8th Mercy to Universe International Short Film Festival Regulation

• Aim

On NOVEMBER 26, 2022 the gala and awards night will be held by the “8th Mercy to the Universe International Short Film Festival” On behalf of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), make agenda of his life and the universal messages he brought, creating an awareness in the cinema sector and producing short films and to support people with this intention the short film festival was organized by the Fidan Art Foundation.

• Conditions of Participation

1. 1. Fiction, documentary or animation (animation) films can apply to the Short Film Festival. Works participating in the Short Film Festival will be evaluated in three different categories mentioned above. In order for the Short Film Festival to be held, a total of at least 15 works must be submitted. If this number is not reached, the festival will not take place.
   2. 35 mm and 16 mm films and productions shot with video technique or digital technology can participate in the short film festival.
   3. Films produced after January 1, 2020 can participate in the competition.
   4. All producers and directors from Turkey and abroad can participate in the festival. 
   5. Short Film Festival can be attended by productions whose duration does not exceed 17+3=20 minutes in the fiction and animation branches and in the documentary category of 13+2=15 minutes. The jury may be flexible in its time constraints if it deems necessary. Participants can apply to the festival with more than one work, but the application procedures for each work must be made separately. 
   6. To have participated in other national or international festivals/competitions before does not prevent you from participating in the 8th Mercy to Universe International Short Film Festival.
   7. Directors who have applied to the Mercy to Universe International Short Film Festival before cannot re-participate in the festival with the same works.   
   8. English subtitles for Turkish films, Turkish subtitles for English films, for films prepared in other languages, it is mandatory to add subtitles in both Turkish and English. 
   9. Applications for the Short Film Festival can be found on the festival website. From the https://filmfreeway.com/mercytouniverse  can be done until September, 23.
   10. Materials requested during Short Film Competition application:
       1. Download link and password of the final output of the movie in 1080p HD “.mp4”, “.mov”, “.avi” or “.mpg” format. 
       2. At least two photo from film. (300dpi, “.jpeg”, min.1920x1080p) 
       3. Director’s photo (300 dpi) and short resume, if any, awards and awarded works.
       4. Trailer of the film.
       5. Poster of the Film. 
       6. All the requested materials must be sent from web page. Otherwise the application will be considered incomplete.  
   11. Employees of the Fidan Art Foundation, festival organization institutions and the employees of the 8th Mercy to the Universe International Short Film Festival Organizing Committee and the first degree relatives of the employees cannot participate in the festival. 
   12. All the owners of production, which are disqualified or competitor, agree about not to ask for a fee.
   13. The owners of films are applied for the 8th Mercy to the Universe International Short Film Festival cannot withdraw their films from the festival after application deadline.
   14. Fidan Art Foundation and Mercy to Universe International Short Film Competition Organization Committee reserves the rights to change rules and to add new rules about this regulation. In this case, special to the competitors and in force majeure situations extra time shall be given to competitors. 
   15.  Fidan Art Foundation and the 8th Mercy to the Universe International Short Film Festival Organizing Committee reserve the right to exclude the short films / films from the festival even if the participants have accepted the relevant work in case of violation of the festival conditions or an equivalent reason or doubt.
   16. The film owners who passed the pre-selection and qualified to participate in the competition, within 3 days after the announcement of their names; 
       1. DcP copy of the film with English subtitles
       2. If the film was shot in a language other than Turkish, you can make a copy of dcp with Turkish and English subtitles
       3. 5 high resolution JPG photos from the film
       4. Two separate synopses of the film in Turkish and English, with a maximum of 50 words.
       5. Two separate synopses of the film, up to 50 words in Turkish and English
       6. Trailers and teasers of the movie to be used for promotional purposes 
       7. The director must submit his/her short biography, maximum 100 words in Turkish and English, to the festival management through a communication channel deemed appropriate by the festival management.

