1 ORGANISATION
The 25th edition of the Far East Film Festival is organised by Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche (C.E.C.), a cultural association financed by the Italian Government, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and the Comune di Udine. C.E.C. works to offer quality films throughout the year through the programming and management of two cinemas in the city of Udine. The Far East Film Festival is the most important of the various cultural and artistic projects handled by C.E.C.
The Festival is a non-profit cultural event.
La Cineteca del Friuli (FIAF member since 1989) is official partner of Far East Film Festival.
2 GOALS
- To encourage and develop the understanding and appreciation of Far-East and South-East Asian popular films amongst European and Italian audiences;
- To study and research the historical aspects of Asian filmmaking through retrospectives organised in collaboration with Asian film archives;
- To contribute to the commercial distribution of Asian films across European and Italian markets;
- To create a mutually beneficial exchange between Asian and European film professionals.
3 GENERAL INFORMATION
The main event will take place in person in Udine from 21st to 29th April 2023. The Festival will also present an online section.
In the case of the 25th edition of the Festival being cancelled by effect of law, decree or regulation by regional, national or international authorities due to force majeure or emergency situations (including, but not limited to, instances relating to the current COVID-19 pandemic), in-person screenings and events will be partially or wholly changed or cancelled, and all contractual obligations of the Festival will be rendered null and void.
Even if such a law, decree or regulation is not issued, the Far East Film Festival may cancel its 25th edition should the Festival consider it necessary or if circumstances require it.
In case of a situation of force majeure or emergency, the Far East Film Festival may vary its format to adapt to these circumstances, including adopting a more limited programme or a digital alternative.
In such cases, the festival undertakes to inform the representatives of the selected films and the participants in a timely fashion.
4 VENUES
4.1 Main venue
Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine; a modern facility (1,200 seats) on 3 floors with press room, hospitality office, bookshop and video room. It also hosts the film panel discussions, held every day during the Festival.
4.2 Additional venues
– the Visionario cinema; a renovated cultural centre managed by C.E.C., which includes a total of 5 screening rooms (one of which is equipped with an ATMOS audio system), for a total of 426 seats plus a café-bistrot, a restaurant and a media library.
– Cinema Centrale; located in the heart of the city, this historic cinema has two screens for a total of 317 seats.
4.3 Streaming platform
The online section of FEFF25 will be available on MYmovies, the Festival’s technical partner, which will make the authorised Festival contents available to the audience in either TVOD (transactional video on demand) or in SVOD (subscription video on demand) streaming. The streams may be geo-blocked on the basis of specific needs as agreed with the production and/or distribution companies. The files (video and .srt) will be deleted from MYmovies servers within 15 days of the end of the Festival.
MYmovies.it works to protect copyright and/or rights related to the works uploaded to the platform through the adoption of Hollywood Grade DRM Protection.
MYmovies is a company of GEDI Group S.P.A., one of the most important publishing groups in Italy, owned by Exor N.V. (FCA, Ferrari, Juventus, The Economist).
5 FESTIVAL SECTIONS
5.1 Competition section
The Festival Selection Committee selects films to be included in the Festival's programme, with the cooperation of local consultants in each Asian country, working in close contact with major film producers and distributors. The programme will be published in March 2023.
The awarded titles will be announced on stage in front of the audience during the Festival's closing ceremony.
The Festival Awards are:
- AUDIENCE MULBERRY AWARDS (Golden Mulberry, Silver Mulberry, Crystal Mulberry) to the three films that receive the highest number of votes from the Festival audience;
- WHITE MULBERRY AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT FILM, jury-assigned;
- BLACK DRAGON AWARD (Black Mulberry), critic’s choice award;
- PURPLE MULBERRY AWARD, voted by the users of website mymovies.it;
- BEST SCREENPLAY AWARD, jury-assigned.
During the Festival, the organisers also award the GOLDEN MULBERRY for Lifetime Achievement/Outstanding Achievement to important figures in Asian cinema.
The Mulberry tree, which originated in Asia but is also characteristic of Friuli's landscape, was chosen for its symbolic representation of the meeting point between two seemingly distant cultures. Furthermore, the cultivation of silkworms, whose diet consists almost exclusively of mulberry leaves, is a longstanding tradition both in Friuli and in Asia.
