1. CONTESTANT PROFILE
The current season features an exciting competition with two distinct categories: General Youth and Salesian Youth.
- General Youth refers to any young person from any part of the world.
- Salesian Youth refers to any young person affiliated to any Don Bosco institution within the Salesian Family such as school, college, technical school, social center, hostel, youth center, oratory, parish, etc.
2. CONTESTANT AGE LIMITS
DBGYFF welcomes participants between the age of 14 to 25 from any part of the world. Contestants, as defined in Article 1 above, must be between the ages of 14 (with the provision that minors must provide the necessary express authorization from the adult exercising parental responsibility) and 25 (as of January 1, 2024) to submit their films to the DBGYFF.
3. FILM PRODUCTION DATE
Submitted Films must not have been created before January 1, 2023 and must not have been screened or exhibited online.
4. THEME
“I HAVE A DREAM” Youth & Climate Change - Making Mother Earth Cleaner & Greener. All submissions should be based on the theme of DBGYFF 2024.
5. GENRE
The festival accepts all kinds of films except those showing cruelty to humans and animals, nudity and gory content. Films with discriminatory content or references to political movements are not allowed.
6. LANGUAGE
The short film can be in any language, but should be subtitled in English.
7. LENGTH AND CATEGORIES
Films must not exceed the indicated length for each specific category including end credits.
- 2-Minute Short Films
- 5-Minute Short Films
- 5-Minute Animation Films
- 5-Minute Music Video
- 10-Minutes Documentary
8. SUBMITTING MULTIPLE FILMS
A contestant may present only one film at the festival. Each work must be submitted individually and accompanied by its own completed online registration form. Multiple entries by the same individual is not permitted.
9. SUBMISSION PERIOD
Submissions open on April 24, 2024
Submissions close on July 31, 2024
10. CONSENT DECLARATION
By submitting the film to DBGYFF, you are giving DBGYFF the permission to exhibit excerpts of your film in one or more DBGYFF festival websites plus in all other promotional events of this festival including television and social media promotions.
11. NOTIFICATIONS
DBGYFF commits to notifying contestants as follows:
- SUBMITTED - the film has been submitted to the festival.
- ACCEPTED - the film has been approved for participation in the festival.
- NOT ACCEPTED - the film has not been admitted as it fails to comply with the rules of the festival.
- SHORT-LISTED - after the evaluation by the Preliminary Jury ensures that the film has been entered among the films for screening.
- NOT SHORT-LISTED - after the evaluation by the Preliminary Jury indicates that the film has not been selected or short-listed.
- SELECTED - confirms that the film has been officially selected for screening in DBGYFF 2024.
12. FESTIVAL DATE
The screening of selected films will be on 17 & 18 October 2024.
13. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
Before proceeding with the entry, the contestant must ensure that he/she has complied with all the following technical features when making the film:
a. Frame Rate
The film should be encoded and uploaded using the same frame rate that was used during the recording. Common frame rates include: 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 frames per second.
b. Film settings
Expected aspect ratio is 16:9, with Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixel size, in mp4 format. The Video Codec should be H.264, and the maximum bitrate should be 8000 kbps, and the maximum size cannot be more than 1 GB.
c. Subtitles
All films must have English subtitles, including ones that are in English and should be integrated into the video. Subtitles as external/add-on files like .srt/.vtt/.ass/.ttml and similar ones are not accepted.
14. FILM ASSETS
The contestant must ensure that the film has all 5 main requirements below, otherwise its submission will not be considered valid:
a. Film Settings:
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Video Format: .mp4
- Dimension: Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Video Bitrate: Max. 8000 Kbps
- Video upload File Size: Max. 1 GB
b. Synopsis:
a brief summary of the film in English for the jury.
c. Film thumbnail: 1 horizontal JPEG image of less than 500 KB, size 1920x1080 pixels, optimized for the web.
d. Contestant’s photo:
to be used exclusively for the purposes of the Festival, each contestant may voluntarily provide 1 vertical JPEG image of no more than 100 KB, with a size of 900x1200 pixels, optimized for the web. In any case, contestants are invited to read the privacy policy published on the Festival website. (https://www.dbgyff.com/faqs)
e. Subtitles:
ALL FILMS MUST have ENGLISH SUBTITLES, even English language ones. Subtitles should be integrated into the video. Extension files are NOT ACCEPTED.
f. Originality and Authorization
By registering, the contestant ensures that he/she has obtained all rights and licenses and assumes full responsibility for the film submitted.
15. JURYING PROCESS
All the entries are classified as per the five categories for jurying and shortlisting.
a. Shortlisting Best Entries
The Preliminary jurors will qualify the first level of entries, during which all the submitted film entries will be viewed thoroughly and the best entries will be shortlisted in various tiers.
b. Selection of Award winning entries
Various experts from all walks of life and acclaimed movie professionals will be part of the Grand Jury panel. They will watch the 120 shortlisted entries comprising all the five categories and select the global bests and nominate the other awards for the festival.
c. Artistic Merit
The Jury panel shall view, assess and select the best films objectively. If any film doesn’t meet the required levels of artistic merit, it may decide not to shortlist them for the festival.
16. SELECTED FILMS
The Selected short films will be announced by 24 September 2024. Only selected films will be screened at the festival.
17. AWARDS & RECOGNITION
The list of awards include Global Bests, Category Bests, Young Bests, Regional Bests and Jury’s Choice.
Global Bests
Global Bests are chosen from the best entries in all the five categories:
- 2-Minute Short Films
- 5-Minute Short Films
- 5-Minute Animation Films,
- 5-Minute Music Video
- 10-Minutes Documentary
Regional Bests
Regional Bests are the awards given for the 10 best short films from every region, with a cash prize of 1,000 euros each. The entries are classified as per the seven regions of the Salesian world:
- 1. South Asia
- 2. East Asia & Oceania
- 3. Africa Madagascar
- 4. Inter America
- 5. America South Cone
- 6. Northern & Central Europe
- 7. Europe & Middle East
Eight Category Bests
Eight young individuals will be recognized with cash awards of 1,000 euros each in the following eight categories:
- 1. Best Narrative (Short Film)
- 2. Best Narrative (Documentary)
- 3. Best Screenplay
- 4. Best Cinematography
- 5. Best Sound Design
- 6. Best Animation
- 7. Best Original Score
- 8. Best Editing
Seven Young Bests
Seven young individuals will be recognized with cash awards of 1,000 euros each under the seven classifications –
- 1. Young Best Scriptwriter
- 2. Young Best Songwriter
- 3. Young Best Male Actor
- 4. Young Best Female Actor
- 5. Young Best Short Film Director
- 6. Young Best Animation Director
- 7. Young Best Documentary Director
Jury Choice Awards
The Jury will choose one individual from the five categories and award 1,000 euros each, for the
- 1. Best 2-Minute Short Film
- 2. Best 5-Minute Short Film
- 3. Best Animation Short Film
- 4. Best Music Video
- 5. Best Documentary Film
18. WINNERS
The winners of DBGYFF 2024 will be announced on 18th October 2024. The decision of the JURY members is final and not subject to complaint and/or appeal.
19. SCREENING
The screening of all officially selected DBGYFF 2024 short films will take place in attendance in all the registered DBGYFF venues all over the world. All screening venues should meet all the local government safety standards and guidelines.
20. ENQUIRIES
All enquiries should be addressed directly to the email: info@dbgyff.com
