Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, China (GZDOC) ()



Deadlines

13 Mar 2023
Call for entries

31 Aug 2023
Festival closed

30 Nov 2023
Notification date

04 Dec 2023
07 Dec 2023

Address

DOC.Park, No.168, Huazhou Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.,  510320, Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China


Festival description
Short film festival >1' 40'<
Feature film festival >40' 300'<


Festival requirements
 Film festival
 Fiction
 Documentary
 Animation
 Fantastic
 Terror
 Experimental
 Music Video
 Other
 Any Genre
 Any Theme
 Does NOT have submission fees
 International Festival
 Physical Location
 January 2020
 Production countries: Any
 Shooting countries: Any
 Director nationalities: Any
 Debut Films 
 School projects 
 Short Films  >1' 40'<
 Feature Films  >40' 300'<
 Any language
 Subtitles 
English
Share on Social Networks
 Facebook 
 Tweet





Photo of Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, China (GZDOC)
Photo of Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, China (GZDOC)

Photo of Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, China (GZDOC)
Photo of Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, China (GZDOC)

English


Festival start: 04 December 2023      Festival end: 07 December 2023

Official Website: www.gzdoc.cn

Official Email Address:
film@gzdoc.cn / screen@gzdoc.cn / project@gzdoc.cn

[Important] All emails should be regarded as official only when they are sent from the official email addresses listed above. Please do not make a promotion of selection if you only get an email from Festhome without any confirmation from our official email address.

Introduction of GZDOC Four Main Sessions:
GZDOC is the only state-level professional platform with documentary financing and trading functions and has become the pioneer in China's documentary industry, showcasing national industrial policies and international development trends. Dedicated to the documentary festival for two decades, GZDOC has turned into a comprehensive cultural event integrating competition, screening, pitching, training, forums, and market.

①GZDOC COMPETITION
GZDOC Competition Section consists of the Golden Kapok Awards Competition(Main Competition Unit) and the NEXT WAVE Awards Competition(Sub-unit, open only to student works). Submit your works to attend the GZDOC Competition with the most competitive productions!

②GZDOC SCREENING SECTION
The programmers from GZDOC Screening Session will select films from all submissions and send invitation letters to those that they are interested in. This screening Section is parallel to the competition Section, meaning that they are under separate selection procedures and do not include/collide with each other.

③GZDOC PITCHING SECTION
GZDOC Pitching Session will have 2 segments in its new edition, including the iconic ‘China Stories’ International Pitching Session, and GZDOC International Pitching Session designed for international projects that cover wider global topics.

④GZDOC DOCSHOP
GZDOC DOCSHOP is a year-round factual content marketplace for producers, distributors, content buyers, and commissioners. It is a perfect platform for films looking for Chinese buyers.

I.Golden Kapok Awards(Main Competition Unit):

Best Feature Documentary (1)
Best Documentary Director(1)
Best Short Documentary (1)
Best Documentary Series (1)
Best First Feature Documentary (1)
China Story: Best Feature Documentary Award (1)
China Story: Best Short Documentary Award (1)
China Story: Best Documentary Series Award (1)
Best Global Communication Chinese Documentary (1)
Best Sino-foreign Co-production Documentary Award (1)
Special Jury Prize (1)

II.NEXT WAVE Awards(Sub-unit, open only to student works):

Best Feature Documentary (1)—awarded 10,000 CNY
Best Short Documentary (1)—awarded 10,000 CNY
Best Micro-documentary(1)—awarded 5000 CNY
Best Emerging Director(1)—awarded 10,000 CNY
Best Creative Expression(1)—awarded 10,000 CNY
Best Chinese Theme Documentary(1)—awarded 10,000 CNY
Special Jury Mention(2-4)—awarded 5000 CNY

Regulations for the 21th Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival,China(GZDOC)

I.Introduction to the GZDOC Competition Section
GZDOC Competition Section consists of the Golden Kapok Awards Competition and the NEXT WAVE Awards Competition.

(i) Golden Kapok Awards Competition:
As the main competition unit, Golden Kapok Awards Competition is dedicated to presenting outstanding documentaries to the public, promoting various cultures, cultivating documentary audiences, and promoting domestic and international documentaries in China. We endeavor to: documenting today for tomorrow.

(ii) NEXT WAVE Awards Competition:
NEXT WAVE Awards Competition is the sub-unit of GZDOC Competition Section and open only to students(college students, undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students) works. NEXT WAVE Section is committed to discovering the new generation of elite talents who can enlighten the wave of the industry.

II. Date
Please carefully refer to: www.gzdoc.cn

III. Eligibility for Competition

(i)The film must have been completed no earlier than 1st, January, 2020.

(ii)For Golden Kapok Awards:
-Open for 3 types of films:

① Documentary Feature: more than 40mins (including credits);

② Documentary Short: 40mins or less (including credits);

③ Documentary Series: at least 3 episodes with interrelated contents (the running time of a single episode is not limited).

(iii) For NEXT WAVE Awards:
-Open for 3 types of films:

① Documentary Feature: more than 40mins;

② Documentary Short: 40mins or less;

③ Micro-documentary: 5mins or less.

* The films submitted must be works created by registered students during their study in school. Films can be course assignments or graduation works completed under the guidance of tutors.

(iv)World , International and Asian premieres are the preference for the Competition Section.

(v)Films which take part in the Out-of-Competition section shouldn’t be previously screened in China.

(vi)Films that, in any version (including the re-edited version), had participated or been screened in previous editions will not be eligible for the Competition.

(vii)Films must be subtitled in English or dubbed in English.

