FAQ

Q. How to submit?

A. For the MICFF-2020, we are only accepting submissions on FilmFreeway. If you are new to FilmFreeway, your first step will be to create an account and then to create a “project” for your submission. Please refer to the following page for more information on how to create a project and submit to festivals: https://filmfreeway.com/help.

Q. What are the festival competition categories?

A.The Mumbai International Cult Film Festival is comprised of 5 main competition categories, all of which are listed below.

Best Short Film (Max 45 Minutes)
Best International Shot
Best Film on Women (Max 30 Minutes)
Best Student Short (Max 30 Minutes)
Best Lock-down Short (Max 15 Minutes)
Best Documentary Short (Max 30 Minutes)
Best International Shot

Q. Awards ?

A. TOP 5 Officially Nominated Films from each 5 Categories will compete for following Awards on 5th Dec'2020 at MICFF INDIA Live Screening.

Best Short Film
Best Film on Women
Best Student Short Film
Best Documentary Short Film
Best Lock-down Short film
Best Director
Best Script
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Sound Designer
Best Actor in lead role
Best Actress in lead role
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Child Actor

* Besides the BEST of the category AWARDS, there are also 2ND BEST FILM AWARD & 'SPECIAL JURY MENTION', for TOP 5 above mentioned categories.

*Student Film: This category is for only student filmmakers thus, the film must be made entirely by students. Evidence of a student card and an email confirmation from a head of department is a must.

Q. Running time for Short Film?

A. The total runtime of the Short Film, including opening & closing credits, should strictly be a minimum of 3 minutes and a maximum of 45 minutes.

Q.Running time for Documentary film?

A. The total runtime of the Documentary Short, including opening & closing credits, should strictly be a minimum of 30 minutes.

Q. Running time for film on women?

A. The total runtime of Film on Women, including opening & closing credits, should strictly be a maximum of 120 minutes.

*Please do not email us your films. We cannot consider any project that has not been officially submitted through FilmFreeway.

*We strongly suggest that you have a permanent member of the crew to submit (preferably the director or a producer). Please use an email address/phone number that is checked regularly in case we need to get in touch with you throughout the submission process. If there is an issue with your submission and we are unable to get in touch with anyone by our final submission deadline, we will be forced to disqualify your submission (without refund of submission fees).

Q. I submitted Last Year and wasn't accepted. Can I resubmit?
A. Yes, as long as your submission is still within our eligibility window (completed after January 1, 2019). However, we recommend doing so only if the current version being submitted is a radically different cut or if the previous submission was a work in progress with lots to be done. BUT, full disclosure, it’s been rare that a resubmitted film has been accepted the next year. If you do resubmit, please note that the film is a resubmission and what changes were made between the different cuts.

Q. How do I kow you received my submission?
A. In your FilmFreeway account, under the “Submissions” tab, you can locate your submission to our festival. As long as the Submission Status is listed as “In Consideration”, your film has satisfied all of our requirements and is ready to be reviewed by our screeners and programmers.

Films that are listed “Incomplete” at the time you submit are most likely missing a screener. Please check your submission again to ensure that your screener was uploaded properly.

If we discover an issue with your submission during the submissions process (i.e. screener was deleted, password was changed, is missing audio or subtitles etc.) we will reach out to the submitter to correct the problem. At this point, we will also update the status of the film to “Incomplete”. If at any point your film is listed Incomplete and you did not receive an email disclosing the reason, please reach out to us at info@micffindia.com

Q. Do you accept online screeners? Can I send an outside Link?
A. YES. We have now transitioned to only accept online screeners, we can no longer accept submissions on DVD or Blu-Ray. Please do not send DVDs or Blu-Rays to our office, they will be recycled.

Our preference for online screeners are password-protected Vimeo links or films uploaded directly to FilmFreeway. The submitter is responsible for ensuring that their screener link and password is active through at least Dec, 2020. In the event of a password or screener URL change after submitting, email us immediately. If we discover an error with the screener, we will attempt to email the submission contact for an update. Failure to respond by the final submission deadline will result in disqualification without refund of submission fees.

Q. Do you accept rough cuts/works-in-progress?
A. Yes. Just be sure to mark the submission as a rough cut/work-in-progress/WIP both in your cover letter and in the screener file itself. Please note which elements are incomplete (ex: color correction, score, missing shots, etc.) We see incomplete versions of films all of the time, and our programming staff is very adept at using our imagination. Just keep in mind that if you are accepted you’ll need to be prepared to deliver the final cut to us by October 30, 2020.

Q. Can we send updated versions of the film?
A. Yes. However, please adhere to the following guidelines:

Any updates must be made directly to the online screener attached to your submission. For example, if you have a Vimeo link attached to your FilmFreeway account, any updates to your Vimeo link or FilmFreeway screener should be updated on our end as well. We cannot accept updated versions via email.
MICFF is only responsible for considering the project as it exists at the time of review. We are under no obligation to revisit updated cuts once a screener has been seen, so be sure that the submitted cut is a fair representation of the final piece.
No updated cuts will be accepted after the final deadline: October 30, 2019.

Q. How many films can I submit?
A. You can submit as many projects as you would like as long as they are all eligible to screen at the MICFF 2020. However, you must pay a separate submission fee for each category.

Q. When will filmmakers be notified of the final decisions for the MICFF-2020?
A. Final notifications are scheduled to take place no later than end of day on November 15, 2020. Some filmmakers may receive notification sooner than this but if you haven't heard from us yet, you're still in the running.

Q. How will we be notified?
A. Accepted films will receive an invitation letter by email. Films that are not accepted to screen will also be notified by email by the notification deadline. Please make sure the email address associated with your submission remains active throughout the submission process. Your status of Accepted/Not Accepted will also be reflected in FilmFreeway under “Submissions” by the end of day on November 15 2020.

*Notification dates are subject to change, please check the festival website every few weeks for updates. We strive to notify all submitters via email when a change will be made.

Q. How many films are put in competitions?
A. Our panel of judges will shortlist nominees of each category for the Official Selection. Acceptance to the festival does not guarantee placement in competition. The selected few from the Official Selection will be screened to a live audience at the auditorium.

*Films placed in competition are chosen solely at the discretion of the Jury Panel. Top 25 Finalists from the Official Selection will be screened to a live audience at the Theatre and will compete with each other for MICFF INDIA - 2020 Awards.

Q. Do you prefer films with stars?
A. No. We prefer great and interesting stories. If a star happens to show up in a really great film, cool. But it’s not a requirement.