• SPECIFIC TERMS

1. 1. The films that will be kept in the festival archive at least 2 years after the Mercy to the Universe International Short Film Festival can be screened in the non-festival sections of national or international festivals and other appropriate cultural events.If the short films/films are finalists, the 8th Mercy to the Universe International Short Film Festival will grant permission for the work to be published on the website of Fidan Art Foundation at least 2 years after the application date, and that “trailers of films” may be published before the gala and award ceremony The materials (trailers, posters, frames from the film, promotional images and videos) to be sent with the application have the right to use on the festival’s official website, social media, multimedia area, festival catalog, promotional brochures, posters and billboards. The finalist accepts, declares and undertakes that he will allow the works of the award selection to be published on the “www.alemlererahmetfilm.com” site 2 years after participating in the festival, and that he will not charge any fees for this use and under any name at any time. When films are desired to be broadcast by television and other digital platforms and broadcast channels in the country or abroad after the festival, Fidan Art Foundation will be able to publish after receiving a consent letter from the producer via e-mail.
   2. The applicant of the film is the owner of the work. In case of being a finalist, a plaque and award/awards will be presented to the applicant. Therefore, the accuracy of the information specified during the application belongs to the person who signed the text. The legal responsibility that may arise due to the information provided during the application belongs to the signatories. 
   3. The owners of the works applying for the festival will be deemed to have received all copyrights related to their films (sound, music, images, etc.).
   4. The Participant/Participants undertake that they are the owner of all intellectual property rights on the work and that they have all necessary rights regarding the presentation of this work and the transfer of intellectual property rights related to the work.
      1. They are the owners of the material and moral rights (original and transfer) known as the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK) No. 5846 on the work of which they are the producer/director,
      2. They have all necessary rights regarding the presentation of the work and the transfer of intellectual property rights related to the work,
      3. They do not violate the intellectual property rights (copyright, patent, trademark, etc.) of any third party,
      4. They do not violate or defile the privacy rights and publicity of a person who is alive/not,
      5. The content is primarily not contrary to the Turkish Penal Code, Law No. 5651 and other applicable legislation.
      6. It undertakes and confirms that there is no infringement of the personal or property rights of natural and legal person/persons.
   5. Since the participant accepts and undertakes that the copyright of the work applied to the festival belongs to him, any element that may arise later in the copyright issue that may constitute a crime or require a claim for compensation, shall be submitted to the 8th Mercy to the Universe International Short Film Festival Organizing Committee and Fidan Art Foundation will not impose any responsibility.In case of violation of copyright or other intellectual property rights or any violation of law, the work is banned from the festival.If this determination is made after the festival, the award will be withdrawn even if the author has been awarded.For this reason, in the event of a lawsuit being filed against the Fidan Art Foundation, any damages that may arise will be covered by the participant. In addition, if the participant’s violation is proven with a final court decision, he accepts and undertakes to pay a penalty of 100.000 TL (Turkish Lira).
   6. Films that qualify for the competition after being evaluated by the selected committee are announced on the festival’s official website and through the media.The owners of the films not selected for the competition will not be informed through any communication.
   7. Participation dates will be announced by the festival management. 
   8. The films are presented to the Main Jury and the audience in the halls deemed appropriate by the festival management and according to the program.The jury can watch the films together with the audience or in a special screening hall. During the screenings, he cannot request a change of hall, session or program to the festival management or the hall attendant.
   9. The festival management reserves the right to cancel the screening, competition and other event programs if the screenings cannot be held in the movie theaters due to force majeure. IN CASE OF THE CANCELLATION OF THE EVENT AND SCREENINGS, the rights that may arise from the applications cannot be transferred to the next years.
   10. IN CASE THE SCREENINGS ARE PROHIBITED DUE TO THE PANDEMIC AND SIMILAR RESTRICTIONS, they approve the screening of their films on the festival’s online platform, by confirming the consent letter to be sent to them via e-mail, and they approve the screening of their works in the non-competition selection.

• JURY AND PRIZES

1. 1. The evaluation of the films will be carried out in two stages as pre-selection and determining the winners.Documentaries, short films and animations will be included in the screening program as a result of the evaluation of the Main Jury. Those who are not eligible for participation will not be taken into consideration.
   2. The Main Jury of the 8th Mercy to the Universe International Short Film Festival will award a total of 8 works, 3 for the best work and 2 for the special, in 2 separate sections, national and international.
   3. The award winners are also given the 8th Mercy to the Realms International Short Film Festival award statuette and money awards;

National Best Short Film Prize: 35.000 TL

National Best Documentary Prize: 25.000 TL

National Best Animation Prize: 15.000 TL

International Best Short Film Prize: 35.000 TL

International Best Documentary Prize: 25.000 TL

International Best Animation Prize: 15.000 TL

1. Prizes can be shared between works. If there are no works worthy of degrees, the Jury may not award a prize.  
2. No type or number of awards not specified in this regulation can be awarded.
3. The director of the award-winning film or a person representing the film must be present at the award ceremony. The unrepresentative film receives the award statuette, but forfeits the prize money. Fidan Art Foundation will invite representatives of at least 3 and at most 5 works from each category, which received the highest votes by the Main Jury, to the award ceremony. The transportation and 3-night hotel accommodation expenses of a representative (director or a member of the team) who will come from outside the city or the country (will be clarified 20 days before the award ceremony, later requests will not be considered.) will be covered by the festival organization committee. 
4. Prize money winners are paid by the festival organization committee, at the latest, within 1 month after the Gala and award night.

1. The decision authority on matters not specified in this regulation belongs to the 8th Mercy to the Worlds International Short Film Festival Organizing Committee. The legal owners of the films participating in the festival are deemed to have accepted these rules.

1. It is the responsibility of the legal owner of the applicant film to inform the people who contributed to the production of this regulation.  It is the responsibility of the legal owner of the applicant film to inform the people who contributed to the production of this regulation. 8.Mercy to the Universe International Short Film Festival Organizing Committee reserves the right to make any changes in the specifications.
2. A copy of the DCP screening of the award-winning films is taken to the festival archive. The festival management may perform cultural screenings of films, provided that they obtain permission from the producers. Images from the aforementioned films can be used in the festival promotional film and documentary, not exceeding 1 minute.

Applying https://filmfreeway.com/mercytouniverse  means you have read and accepted this specification