October 17th – 19th 2024
The Children’s International Film Festival of Wales 2024 Information, Rules and Terms of Entry
1. Organisation
The Film Festival is an annual, competitive, International film festival presented by Cymru Creations Film & Media, a charity registered in England and Wales (No.1185869) and the trading name of Creations of Cymru Film and Media, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (No.10495290) which dedicated to supporting community beneficial projects.
2. Mission
The Children’s Film Festival promotes the amazing creative work made by children, and children’s films made by professional filmmakers. We aim to share their work on an International level, and provide viewings and prizes for the best work per category.
We provide opportunities for diverse communities to connect with, and celebrate, powerful images of their own communities and cultures, and the best in age-appropriate, visual storytelling for young people.
3. Entry
Submit a film to our Film Freeway platform. Entry fees for our festival are kept low compared to most other festivals to encourage children from all backgrounds to submit their work.
Step 1: Create an account at www.filmfreeway.com
Step 2 : Create a project page & upload your finished film.
Step 3: In the film festival section, search for the ‘Children’s International Film Festival of Wales’
Step 4: Click on the ‘Submit Now’ button.
4. Eligible Films and Videos
Films completed between 2021 – 2024 are eligible for submission.
All entries submitted must be suitable for ages 18 and under. It not a requirement to be suitable for all ages under 18 such as issue that affect teens however any mature content (ie sex, alcohol and drugs) must be apporate to the story, the festival reserve the right to make the choice if the use is appropriate.
Entries must be entered into the correct age range, these are based on the age of the filmmakers at the time of the film’s creation. Failure to enter into the correct age range (ie adult made film into 13-15) will lead the film to be ineligible for any aged based awards, if in any doubt please email us.
Each film will be designated a category depending on age. Film based awards such as best film, best documentary will have their aged category based on either the main filmmaker or the majority of the cast/crew. Personal awards such as best actor, best director will be based on the person’s age at the time of the film’s production. We will move personal awards into their age categories if different from the films. ie an adult crewed film with a non professional 13 year old actor could be eligible for both “Adult and Professional Best film” and “13-15 Best Actor”
All entries whose original language is not English must be subtitled or dubbed in English. Please be aware of any translation that could be inappropriate for UK or other English speaking audiences this may lead to us being unable to show or select your film. Dialogue lists or scripts are not acceptable as a substitution for this rule and should not be submitted to the festival — we do not use them.
5. Selection/Festival Director
Selection will be made by an independent selection committee made up of experts in their own fields. Each jury will change annually. Each decision is final.
Festival Co-Director – Kevin Phillips
Festival Co-Director – Alan Terrell
Educational Director – Steven Knapik
Presenters – Jay J Sweeney and Kevin Davidge
6. Criteria for Selection
We look for films that provide strong role models for all children, films with positive messages and films with good artistic qualities. They must not contain gender, racial or cultural stereotypes and biases. The content of the films should fit the ideals of racial and gender equity, inclusivity, social justice, global awareness, and the best in age-appropriate, visual storytelling for young people.
Stories should be culturally authentic, timely, uplifting and have universal appeal to young audiences. Plotlines, ideally, should be child driven.
We welcome any films made by adults for children or young people. These submissions will be entered into the relative categories.
Films should not contain gratuitous violence or explicit nudity. Sexual content of any kind is not appropriate for our audience. Strong and/or repeated profanity could disqualify your film. As stated above, when the film’s target audience is teens, any mature content (i.e. sex, alcohol and drugs) must be appropriate to the story, the festival reserves the right to make the choice if the use is appropriate. If you are unsure please contact us to discuss.
Entries may be disqualified for technical or procedural reasons, including:
Any entry not subtitled or dubbed into the English language. (This is enforced for both submission and festival screening purposes. Scripts or dialogue lists may not be sent as a substitution for this rule).
Films and videos that are aimed primarily at an adult audience.
7. Notification of Festival Status
The Festival will inform all entrants no later than September 7th 2024 if films have been selected for the Children’s International Film Festival of Wales.
8. Screenings
Screenings will take place during the festival, in possible multiple venues. Filmmakers and distributors should indicate on the Festival Film Submission Form if they do not want to give permission for their films to be included in this program.
9. Festival format of films and videos selected.
All short films must be sent to us as .mov, or .mp4 files. Precise specifications will be provided upon acceptance of the films.
10. Correspondence and contact
For more information, contact Kevin Phillips on 01495 711157 (Option 2) or info@childrensfilmfestivalofwales.com
11. Transportation of films and videos selected.
The formats of films selected for festival inclusion must arrive at the Festival offices no later than October 1st 2024.
12. Refunds
Once your work has been submitted to the festival no refunds are available, this include both if the submitter withdraws the film/screen play or if the festival disqualifies the film/screen play for any of the reason.
12. Trophies
Winners are eligible to a physical trophy covered by their entry fee which will be given during the awards night or can be request by those unable to attend however they are required to cover any shipping fees and taxes.