The awards were created by Idea Prototipi®, one of the leading metal manufacturing companies; a real-life tree from the Friulian countryside is scanned using a process called TiQu™ and transformed into a beautiful 3D model without the intervention in the process of human hands.
5.2 White Mulberry Award
An international jury will evaluate all debut films screened in the Competition section and award the best debut feature with the White Mulberry Award.
The Jury may also award a special mention.
5.3 Award for Best Screenplay
Established in 2022, the Best Screenplay Award is assigned by a special jury composed of members of the Premio Sergio Amidei (Gorizia, Italy).
5.4 Retrospective sections
Every year, Far East Film Festival focuses on a different historical aspect of Asian film production by presenting a retrospective programme curated by one or more experts in the field of interest. To celebrate these annual retrospectives, C.E.C. often publishes a monograph which aims to make up for the lack of information available in Europe and Italy on the rich history of Far Eastern cinema.
5.5 Out of Competition section
The films that the selection committee feel are of extreme value and importance but that do not meet the official Festival requirements of time, duration or release date, will be included in the Festival’s Out of Competition section.
6 Focus Asia
Launched in 2016, Focus Asia represents FEFF’s industry/market section, a venue where Asia and Europe, as well as any other parties who wish to take part, plan the cinema of the future. The idea is to create new connections during the films’ initial production phase, putting together high-quality projects and key players from the respective film industries.
From 26th to 28th April 2023 registered professionals can participate in a variety of activities: panel talks, one-to-one meetings, the All Genre Project Market dedicated to projects in development, and the exclusive Far East in Progress, addressing Asian films looking for international distribution and festival premiere. More recent initiatives are Get Ready for Cannes, where a fine selection of international sales agents have the opportunity to present their most recent line up to all Asian and European attending buyers; and the Second-Hand Film Market, designed to showcase a selection of restored hits from the recent past ready to be released in the near future.
The selection of the projects is handled by experts from the cinema industries of both continents.
More information about the submission process will be available in January 2023.
7 TIES THAT BIND
Along with the market-oriented section, since 2009 the FEFF industry programme includes TIES THAT BIND (TTB), an innovative workshop designed to assist 10 producers from Asia and Europe with Euro-Asian co-production feature film projects in development, to work under the guidance of top level experts from both continents. Among a wide range of issues the sessions focus on script development, co-production between Europe and Asia, financing in the two regions, marketing, distribution and sales, as well as legal aspects of co-production. Through their participation, selected participants become part of a unique professional network in Asia and Europe.
Ties That Bind will take place in Udine from 24th to 28th April 2023. It is organized by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund, EAVE, Udine Far East Film Festival and Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA), and supported by the Creative Europe - MEDIA program of the European Union and Aurora Media Holdings.
8 FEFF CAMPUS
Now in its 9th edition, FEFF Campus is a training project, dedicated to young, aspiring Asian and European journalists, organised as part of the Far East Film Festival. The project was born from the need to strengthen the link between the Festival, Asian cinema and the new generation of cinema lovers and film critics.
The participants – 5 Asians and 5 Europeans, all under 26 – join a programme that includes seminars, interviews and workshops focusing on “how to write about cinema”. The lessons and the meetings, all in English, will be organised under the supervision of a group of professionals of the audiovisual and communication industries led by veteran journalist Mathew Scott. The students will play an active role in the FEFF global community.
Requirements for candidates:
- Candidates must be between 18 and 26 years of age
- They must have an excellent command of both written and spoken English
- They must have citizenship or residency in a European or Asian country
- Passion for cinema and the desire to take part first-hand in the festival
- Access to a laptop
- Experience and knowledge of how to use video cameras
More information about the submission will be available on the site in January 2023.
9 FESTIVAL LANGUAGES
The Festival's official languages are Italian and English. Italian and English subtitles are provided during the screenings. The afternoon panel discussions, with the participation of our Asian special guests and artists, are entirely translated into both languages, and available through headphones.
10 FILM SUBMISSION
Please submit your film by sending us an email at fareastfilm@cecudine.org with general information about the title. To be eligible, films must be produced in or co-produced with Far-Eastern countries. An online screener with English subtitles is mandatory for us to assess the film. Due to the large number of submissions we will not always be able to give feedback to non-selected films.
