1.1 AIMS AND PURPOSES

VISIONI FANTASTICHE (Fantastic Visions) is a film festival addressed to schools of all types and levels focusing on fantastic cinema and all its declinations, ranging from sci-fi to fairy-tale, mystery, adventure, fantasy, using specific languages depending on targeted ages. As specified by Plan MiBAC – MIUR, the purpose of VISIONI FANTASTICHE is to contribute contrasting iconic illiteracy through a Festival project where the educational, formative and spectacular elements find their point of conjuction.

1.2 PROMOTERS

VISIONI FANTASTICHE is organised by Start Cinema and is part of the initiatives realised under the National Plan of Cinema for School promoted by MiBAC and MIUR.

1.3 VENUE, LOCATION AND DATES
The Festival will be held in Ravenna on 17 and 24 October and from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 November 2020
Organisational unit:
Visioni Fantastiche
Via Canala 43
48123 Ravenna, Italy
www.visionifantasticheprimeedizioni.it
info@visionifantasticheprimeedizioni.it

1.4 SECTIONS
The Festival comprises the sections listed below:
– International Competitions for Short and Feature Films
– Special events and projects
– Meetings

1.5 ADMITTED CATEGORIES International Competitions, divided into five categories clustered by age groups, conceive and accept short and feature films, welcoming fiction and animation works, with a greater concentration of shorts, mainly animated, for the Competitions intended for younger students and, as age increases, longer durations and a greater variety of genres, being always attributable to fantastic genre and all its declinations.

International Short Film Competition 6+: it includes programming of short films of a maximum duration of 15 minutes, mostly animated, with very simple dialogues or no dialogues at all. In the event that films are screened in their original languages, they can be understood with the help of an actor dubbing live with a voice over system. What type of films will be presented? Protagonists of these stories are of the same age of the jurors, making immedesimation process and engagement in narrated stories easier. Different genres are proposed, comprising fantasy, adventure, fairy tale and sci-fi. These films often revolve around family conflicts, complex relationships with peers, how children look at adult world, small and big adventures that test kids’ ability to move autonomously in everyday life and to intervene on reality.

International Short Film Competition 9+: it includes programming of short films of a maximum duration of 15 minutes. Films are in Italian or without dialogues. In the event that films are screened in their original languages, they can be understood with the help of an actor dubbing live with a voice over system. What type of films will be presented? Films selected for these students try to show common difficulties faced in this peculiar moment in life, using the language of fantastic cinema. Common realities interfacing at different cultural and social levels show how young people deal with the same problems, have the same interests and the same feelings. Potential subjects faced in this section are therefore infinite. Relationships with peers, the way different cultures address such a complex period, rites of passage establishing the coming into adulthood, various interests nutured from youngsters. How to grow up in today’s world and how directors succeed in analysing future generations? Our objective is to show the side, sometimes comic and sometimes dramatic, of individual growth, kwowing from the beginning that there are no univocal answers.

International Short Film Competition 12+: it comprises programming of short films of a maximum duration of 30 minutes. Despite having a consistent presence of animated short films, this section begins to show longer durations and a greater presence of fiction films. Films are in Italian or without dialogues or, if screened in their original languages, subtitled in Italian. What type of films will be presented? The 12+ film programme does not address predetermined themes, proposing the best of world production of fantastic cinema dedicated to young viewers. Our goal is to present stories capable of satisfying every type of audience, which are those stories that touch our deepest feelings. These films represent the realisation of a project dedicated to the complex coming-of-age period where individuals cannot consider themselves either kids or adults. Each film survives in the viewers’s memory until its magic endures in the words of those who enjoyed it, even long after the screen light fades in the dark.

International Short Film Competition 16+: this section comprises short films of a maximum duration of 30 minutes. Films are in Italian or without dialogues or, if screened in their original languages, subtitled in Italian. What type of films will be presented? These are articulate and brave films, hard to categorise. Stories proposed in section 16+, always implying the fantastic or magic element, are selected as they face themes of particular generational interest. Here languages and distances cease to exist. Looks blend into world views, just as different as they are complementary, producing infinite dialectical exchanges, emerging during the film analysis or during the conversations with the authors. Section 16+ gives the opportunity to overcome narrow cultural borders and to appreciate diversity. Countless versions and visions of the same form arise in the films, whose protagonists young viewers can identify with, while learning how to relate to them through Visioni Fantastiche’s debates. Their imagination can therefore spread out and tie the facets of realities surrounding them together in a single perception. If truth relies in the eye of the beholder, at Visioni Fantastiche the viewers universe never crystallises, but it expands and transforms, becoming more and more immersive and open to new forms of diversity.

