Entry Guidelines
The 14th Taiwan International Documentary Festival
Entry Guidelines
Taiwan International Documentary Festival (TIDF), organised by the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute, is one of the major documentary film festivals in Asia, laying emphasis on promoting outstanding Asian documentaries and creating closer associations among filmmakers in the region.
Submissions for the TIDF are open to all subject matters, forms, styles, lengths, and formats. We are looking for films relevant to social and human interests, have unique points of view and experiment with the aesthetics of documentary filmmaking. The 14th TIDF will take place from May 10 to 19, 2024.
Entry Fee & Deadline
No entry fee. The deadline for submission is Tuesday, 5 December 2023. The online entry system will automatically shut down at 12:00 pm (GMT+8). TIDF is not obliged to view late entries. We strongly advise all applicants to make the submission as early as possible.
Eligibility
- All films considered documentaries by filmmakers or production companies are welcome.
- We accept films completed after 1st December 2021.
- A Taiwan Premiere is required (i.e. the film should not have been screened, broadcasted, or available online in any form, for any period of time in Taiwan). Taiwanese productions made by Taiwanese filmmakers (i.e. those who hold National Identification Card or Taiwan Resident Certificate) are exempted from this rule.
- Films that have been submitted for consideration in previous festival editions are not eligible.
- Please contact tidf.entry@tfai.org.tw before submitting if you have any questions.
How to submit
- Create an account at the TIDF website.
- Go to My TIDF and fill out the online entry form. A unique entry number should appear on the web page after you complete and click on ‘submit’. There will also be an auto-confirmation email. Please check your spam email first or contact us if you did not receive your entry number. *Friendly Reminder: After logging in, you will see【View】as the default page. Please click on【Submission】in the yellow tab and【Create a new entry】to submit.
- The applicant should provide a screener link and password (if applicable). Non-Mandarin or non-English speaking films must have Chinese or English subtitles. Please make sure the link and password remain valid before the shortlists are announced in mid-February 2024. Please contact TIDF if any change was made.
- All submitted screeners and materials may be archived by TIDF for internal previews and future academic research.
- Submitting to TIDF implies the applicant agrees to the TIDF Entry Guidelines. Please read it thoroughly. Violation of the TIDF Entry Guidelines may result in disqualification from competition.
Competitions and Awards
- Asian Vision Competition highlights the diversity of Asian filmmakers by showcasing documentaries about Asia or made by Asian filmmakers with unique points of view or innovative visual languages. 15 films will be presented in this category.
1) Grand Prize: one winning title with a cash prize of NT$320,000 (approx. US$10,700) and a trophy.
2) Jury Prize: one winning title with a cash prize of NT$150,000 (approx. US$5,000) and a trophy.
3) Special Prize: one winning title with a cash prize of NT$65,000 (approx. US$2,170) and a trophy.
- International Competition welcomes artistically confident, well-rounded documentaries of all forms and lengths from all over the globe. 15 films will be presented in this category.
1) Grand Prize: one winning title with a cash prize of NT$240,000 (approx. US$8,000) and a trophy.
2) Jury Prize: one winning title with a cash prize of NT$120,000 (approx. US$4,000) and a trophy.
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Taiwan Competition presents 15 films made by Taiwanese filmmakers holding a National Identification Card or Taiwan Resident Certificate.
1) Grand Prize: one winning title with a cash prize of NT$240,000 (approx. US$8,000) and a trophy.
2) Jury Prize: one winning title with a cash prize of NT$120,000 (approx. US$4,000) and a trophy.
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Cross-section Competition
1) TIDF Visionary Award: This award is established to encourage documentaries that bring out cultural and creative variety in the Chinese-speaking world. A shortlist of films that share the festival’s core spirit of 'Re-encounter Reality' will be nominated by the TIDF programming team from the entire festival programme and announced before the festival opens.
● Grand Prize: one winning title with a cash prize of NT$240,000 (approx. US$8,000) and a trophy.
● Special Jury Prize: one winning title with a cash prize of NT$120,000 (approx. US$4,000) and a trophy.
2) Next Generation Award: A jury of high school students will select one winning title from the shortlist derived from the Asian Vision Competition, International Competition, and Taiwan Competition. This award comes with a cash prize of NT$65,000 (approx. US$2,160) and a certificate.
3) Audience Award: The festival audience can vote for their favourite documentary in Asian Vision Competition, International Competition, and Taiwan Competition. The top-rated film will receive a cash prize of NT$65,000 (approx. US$2,160) and a certificate.