The deadline for film submission is early March 2023.
10.1 Selection criteria
In order to participate in the competition section, all films must fulfil the following requirements (exceptions are made at the discretion of the organisers for special and motivated situations):
- Only feature films released after the 1st January 2022 will be accepted.
- Films must not have previously participated in other film festivals in Italy or Europe. Feature films making their world premieres will be favoured. In exceptional cases, the Selection Committee might take different situations into account and accept films that have already been presented in Europe.
11 TECHNICAL SUPPORTS AND ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
11.1 Technical support for physical screening
The film DCP must be unencrypted (with no KDM required) and include English subtitles. The screening copy must reach the office by 19th March 2023. More technical information will be provided upon selection confirmation.
11.2 Technical support for online screening
For online showings, the film must be received as a clean (without hard-coded subtitles) .mp4/.mov file. Further specifications will be provided upon selection confirmation. Files must be received by 19th March 2023.
11.3 Additional materials
The films invited to the Festival will receive an Official Invitation, Entry Form and Agreement Form to be completed, signed and returned. The invitation must remain confidential until the official announcement by the Festival organization.
In order to work on the Italian edition of the film, and on its promotion, the Festival must receive all additional materials – as specified by the festival upon selection confirmation – by 19th March 2023.
12 MATERIALS DELIVERY
All materials required for both physical and online screenings should be preferably sent by digital delivery (via Aspera or similar services) or, alternatively, by physical courier (further details to be shared upon selection confirmation).
12.1 Deadline for shipments
In order to prepare the technical services and translations of each selected work, all screening copies must arrive in Udine at the Festival offices no later than 19th March 2023.
12.2 Return of selected works
If the film is to be sent to a destination other than the original one after screening at FEFF25, the distributors/producers or sales agents are requested to provide the Festival with precise instructions by 30th April 2023. When no instructions are given, the organizers will return the film to the original sender. All films will be shipped to the addresses provided within two weeks after the end of the festival.
13 FESTIVAL SCREENINGS
All films will have a minimum of 1 official physical public screening during the event (unless otherwise agreed) at the time and date specified in the Festival schedule, and they will be shown in the original version as provided by the producer/distributor with English and Italian subtitles (the latter, produced by the Festival).
Subject to previous agreement with the rights holder, films may be included in the online section of the Festival.
The general schedule and screening times are the exclusive responsibility of the Festival Direction. Any final decisions and changes to the program will be made by the Selection Committee.
14 OFFICIAL LOGO
After the Festival has announced its official line-up, all producers and distributors guarantee that all forms of promotional material for the film (posters, press-kits, trailers, etc.) will bear the official FEFF25 logo.
Producers and distributors of films awarded at the festival will undertake to display the official logo of the award on their advertising material.
15 GUESTS
The Festival organisers reserve the right to invite special guests, including film directors, producers and actors, to participate in the Festival in relation to the promotion of the screenings.
15.1 Invited guests are expected to attend the following official events:
- A presentation of their film on stage before the screening (the guest will be welcomed on stage by a member of the selection committee and the presentation will last about ten minutes);
- A round of private interviews with international press and media;
- A panel discussion with press, media and the public in attendance.
All participants acknowledge the media partners’ right to cover the Far East Film Festival and to broadcast the materials recorded during the event on television and radio.
15.2 Invited VIP Guests will be provided with:
- up to 4 nights worth of accommodation in one of the city’s best hotels (at the discretion of Festival organisers);
- Transportation from and to the airport, as well as for all other travel needs while in Udine;
- Italian meals especially arranged for our guests in individually chosen restaurants and wineries;
- Dedicated assistants during official events
- Interpreters (in English or a specific Asian language) for all meetings, presentations, interviews and whenever necessary
Any specific requests will also be considered.
Participation of all films and guests in the Festival implies full and unreserved understanding of and compliance with all Festival regulations.
For further information please contact:
Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche – C.E.C./Far East Film Festival
via Villalta 24, 33100 Udine – Italy
Tel +39/0432/299545
www.fareastfilm.com
fareastfilm@cecudine.org