International Feature Film Competition 18+: it includes programming of feature films of a maximum duration of 150 minutes, addressed to students attending last year of high school and universities. Films are in Italian or without dialogues or, if screened in their original languages, subtitled in Italian and English. What type of films will be screened? It is the most composite Festival section as proposed films and dealt themes are more mature and deeper. These films fully reflect psychological richness so that even the fantastic, allegoric and science fiction element further develops becoming more elaborate. The look adopted by these films is disenchanted as it tries to investigate unstable relationships between different generations composing today’s families. This section offers therefore food for thought and confrontation opportunities to young jurors. Mothers and fathers, facing the challenge of being parents and mentors, try to raise children that are almost in full possession of their psycho-physical attitudes, whereas young adults feel more and more overwhelmed by contemporary world with all responsibilities and powers determined by their choices. This dialogue, often undertaken, often interrupted, represents one of the core themes of section 18+.

1.5.1 Important: If submitters want to specify a specific age group to which their films are addressed among the ones corresponding to the International Competitions, we invite them to let us know directly through the submitting platform or via email at info@visionifantasticheprimeedizioni.it. Please notice: Independently from the film submission made by the director, producer or copyright holder, the final allocation to one of the five categories of the International Competitions will be decided by the Festival Direction.

2.1 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS

VISIONI FANTASTICHE is a film festival screening short and feature films focusing on fantastic cinema and all its declinations through international competitions, retrospectives, special events, meetings, forums, workshops, readings. Being by now outdated the traditional division among pre, primary, middle and high schools, and adopting the guidelines of festivals that have been working with schools for many years, the International Competition will be divided into five sections, whose films will be selected through the double channel of public call and films invited by the Festival Direction. Short and feature length films from all nations, either fiction or animation, completed after 20/06/2019, that explore fantastic cinema in its broadest sense and are addressed to an audience of young viewers aged between 6 and 19 years, highly educational and that effectively encourage both stylistic and thematic renewal of cinema, may participate in International Competitions for Short and Feature Films.

2.2 Submissions to the Competitions must be sent via platform, accordingly to what is specified in point 3.1 of this Regulation. Directors who wish to participate in the competition need to provide the Festival with a film online screening by July 31st 2020. Movies specifically invited by the Direction may participate in the Competition. Participation in the Festival can be denied to movies unable to ensure high quality public screening.

2.3 Short films should not be longer than 30 minutes and feature films should have a duration of at least 70 minutes. This is a general rule: exceptions can be considered according to the unquestionable judgment of Festival’s Direction.

3.1 REGISTRATION OF FEATURE FILMS

Registration of feature films is free of charge. Registration can be done solely through the following platforms by July 31st 2020:

FILM FREEWAY: https://filmfreeway.com/VisioniFantastiche
FESTHOME: https://festhome.com/festival/4622

3.2 REGISTRATION OF SHORT FILMS

Registration of short films includes the payment of 10,00€ (or 12$) for each film to be done at the moment of registration and can be done solely through the following platforms by July 31st 2020:

FILM FREEWAY: https://filmfreeway.com/VisioniFantastiche
FESTHOME: https://festhome.com/festival/4622
SHORTFILMDEPOT: https://www.shortfilmdepot.com/

Special fee for multiple submissions: 10€/4 short films. In the event of multiple submissions from the same film school/institution, the special fee of 10€ every 4 short films will be applied. If submission exceed 20 units, the submission fee will be counted case by case, while never exceeding 2 € per short film. In order to get this discount, please contact us at info@visionifantasticheprimeedizioni.it.

3.3 AWARDS AND JURIES
As mentioned at point 1.5 of this Regulation, Festival Juries are an integral part of the Festival itself.
Jury Competition 6+: it will be composed of no more than 270 students who will assign an award voting through voting cards.
Jury Competition 9+: it will be composed of no more than 270 students who will assign an award voting through voting cards.
Jury Competition 12+: it will be composed of no more than 270 students who will assign an award voting through voting cards.
Jury Competition 16+: it will be composed of no more than 270 students who will assign an award voting through voting cards.
Jury Competition 18+: it will be composed of no more than 270 students who will assign an award voting through voting cards.

3.4 FEATURE FILM COMPETITION AWARD

Feature Film Award: It consists of a cash prize of € 1.000,00 that will be assigned to the feature film that has received the highest vote within the ones presented in International Feature Film Competition 18+.

3.5 SHORT FILM COMPETITION AWARD

Short Film Competition Award: It consists of a cash prize of € 1.000,00 that will be assigned to the short film that has received the highest vote among all the International Short Film Competition categories.