Selection Process
- Preliminary Selection: A committee of film professionals and TIDF programmers will determine the shortlists, which will be announced in mid-February 2024 on the TIDF website. Applicants of the selected titles will be notified via email. Due to the volume of the submissions received, TIDF is not obliged to provide feedback regarding any of the submitted films.
- Final Selection: A jury of twelve jurors will view the films in shortlists and decide the winning titles for the four competitions. Decisions made during jury meetings are final. The winning titles will be announced at the TIDF award ceremony.
Shortlisted Films Regulations
- Confirming festival participation: Selected films will be notified via email provided in the entry form in February 2024. Please refrain from disclosing the film’s selection to third parties before the announcement by TIDF. The selected films will be required to sign a consent form. All films selected for Asian Vision Competition, International Competition, and Taiwan Competition will receive a certificate.
- Following the selection, the festival will:
- present the selected film no more than 3 screenings during the festival and the screening fee is automatically waived. The festival will also notify in advance in case of press screening prior to the festival.
- invite one director or producer of the selected film to attend the festival and provide necessary accommodation and flights. Further details will be notified later. In the event of force majeure, TIDF reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or pause the offer.
- produce and/or keep a Chinese and/or English-subtitled copy of the selected film for screening purposes during the festival. The copy will be archived and will not be publicly screened without consent from the rightsholder in advance.
- utilise the publicity materials of the selected film for marketing, promotional and exhibition purposes in areas including but not limited to festival publicity, media coverage and file archiving with no restriction on the territory and duration.
- include the publicity materials of the selected Taiwanese films on the Taiwan Docs website and in its catalogue for promotional uses.
- Required materials & delivery schedule
1) Screening copy: DCP or the highest quality file in DPX, MOV/ProRes 444, 422(HQ), or MPEG2 (at least 20Mbps)) format. The DCP or file must arrive at the TIDF office before 6 March 2024. All films must have hardcoded English subtitles unless the spoken language of the film is English.
*The content of the screening copy should match that of the screener submitted for preliminary selection. TIDF reserves the right to determine the eligibility of the film if this is violated.
*TIDF covers one-way shipping (either to or from Taiwan) for the delivery of screening copies. Please follow TIDF’s shipping instructions.
2) Required publicity materials:
- Film stills: at least 3 high-resolution files (JPG/PNG, with 300 dpi or above 1 MB each)
- English subtitled Trailer (3 mins max., ProRes/H.264 high res file)
- For the purpose of promoting the film in the festival trailer, please provide a clean full film or selected excerpts of the film (ProRes/H.264 high res file)
- Dialogue lists in English and in the original language (if available)
- Festival and awards records, and Credit list in English
- The director (s)’ portrait photo(s) (high res JPG/PNG with 300 dpi or above 1 MB), bio and filmography in English
- Director’s statement in English, 300 words maximum
- Additional materials such as press kits, posters or postcards are also welcome
Requirements for Award-Winning Films
- One screening will be scheduled on the last day of the festival.
- TIDF will include award-winning films in its ‘TIDF on Tour’ programme. The screenings of the tour programme are not-for-profit and will be scheduled within two years after the festival. TIDF would be authorised six promotional screenings of the award-winning films (cash prize winners only) without further charge. TIDF will offer screening fees for the winning films without cash prizes, e.g. films with special mentions.
- Necessary tax in accordance with tax acts in Taiwan and bank service charges for remitting the prize money will be deducted from the remittance amount.
- TIDF wishes no involvement in the distribution of the prize money and only refers to the documents provided by the award winners. TIDF bears no responsibility for the arrangement if any dispute occurs.
Please Note
- The entrant must confirm the information provided in the entry form is accurate to the best of their knowledge, and have full rights to submit the film to TIDF. TIDF bears no responsibility for any damages or costs due to any illegal acts or violation of copyright. TIDF reserves the right to disqualify any film with unauthorised inclusion of copyrighted materials.
- The entrant is required to provide up-to-date and accurate information about the film. Please notify us via tidf.entry@tfai.org.tw in the event that the profile (e.g. premiere status) of your film changes after submission.
- TIDF reserves the right to modify or substitute any of the rules and regulations stated in the TIDF Entry Guidelines when necessary. TIDF also has the right to interpret and decide all matters relating to the TIDF Entry Guidelines, selection process, competition results and method of screening.
Contact Information
Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute
Dept. of Documentary, Taiwan International Documentary Festival
E: tidf.entry@tfai.org.tw
W: www.tidf.org.tw/en
Tel: +886-2-85228000 #7302