Submit a Film
Cinema Politica is a non-competitive, curated year-long festival of independent political cinema at several locations across Canada (for submissions to our international locals, please contact us). We showcase works that are Canadian, but screen innovative film and video from all over the world.
There are two ways to have works distributed and exhibited in the Cinema Politica Network, by acquisition or by submission.
Submission guidelines are as follows:
• Works must be independently produced, with the filmmaker retaining complete editorial control.
• Works must be in English, or with English subtitling if language is essential to the production
• Works may be from any genre including fiction, docudrama, documentary, hybrids, etc
• Works must be submitted in one of three length categories: 0-15min, 15-30, 30+min
Cinema Politica supports independent artists and distributors. For works we curate, we pay Public Performance License fees depending on the production's length and whether it will be screened once or throughout our Network, which brings your film to campus audiences across Canada reaching a potential market of nearly 400,000 students.
For our international locals in the USA, France and Romania, licensing is on a case-by-case basis.
Please note that there is no charge to submit your film and that shipping and handling must be paid by the shipper.
To Submit a film, please send a DVD (NTSC or Pal are both fine) screener to:
Cinema Politica Submissions
PO Box 55097 (Mackay)
Montreal, QC H3G 2W5
Deadlines for submissions are twice a year:
August 15 for the Fall Program and December 15 for the Winter Program.
Cinema Politica is not responsible for lost or damaged items sent to us, and we are not responsible for returning films shipped to us without a prior arrangement.
For more information contact: info (at) cinemapolitica (dot) org and write "Submission" in the heading. We look forward to seeing more political cinema!
NOTICE TO ALL FILMMAKERS/DISTRIBUTORS!
OK, you've made a film and it's a masterpiece, or you're distributing a masterpiece. In order for scores of adoring fans to realize that you've got a masterpiece on your hands, you sould know about a few simple steps to take to ensure you lend your film's promoter(s) a helping hand.
1. Make a trailer for your film. Upload your trailer to YouTube or somewhere that a promoter can access it from. Include the trailer on the film's DVD or send it separately to the promoter, so that she or he may show it in the venue where they screen films.
2. Provide easy access to hi-res film stills. It is next to impossible to promote a film that has no hi-res images associated with it. These are used for press, posters, the web and more. Putting photos on-line with easy access, ie: no special logins or codes, makes the promoters life that much easier and makes your film look that much better!
3. Build a website for your film. Even if it's simple and hideous to look at, having all the information relevant to your film in one electronic location is key. Be sure to have the synopsis, award information, credits, production notes, etc, in an easy-to-copy-and-paste format.
4. Ensure safe DVD delivery. The DVD itself is possibly the worst format ever invented for film, but we're stuck with it, so when sending your film in DVD be sure to: secure the disc properly (even if it means foam or sticky tape) inside the case, or send two copies in case one is damaged.
5. Provide a reliable contact. This is the final, perhaps most obvious point, but is often overlooked or not properly attended to. Make sure that the film has a reliable human being who answers phone calls and emails and who can help take care of the previous four problems should they arise.
That's it, you've just learned how to make promoting your film that much easier for people like us, thanks for reading!