SUBMISSIONS for the 81st Venice International Film Festival are official open!
The 81st Venice International Film Festival is organised by La Biennale di Venezia and will be held on the Lido di Venezia from 28 August to 7 September 2024.
The Festival is officially recognised by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Association).
The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote international cinema in all its forms as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue. One section is devoted to enhance the restoration works on classic films as a contribution towards a better understanding of the history of cinema.
Important info about Venice Immersive
The section is entirely devoted to immersive media and includes all XR means of creative expression.
It will be held in presence on the Lazzaretto Vecchio Island (Venice Immersive Island), and will present in competition a maximum of 30 immersive projects as world-premieres or international premieres. 360 videos, 3 DOF and 6 DOF interactive XR works, of any length, including installations and virtual worlds are eligible.
A maximum of 10 projects will be presented Out of Competition in the section “Best of Immersive” by invitation of the Direction only, chosen among the best works that have been released or premiered elsewhere since the last edition of the Venice International Film Festival. The “Best of Immersive” section will also include, Out of Competition and upon invitation only, a Worlds Gallery of online social virtual reality worlds created since the last edition of the Festival. The works of the teams participating in the seventh edition of the Biennale College Cinema-VR will be also presented as part of the official selection.
*Please read the Rules and Regulations on official Page Biennale Cinema 2024 | Regulations (labiennale.org)
To submit an immersive project you must:
- comply with the Mostra regulations and pre-selection conditions
- fill in the online pre-entry form by May 15th 2024
- pay an entry fee of 200 Euro (including VAT) till April 30th
- late registration 250 Euro (including VAT) from May 1st
- upload your immersive project on our online repository by May 15th 2024
The Venice International Film Festival is under no obligation to return the works submitted for selection, unless they arrive with prepaid return packaging via courier. Any returns must be requested no later than 30 September 2023. The work-in-progress materials and works for which no return has been requested, may be transferred to the Historical Archives of Contemporary Arts of La Biennale di Venezia for exclusive purposes of documentation and research. They will not be used for commercial purposes, in order to protect the interests of the filmmakers and the producers.
Submission Steps:
- The submission form is divided into two parts (1. Immersive Project – 2. Main Creator/s).
- After filling out part 1., you will receive a link by email to modify the submitted data if you need (if you don’t, you can go on filling out part 2.).
- After filling out part 2., it will be no longer possible to amend the data.
- You will receive an email with the paycode and a link to pay the entry fee.
- After the payment, you will receive an email with instructions to send the project and its technical details.
For any information please refer to the VIFF Regulations and the Submission FAQ.
JURY AND AWARDS
JURIES AND AWARDS FOR VENICE IMMERSIVE
An international Jury, composed of 3 figures of the creative world from different countries, excluding anyone involved in any way in the creation of the works invited or who have any interest in their distribution, will award the following prizes:
· Venice Immersive Grand Prize
· Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize
· Venice Immersive Achievement Prize
No joint awards will be allowed.
The producers and distributors of the films and immersive projects officially invited pledge to display a notice with the Biennale logo and of the prize won, if any, when any of these works are commercially released.
WHO ARE ELIGIBLE
Only films presented as world premieres that meet the following criteria are eligible for selection:
· Films that were completed from 11 September 2022;
· Films that have not had any form of commercial distribution or exhibition on the Internet;
· Films that neither have been previously screened to the public and/or the press, nor have been presented at any other International film festival or cinematographic event, including those in the country of origin.
More info you can find on official page
To submit to the festival please visit Official Page of Festival https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2023/submitting-film
The 81 Venice International Film Festival it composed of the following sections:
Only films presented as world premieres that meet the following criteria are eligible for selection:
- Films that were completed from 10 September 2023;
- Films that have not had any form of commercial distribution or exhibition on the Internet;
- Films that neither have been previously screened to the public and/ or the press, nor have been presented at any other International film festival or cinematographic event, including those in the country of origin
– International Competition
21 feature-length films presented as world premiere.
