Films regulatory

A.  REGISTRATION

The 29th Edition of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) is scheduled to take place from 22 February to 01 March 2025.

Registration for FESPACO is open to all films worldwide.

Registration is limited to a maximum of three (03) films by director, and can be effected by director, producer or distributor.

Registration of films by Cinema Schools shall be effected by the Management of such schools.

Films shall not be aged more than two (02) years as of 31 December 2024, nor have been showed at a previous FESPACO edition. Deadline for registration is 31 September 2024.

Registration for FESPACO shall be effected by 30 September 2024 the latest at 23h 59mn on the platform by clicking here!

Registration material (in French and English) shall include:

  • a (01) technical and artistic sheet;
  • a (01) synopsis (400 characters);
  • a (01) bio-filmography of director (400 characters);
  • a (01) poster of the film;
  • a download and view link of the film or the first episodes for TV series in MPEG-4 (H.264) format, valid up to 31 December 2024;
  • a (01) passport-size photo of director (JPEG 300 dpi format);
  • photos of the film (portrait and landscape, JPEG 300 dpi format).

B.  SUB-TITLING

Films shall be in French or English.

Films in languages other than French or English must necessarily be sub-titled or dubbed in French or English.

C.  OFFICIAL SELECTION

The Management of FESPACO shall be responsible for the official selection of films and make decision on the category in which any film may be accepted.

  • Categories and sections of the official competition are as follows:
  • feature fiction;
  • feature documentary; 
  • FESPACO Shorts : short fiction and documentary
  • fiction or documentary by Cinema Schools;
  • FESPACO Series;
  • Animation;
  • Perspectives ;
  • Burkina;
  • Critics week.

NB: The official competition welcomes only African and Diaspora films.

  • Out-of-competition sections include:
  • Panorama
  • Focus diversities
  • Sukabè (Youth programme)

NB: The above sections are open to film by filmmakers worldwide.

The Management of FESPACO is sovereign and reserves the right not to justify its decisions.

Films accepted into the official selection cannot be withdrawn in the course of the festival.

Directors or producers of accepted films shall be informed via official mail.

1.    FORMATS 

Regardless of medium used for shooting, only the following formats will be accepted:

Selection copies:

  • Digital file in MPEG-4 (H.264) format.

Screening copies and number of copies:

  • For the feature fiction and documentary official competition: a (01) DCP SMPTE (JPEG 2000 Server) and an external hard drive containing the digital file in MPEG-4 (H.264) format.
  • For the short fiction and documentary official competition: a digital file and an external hard drive containing the digital file in MPEG-4 (H.264) format.
  • For other sections of the selection: a digital file and an external hard drive containing the digital file in MPEG-4 (H.264) format.

Screening copies shall reach FESPACO no later than 15 January 2025.

Films sent to FESPACO after the above date shall be withdrawn from the official competition.

NB: FESPACO shall not pay any fees for showing films accepted in the official selection

2.    SENDING / RETURN OF COPIES

The sending and return of film copies shall be at the expense of producer, director or distributor.

Parcels shall be marked « For cultural use only » and « With no market value ».

Transport fees and possible custom duties for parcels sent by an express carrier must have been paid for. Otherwise, FESPACO shall reserve the right to reject them.

FESPACO shall not assume responsibility for shipping errors or damages resulting from the transport of film copies.

It shall neither be held responsible for deteriorations due poor initial condition of copies.

DCP copies must be sent on a hard drive together with broadcasting Key delivery Message (KDM).

Films in the official competition of FESAPCO may be subject to a maximum of three (03) public screenings during the festival.

However, as part of the promotion of the selected films, FESPACO shall reserve the right to screen such films at most twice (02) after the festival.

3.    LENGTH OF FILMS

As per the category they fall under, films in competition must have the following lengths:

  • feature fiction: 60mn maximum;
  • feature documentary: 60mn maximum;
  • FESPACO Shorts (short fiction and documentary): between 1mn and 35mn;
  • fiction or documentary by Cinema Schools: between 3mn and 15mn;
  • FESPACO Series: two (02) consecutive episodes of 52mn each or three (03) consecutive episodes of 26mn each or six (06) consecutive episodes of 13mn each;
  • Animation films: between 1mn and 35mn.

Registration implies full acceptance of the conditions herein and the regulation as well.

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