible to win an award.

  • Film trailers must be uploaded to Vimeo or FilmFreeway with downloading enabled. Trailers uploaded to YouTube or other video streaming platforms will NOT be accepted.

  • Students may submit films to other film festivals.

  • All students submitting videos for adjudication must be sponsored by a teacher. That teacher must be a teacher in British Columbia.

  • Submissions may not include any:
     

    1. Copyrighted works without the permission of the copyright owner;

    2. false or defamatory statements about any person or any third party;

    3. third party trademarks that suggest affiliation with any trademark owner without the permission of such owner;

    4. profanity, nudity, depictions of violence, threatening language, bullying, inappropriate, indecent, harmful, discriminatory, or obscene content as determined by BCSFF, in their sole and absolute discretion;

    5. depiction of an act which is dangerous or suggests any person to undertake a dangerous activity. 

 

All Submissions must be in keeping with British Columbia Student Film Festival's image, as determined by the leadership festival committee of BC Film Teachers and jurors with their sole and absolute discretion. BCSFF shall have the right, but not the obligation, to review the Entries for compliance with these entry requirements. Submissions including unsuitable content, or that are in, or alleged to be in, violation will be disqualified. BC Film teachers are encouraged to run any content questions by the leadership committee prior to submission into the festival. BCSFF leadership committee and jurors retain sole discretion as to what constitutes unsuitable content and will not be liable in any way for disqualified entries. 

 

Entry Deadlines

 

Deadline: April 8, 2024 @ 11:59pm via FilmFreeway

No late submissions will be accepted.  

 

Entry Fees

 

$25.00 (CAD) per entry

 

By entering the festival, you are granting BCSFF non-exclusive rights to retain an archive copy of your production for the non-profit purposes of exhibition, promotion and education. By entering, you also give the BCSFF permission to post your video on our Vimeo page, YouTube page, website, and/or other media for educational and/or promotional use.

 

Copyright Warnings

 

Entrants are encouraged to create productions that consist entirely of original material, including music, graphics, visuals, poetry etc. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION MUST BE INCLUDED WITH YOUR APPLICATION AS NECESSARY.  By entering the B.C. Student Film Festival, you are declaring that the material in your production is either entirely original or, you obtained proper, legal permission to use someone else’s copyrighted material.

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  • For popular songs, with or without lyrics, originals or covers, you must submit copies of express written consent from both the publisher and the record company which state your name, the name of your production, the title of the song, the names of the composer, performer and publisher and any specific limitations on the use of the song.

  • Covers of songs require copyright clearance and/or a music license or written consent from the songwriters(s) and/or record companies and/or publishing companies.

  • Song covers that are parodies of the original are considered fair use and copyright information is not required for this contest.

  • If using royalty-free music, (a) music license(s) must be obtained and submitted with the film submission(s).

  • Poetry and other published written content: If reciting a published written work (that is not owned/written by you or the people in your production) in your film or submission, you must have written consent from the original writer/owner of the content to recite it in your film, or if that is not possible (ie. the poet is no longer living), you must sufficiently credit the original writer and title of the work in your submission. 

  • To use images from books, newspapers, television, videos, video games etc., you must have written permission – unless they are incidental to the shot (see below).

  • Material available on the internet is not considered to be in the public domain. Material is only in the public domain 70 years after the original creator of the song has passed away, and/or the copyright holder has explicitly given up all rights to the material.

  • The “Fair Use Clause” in copyright law applies only to very limited and specific uses; it does not apply to any material shown to the public in our festival.

  • Historic footage ie. footage from World War II must be checked thoroughly for the copyright holder. Check the video for a publishing company. This company will need to be contacted to obtain permission.

  • Visuals that are incidental to the shot are exempt from having to provide permissions.
    For Example: Branded clothing that people are wearing as a natural part of their everyday wardrobe, cars that appear in the shot, products that people use, images that people are watching on TV that are incidental to the shot.

 

THE USE OF ANY MATERIAL WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER IS ILLEGAL. PRODUCTIONS THAT HAVE NOT OBTAINED COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.

 

  • Documented proof indicating permission to use such materials must accompany your entry. This means copies of all letters of permission and/or music licenses. Documentation and permission documents must be uploaded to FilmFreeway under your Project File details (scroll down to "Files and Attachments). If you are having trouble with this method, you may also email music licenses and other documentation to bcstudentfilmfestival@gmail.com after you submit your film. 

  • If using copyright cleared music, original music, or “buy out library music”, please include a description of this on the entry form.

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