– Out of Competition
Some of the most important works of the year will be presented in the non-competing section, for a maximum of 20 films; to these will be added the films produced within the Biennale College-Cinema program.
– Orizzonti
An international competition reserved for a maximum of 19 films, dedicated to films that represent the latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema, with special attention to debut films, young or not yet firmly established talents, indie features and lesser-known cinema. The Orizzonti section features a selection of competing short films lasting a maximum of 20 minutes, selected on the basis of criteria such as quality and originality of language and expression, called Orizzonti Corti.
– Orizzonti Extra
The section features a selection of up to 10 works of different genres, lengths and targets (provided their length is more than 60 minutes), with a particular attention to works that address specific genres and current production, with the aim of innovating and demonstrating creative originality in the relationship with the public they are meant for.
– Venice Classics
This section features the world premiere screenings of a selection of the finest restorations of classic films carried out over the past year by film libraries, cultural institutions and productions around the world, committed to the preservation and cultivation of the cinematographic heritage and the rediscovery of neglected or undervalued works of the past, for a maximum of 18 titles.
– Venice Immersive
The section is entirely devoted to immersive media and includes all XR means of creative expression. It will be held in presence on the Lazzaretto Vecchio Island (Venice Immersive Island), and will present in competition a maximum of 30 immersive projects as world-premieres or international premieres.
GENERAL Deadline
Feature Films (LINK)
–Deadline 13 June
Short Films (LINK)
-Deadline 31 May
Immersive Projects (LINK)
–Deadline 15 May
Entry fees:
€ 80 for short films
€ 100 for short films that finalize the submission from 1 May
€ 200 for feature films and immersive projects
€ 250 for immersive projects that finalize the submission from 1 May and feature films that finalize the submission from 1 June
VENICE PRODUCTION BRIDGE
The Venice Production Bridge (29 August – 3 September 2024) is the film market organized as part of the Venice Film Festival and dedicated to the presentation of unreleased projects or works-in-progress, to advance their development and production.
The Venice Production Bridge offers film industry professionals the following events: the Book Adaptation Rights Market, one-on-one meetings between selected editors/literary agents and producers interested in film adaptations of their catalogue; the Venice Gap-Financing Market, dedicated to a selection of feature-length films and immersive projects that seek to complete their financing in one-on-one meetings with international professionals; Final Cut in Venice, a workshop in which the working copies of the selected films will be proposed to film industry professionals for post-production and to promote their access to the market; Meet the streamers, dedicated to SVOD/VOD platforms; the Venice Immersive Market, addressed to the XR/VR/AR market; the European Film Forum, an event organized with the Creative Europe MEDIA programme of the European Union.
The Venice Production Bridge will also give continuity to the previously developed services: Market Screening, Digital Video Library, an exhibition area, Industry Gold Club, Business Centre, and a series of international panels and events.
Any other information regarding the works submitted for selection must be sent exclusively in electronic format to the following addresses: selection@labiennale.org (feature length films). orizzonti@labiennale. org (short films), veniceimmersive@labiennale.org (immersive projects)
The Venice International Film Festival was one of the first film festivals in the world to demonstrate interest in Virtual Reality. The development of a VR Theatre in 2016 sparked enormous interest among the participants of the Venice Production Bridge.
Starting in 2017, La Biennale di Venezia launched the first competition for works in Virtual Reality in an A-list festival, which was held for three editions, through 2019, in a venue on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio on the Lido, judged by an International Jury.
ABOUT 127 YEARS OF VENICE BIENNALE
The Venice Biennale has been for over 120 years one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Established in 1895, the Biennale has an attendance today of over 500,000 visitors at the Art Exhibition. La Biennale di Venezia was founded in 1895 and is now one of the most famous and prestigious cultural organizations in the world. La Biennale, who stands at the forefront of research and promotion of new contemporary art trends, organizes exhibitions and research in all its specific departments: Arts (1895), Architecture (1980), Cinema (1932), Dance (1999), Music (1930), and Theatre (1934). Its history is documented at the Historical Archives of Contemporary Arts (ASAC) that has been completely renovated in recent years