Any other award raffled off by Institutions or Sponsors shall be assigned according to the rules established by their respective patrons.

All decisions of the jury are final.

4.1 Screening schedule shall be defined by Festival Organisers. Films are going to be screened several times in various theatres, depending on the needs.

4.2 Foreign movies shall be presented in their original versions with Italian subtitles. As for movies spoken in a language other than English, the copy provided to the Festival must be English-subtitled.

4.3 Allowed screening formats are streaming DCP, file Apple ProRes or H264; other formats are possible and shall be agreed in advance with the Administration

5.1 The Festival Direction will contact authors admitted to the selection of all International Competitions by September 4th 2020.

5.2 In order to enable the drafting of the Festival’s General Catalogue and to implement promotional initiatives, authors of selected films shall send Visioni Fantastiche by September 11th 2020 the material listed below (if they have not already sent it):
– link to the film official website, trailer and social networks
– complete technical and artistic specifications;
– detailed synopsis;
– brief synopsis in English (max. 500 characters);
– complete biography and filmography of the author;
– various stills in high definition (whose free publication has been authorised) that are going to be inserted in the Festival’s Catalogue and made available to the press;
– 1 photograph of the director in high definition;
– posters, advertisements and any other promotional material.
The above documents shall be sent to: comunicazionestartcinema@gmail.com

5.3 In connection with promotional purposes related to the Festival and at its discretion, Visioni Fantastiche reserves the right to disseminate trailers (max. 5 min.) of selected works on TV channels (including satellite ones) and over the Internet, on both Festival’s official website and connected platforms (Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram).

5.4 The film will be made available in the Festival Videolibrary, during the Festival days, for the exclusive use of the press, jurors and film professionals.

5.5 Unless otherwise agreed with the copyright holders, Visioni Fantastiche may organize further film presentations, arranging other promotional cultural events in other Italian cities

5.6 The Festival wishes to thank all authors, producers and distributors of selected movies by Visioni Fantastiche who are going to insert the Festival’s logotype in the opening credits of their works and in any promotional material.

6.1 Film copies shall be delivered by October 5th 2020, and shall remain at the disposal of the Festival until November 16th 2020. In exceptional circumstances and for well-founded reasons, the submission deadline can be extended.

6.2 2 By the above-mentioned deadline, DCP with English subtitles + downloadable screener with English subtitles (necessary for Italian subtitle preparation) + dialogue list with time codes must be sent to the Festival.

6.3 Transportation costs of film copies will be charged to Visioni Fantastiche. The sender shall comply with the instructions provided by the Festival and shall provide the Organisers with information about modalities and date of dispatch, consignment note number or airliner and Airway Bill (AWB) number. Copies of correct transport documents and pro forma invoice shall also be sent by fax or email (for dispatches subjected to custom control).

6.4 Visioni Fantastiche shall not cover costs of reshipment if the material has to be forwarded to another Festival or event or destination other than the original one at a higher dispatch cost than the one covered by the shipment to Visioni Fantastiche.

6.5 Copies shall be reshipped within two weeks after the end of the Festival. If the film has to be sent to another address, the latter shall be stated in the Registration Form or by fax or email, specifying the date by which the film must be delivered.

6.6 Visioni Fantastiche shall be liable for the copies from the moment they are delivered to its offices until they are reshipped. In case of damages to or loss of the copy, the Festival’s liability shall anyhow be limited to the value of the cost of the copy as established by rates in force in Italy.

7.1 Directors of films selected in the section connected to the Feature Film Competition shall be invited to participate in the Festival and shall be hosted in Ravenna for a maximum period of 3 days (2 nights with breakfast included). The invitation issued to the Director is strictly personal.

7.2 Directors of films selected in the section connected to the Short/Medium Length Film Competition shall be invited to participate in the Festival and shall be hosted in Ravenna for a maximum period of 2 days (1 night with breakfast included). The invitation issued to the Director is strictly personal.

By participating in the competition, authors authorize processing of personal data (law 675/96) contained in their works and complementary material; they authorize storage of presented works at the premises of the event organiser that commit to catalog and make them available for all screenings, events and communications promoted by the same organiser, or in collaboration with other festivals, for cultural and non commercial purposes (unless otherwise specified at the moment of submission). Participation in the competition implies the integral acceptance of the exposed conditions.

This Regulation has been drafted in both Italian and English. In case of divergent interpretations, Italian version shall apply. Accepting the invitation to participate in Visioni Fantastiche implies the unconditional acceptance of this Regulation. All issues that are not mentioned in this Regulation shall fall within the competence of Visioni Fantastiche’s Board of Directors. Ravenna Law Courts shall be the competent authority for any potential controversy.