(viii)Films must not display any festival laurels won.

(ix)Advertising films, promotional films, and TV programs are not eligible.

IV. Submission Guidance
(i) Submission Deadline : 24:00 (UTC+8), 31st August, 2023

(ii) Submission Access:
Submit on Festhome or our official website (register on www.gzdoc.cn, click "Competition&Screening - Golden Kapok Award Competition - Film Submission" to complete the online submission form).

(iii) Requested materials:
(1) Online Screener - Downloadable preferred, must not display any festival laurels won.
a. mov./ mp4.
b. Vimeo/ Google Drive link only.
c. No less than 3 months validity of the link.
(2) Trailer - less than 3 mins, downloadable and must not display any festival laurels won.
a. mov./ mp4.
b. Vimeo/ Google Drive link only.
c. No less than 3 months validity of the link.
(3) Downloadable English subtitle file - srt. or ass.
(4) Stills, Posters, and Director's Photo (Downloadable)
(5) Short Synopsis (No more than 650 chars including spaces.)
(6) Director's Bio (No more than 650 chars including spaces.)
(7) Producer's Bio (No more than 650 chars including spaces.)

(iv) Registration fee
Free Entry

(v) The use of information and application materials
After the film is submitted to GZDOC, the application information and materials may be presented on the official website, as well as online and offline media for publicity. The Organizing Committee has the right to edit and use the film information and materials submitted, including the film application information, posters, stills, trailers, or snippets in less than 5 minutes, on GZDOC’s official channels.

(vii) Copyright Statement
Applicant (and applying company) shall own the copyrights or distribution rights of the film submitted by him/her; shall ensure that there is no dispute over copyright of the film; guarantee it has acquired the copyrights/authorizations from the copyright owners for the music, video, image and text contained and used in the films; ensure the original contents in the film do not violate the copyrights or legal rights of any other third parties. Any disputes, damages, or compensations arising out of or in relation to the copyright infringement of the film shall be borne by its applicant (and applying company). GZDOC reserves the right to disqualify any film with unauthorized copyrighted materials.

V. Selection procedures
The entries will be screened for the Pre-selection, Semi-final Selection, and Final Competition. They will be reviewed and selected by the Selection Committee and Jury.

(1) Pre-selection
The Pre-selection Committee is responsible for presenting the longlist from all the submissions. The applicant who is selected for the longlist will be notified by email in mid-October, and the list will be released on the official website.

(2)Semi-final Selection
The Semi-final Selena Committee is responsible for presenting the shortlist from the longlist. The shortlist will be notified by e-mail in mid-November and released on the official website.

(3) Final Competition
The winners will be selected from the shortlist by Jury and will be announced at the Ceremony.

VI. The Notice for Shortlist
(i) Shortlist confirmation
The applicant shall confirm the participation in the final competition with the OC within two working days after receiving the notification (email) from the OC. Once the applicant confirms the participation, the shortlisted film cannot be withdrawn for any reason.

(ii) The screening version
After the film is selected for shortlist, the official screening version must be submitted to the OC. Apart from the technical adjustments such as mixing, grading, and subtitle translation, the screening version must be in consistent with the preview version. Films cannot be updated during the selection process.

(iii) Use of information and materials of films selected
Once the film is selected, the application information and material submitted online and offline will be presented on the documentary festival brochure, official website, or for online and offline media promotion events. The OC is entitled to edit and publicly use the materials, including film entry information, posters, stills, trailers and clips of no more than 5 minutes and on GZDOC’s official channels. If there is any information or material missing during the application phase, all materials must be completed at the finalist stage.

(iv) Classification of Premiere

① Worldwide Premiere - Films that have been internationally broadcast, screened at film festivals, are available online, or have been released via streaming, home video, or any other public platform are not eligible.

② International Premiere – Films that have been broadcast, screened at film festivals, are available online, or have been released via streaming, home video, or any other public platform outside the production countries are not eligible.

③ Asian Premiere - Films that have been broadcast, screened at film festivals, are available online, or have been released via streaming, home video, or any other public platform in Asia are not eligible.

④ China Premiere - Films that have been broadcast, screened at film festivals, are available online, or have been released via streaming, home video, or any other public platform in China are not eligible. (This category is mainly for domestic work).

(v) Screening schedule
All shortlisted films will be screened in no more than 3 public screenings. The screening schedule and venue will be decided by the Organizing Committee. If the film finally won the Golden Kapok Award,the winners will be screened for public welfare. To ensure the scope of publicity,the winning films will be screened at least once.

(vi) Publicity requirements
After the film is selected, the OC will provide the GZDOC logos for Shortlist or Winner. The film selected must include the GZDOC logos in all its subsequent promotional materials, and it’s strictly forbidden to modify the logo.

VII. Statement
(i) Any changes against the regulations will be posted on the "Competition&Screening-Golden Kapok Award Competition-Regulation " page of the official website (www.gzdoc.cn). The applicant can withdraw from the event if he/she thinks the modified clauses are unacceptable by notifying the Organizing Committee within 10 working days after the announcement is posted. Otherwise, it will be deemed that the applicant accepts all the modified clauses.

(ii) If there were any situations that are not specified above, the OC reserves all rights for the final explanation of the regulations.

(iii) The applicant signing up for the screening session of 2022 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival should accept all the above terms and conditions. If there is any dispute, it shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of PRC.

General Office of the Organizing Committee of
Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival
May, 2023

GZDOC Competition Department
Email: film@gzdoc.cn
Tel:020-38780150



  

 
  

Discover great films & festivals, one click away

Register
Login