Courtisane Festival 2012 - Call for entries
21-25 March 2012, Ghent, Belgium
Deadline December 31, 2011

As a festival and platform to showcase artists' moving image, Courtisane makes a resolute choice for adventure and reflection. Courtisane’s programmation constitutes a kaleidoscopic mosaic of styles, media, gestures and emotions that share an insatiable hunger for experimentation, a personal signature, and a sense of resistance. Courtisane has been organizing a yearly festival since 2002.

Among the artists whose films and videos have been featured in past festivals: Duncan Campbell, David Gatten, Deborah Stratman, Ben Rivers, Luke Fowler, Anna Abrahams, Luther Price, Manon de Boer, Phil Solomon, Sophie Nys, Thomas Köner, Rachel Reupke, Christopher Harris, Neil Beloufa, Manuel Saiz, Semiconductor, Isabelle Tollenaere, Michael Robinson, Sofie Benoot, Peter Tscherkassky, Pere Portabella, Ken Jacobs, Lewis Klahr, Martha Colburn, Bruce McClure, Makino Takashi, John Smith, Vincent Meessen, Kathrin Resetarits, Miranda Pennell, Sarah Vanagt, Ben Russell, Guido Van Der Werve, Herman Asselberghs, Imogen Stidworthy, Pieter Geenen, James Benning, The Otolith Group, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Mary Helena Clark...

Courtisane intends to stimulate the public exhibition of films and videos that are neither distributed nor exhibited within Belgium's traditional circuits.

Dates
The 11th Courtisane Festival will be held between 21-25 March 2012.

Sections
Courtisane organises a competition of recent international and national film and video work. The programme of the Courtisane festival also includes various special events and programmes : Artist in Focus screenings, specially curated thematic programmes, a screening of artists’ films and videos for children, live performances...

The present call for entries concerns only the competition programme.

Eligibility

- All films and videos submitted must have been completed on or after 1 January 2010.
- Artists must maintain final edit and copyright control.
- Only single-channel works may be submitted to the competition programme.
- Courtisane presents and supports the work of film, video and media artists independently of genres, formats, and length. We are interested in screening films and videos, in any category, that have an inventive, aesthetically unconventional approach in terms of form, content, story and structure.
- Student works are also eligible and have often been included in the festival programme in the past.
- Courtisane does not pay screening fees for the films and videos selected in the international and national competitions.
- Belgium premieres are preferred, but are not mandatory.
- The Festival may, in exceptional circumstances decide to select films that do not fulfil one or more of these criteria. Such selection is at the discretion of the festival organisers.

No Entry Fee
As a non-profit festival the Courtisane festival does not charge an entry fee.

Submissions
Submission deadline : 31 December 2011.
Entry forms must be completed online via www.courtisane.be

The applicant is requested to send to the Courtisane office:
- One DVD of the work mentioning : entry number, title, running time and director name
- The printed confirmation of the online submission
- The filmmaker’s CV

When mailing in a physical DVD, we encourage you to help us reduce waste and shipping costs with the following suggestions:

- Package DVDs in a paper/board sleeve, not a hard plastic case
- Ship in a stiff cardboard or other recyclable mailer with no bubble wrap
- Print "Do Not Bend" on the front of envelope
- No physical or electronic Press Kits of any kind, please.

Preview materials will not be returned and may be kept in the Courtisane archive, available for consultation by the festival team and other film professionals for previewing purposes only. Please bear in mind that, when selected, screening prints/tapes should reach us by 7 March 2012 (as well as any other promotional material : postcards, posters, etc)

Selection
The festival committee is responsible of selecting the titles that will be part of the festival competition programme. The official selection will be announced one month before the beginning of the festival. Unsuccessful submissions will be notified at least one month before the start of the festival.

Subtitling
Selected films will be screened in their original version. In principle, if not with English dialogues, films must be subtitled in English.

Juries and Awards
The Jury will be composed of three renowned personalities from the world of the audiovisual arts, from Belgium and abroad. The Jury is responsible for allocating the National and International awards. The jury may decide to attribute Honourable Mentions if they wish. Individuals directly connected with the production, exhibition or distribution of films presented in the International Competition may not sit on the Jury.

Shipping
Courtisane is only responsible for the return shipping costs of screening copies. Unless it’s otherwise agreed between the festival and the sender, all films and videos must be sent prepaid by sender. The transportation costs of DVDs submitted to the festival for selection purposes must also be paid by the person/organization submitting the film. All films and videos in the competition programmes must remain at the festival during the entire festival, as winning films are screened during the closing ceremony. They will be returned during the week following the festival.

Insurance
Insurance for all films/tapes is the entire responsibility of the Festival, from their reception by the Festival until their return.

Formats
Submissions for preview should be made on DVD (PAL or NTSC). Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee to be able to preview Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Film formats and video systems that can be presented during the Festival are: 35mm, 16mm, HDCAM, HDV, Betacam SP (PAL), Digital Betacam (PAL), DVcam (PAL or NTSC) and mini DV (PAL or NTSC).

Catalogue and website
Upon selection, all filmmakers and artists are requested to provide Courtisane with a still image and a synopsis for the festival catalogue. Catalogue writings are entirely at the discretion of the Festival. Still images may be used in the website and festival catalogue, as well as for publicity purposes.

Acceptance
Participation in the Festival implies acceptance of all the aforementioned regulations.