2025 Call for Submission: The Fountainhead Programme

The 5th Edition of Mulan International Film Festival will be held in-person, August 8-17, 2025 @ Toronto, Canada.

Our Fountainhead programme celebrates and promotes emerging talents and their works with creative originality. The 5th edition was honoured to have NAI An, YANG Chao, MEI Feng, TAN Chui Mui and Jessica Kiang on our final selection committee. We will announce our Jury members of this year in June.

We will continue to present the Best Short Film – Jury Prize with CAD$300 to the winning film in the Fountainhead Program through votes cast by our Jury. We will also present Audience Awards with CAD$300 to the winning film through votes cast by our audience. Both awards go directly to the directors of the winning films.

Rules and Regulations

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:

1. A short film, by MulanIFF’s definition, has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including credits.
2. The film has been completed on or after January 1st, 2023.
3. Narrative, documentary, experimental and animated films are accepted.
4. 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.
5. Only one film per director is accepted.
6. Films must have at least  premiere status in Toronto, Canada. It has not been presented at any motion picture event in Toronto; and it has not been released in Toronto in any form, including but not limited to theatre, broadcast, home entertainment, online streaming, and Video On Demand (VOD).
7. An online screener of the film must be provided and made available for streaming. No DVD, Blu-ray, or other physical screeners are accepted.
8. 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.
9. The applicant represents and warrants that they hold all the copyrights within and related to the submitted film, and has the authority to grant MulanIFF the rights to promote and screen the submitted film.

If a film made by an emerging director does not meet one or more than one of the requirements and conditions listed above, MulanIFF encourages the filmmaker to reach out to us directly for other screening opportunities.

2. Submission Deadlines and Fees

May 7th: Early Bird deadline (CAD$10)
May 28th: Regular deadline (CAD$15)
June 18th: Late deadline (CAD$20)

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 Artistic Director chairs on the Selection Committee consisting of programmers and assistant programmers. Final selection decisions will be made at the sole and absolute discretion of the Committee.

The Artistic Director designates a Jury consisting of members from film institutions and the film industry. Jury-voted award decisions will be made at the sole and absolute discretion of the Jury.

4. Official Invitation

All official invitations will be sent out via FilmFreeway and/or email on or before July 2nd, 2025. 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, 2025. 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 rising costs of international shipping, MulanIFF prefers online transmission of screening materials. Special arrangements 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].