2023 Call for Submission: The Fountainhead Programme

The 4th Edition of Mulan International Film Festival will be held August 11-20, 2023 @ Toronto, Canada, and all screenings of this year’s festival will be held in-person!

Our Fountainhead programme is now accepting submissions of feature-length and short films from all filmmakers. The Fountainhead programme celebrates and promotes emerging talents and their works with creative originality. Screening fees of CAD$300 and $75 will be paid to license holders of all accepted feature and short films. Additional screening fees will be discussed if more than one screening is scheduled.

For this edition of the Fountainhead Program, we are excited to announce two changes:

1. We are proud to introduce two new jury-selected awards this year! In recognition of filmmaking achievements and artistic excellence, through votes cast by our final selection committee, we will award one Best New Director Award with CAD$1000, and one Jury Prize for Best Short Film with CAD$300, to the winning feature-length and short film in the Fountainhead Program, respectively. Both awards go directly to the directors of the winning films.
2. We no longer require Canadian Premiere status for submitted films. We only require that films submitted have NOT been released in Canada in any form, including but not limited to theatre, broadcast, home entertainment, online streaming and Video On Demand (VOD).

We will continue to present the Audience Awards. Through votes cast by our audience, we will award one $1000 and one $300 cash award to the winning feature-length and short film in the Fountainhead Program, respectively. The Audience Awards go directly to the director(s) of the winning films.

For this edition, we are honoured to have NAI An, YANG Chao and YANG Aonan on our final selection committee.

Young and fledging though MulanIFF is, we are confident in the road we chose. We are supported by the most wonderful group of audience, who are friendly, open, genuine, and sincere, and above all share the utmost love for trailblazing films and emerging filmmakers.

2nd Festival (2019) Final Selection Committee: LIU Miaomiao, Bart Testa, NAI An, Shelly Kraicer, and WANG Hongwei

If love doesn’t bring hope, then it is not truly love. If love can no longer bring hope, then what makes us humans is lost. Those most treasured qualities of humanity, we will always be there for them.

Info for Submitting Films

1. How to Submit

The Fountainhead programme accepts all feature and short films through FilmFreeway.

If you are having trouble with FilmFreeway, please reach out to us through [email protected].

Submitted films must meet the following requirements:

a. A feature-length film, by MulanIFF’s definition, has a running time of 60 minutes or more, including credits; a short film, by MulanIFF’s definition, has a running time of 20 minutes or less, including credits.

b. The film has been completed on or after January 1st, 2022.

c. Narrative, documentary, experimental and animated films are accepted.

d. Either the main language of the film (>50%) is a Chinese language, or the film focuses on Chinese culture or the lives of the people residing in China and/or the Chinese diaspora.

e. Only one film per director is accepted, be it a feature-length film or a short film.

f. For feature-length films, only the first or the second feature-length film of a director are eligible.

g. Films must NOT have been released in Canada in any form, including but not limited to theatre, broadcast, home entertainment, online streaming and Video On Demand (VOD).

h. An online screener of the film must be provided and made available for streaming. No DVD, Blu-ray or other physical screeners are accepted.

i. A work-in-progress version of the film can be accepted and its status should be clearly indicated on the submission. However, any updated version(s) will not be viewed.

j. The applicant represents and warrants that they hold all the copyrights within and related to the submitted film, and has authority to grant MulanIFF the rights to promote and screen the submitted film.

2. Submission Deadlines and Fees

March 22nd: Submissions open
April 12th: Early Bird deadline (CAD$5 for short film, CAD$10 for feature-length film)
May 10th: Regular deadline (CAD$10 for short film, CAD$20 for feature-length film)
May 31st: Late deadline (CAD$15 for short film, CAD$30 for feature-length film)

Submission fees are non-refundable under any circumstances.

Submission fees can be waived at the sole discretion of MulanIFF on a case-by-case basis. Before submitting a film, requests need to be made via email: [email protected].

3. Selection Process for the Fountainhead Programme

The Fountainhead Programme will present a maximum of five feature-length films and a maximum of eight short films.

The Artistic Director chairs on the preliminary selection committee consisting of programmers and assistant programmers.

The Artistic Director designates a final selection committee consisting of members from film institutions and the film industry.

Final decisions will be made at the sole and absolute discretion of the final selection committee.

4. Official Invitation

All official invitations will be sent out via FilmFreeway and/or email on or before July 10th, 2023. Each film invited to MulanIFF will receive a Certificate of Participation if a request is made at the time of confirming participation.

5. Language and Subtitles

All films must be presented in English, or their original language(s) with English subtitles. The costs of subtitling are to be borne by the filmmaker or a relevant body.

6. Screening Formats

Only Digital Cinema Package (DCP), QuickTime ProRes 422 HQ and 35mm print are accepted, unless special arrangement is made with the MulanIFF programming team.

7. Print Traffic

All screening materials must be received by MulanIFF at least by July 22nd, 2023. Shipping costs to MulanIFF are to be borne by the filmmaker or a relevant body. Otherwise, MulanIFF reserves the right not to accept the package.

MulanIFF pays for return shipping as requested by the filmmaker or a relevant body.

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, MulanIFF prefers online transmission of screening materials. Special arrangement may be made with the MulanIFF programming team.

8. Copyrights

MulanIFF and its directors, members, officers and volunteers, will not be held responsible for unauthorized use of any copyrighted materials within or related to the selected film. MulanIFF reserves the right to disqualify any film with unauthorized copyrighted materials at any time.

9. General

Participation in MulanIFF implies acceptance of all the aforementioned rules and regulations. MulanIFF reserves the right to rule, at its sole and absolute discretion, on cases and situations not covered by these rules and regulations.

Contact

For submissions to the Fountainhead programme, please email [email protected].

For all other inquiries, please email [email protected].