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Palestinian Sunbird Production Award Competition 2019

Palestine Cinema Days Festival announces the call to participate in the Palestinian Sunbird Production Award competition at the 6th edition of the Festival (October 02-09, 2019).
An independent jury will announce the winner of the Palestinian Sunbird Production Award during the Palestine Cinema Days Closing Ceremony on October 09, 2019.
The Palestinian Sunbird Production Award winner will receive a grant of ten thousand U.S. dollars "10,000$” for production, camera and sound equipment available at Filmlab:  Palestine, and the film will be picked up for distribution by MAD Solutions.

To be eligible, projects must comply with the following regulations:

  • The project must be either at the pre-production or production stage at the time of the festival (October 2019)
  • The project may not exceed a maximum length of 20 minutes
  • Accepted are Fiction or animation short film projects.
  • Treatment, detailed synopsis & financing plan must be Provided in English only.
  • Connection to Palestine must be visible, where the director/producer must be from Palestine, film set in Palestine and a clear thematic reference to Palestine
  • The winner of the Sunbird Production Award must agree that the Palestinian premiere of the finalized film will be at Palestine Cinema Days if the final film was approved and selected by the Jury of the festival.
  • The winner of the Sunbird Production Award must agree to put Filmlab: Palestine’s logo on the beginning of the film and the Credits at the end of the film.

Supporting Material

  •  If the application is submitted by the producer, make sure to provide samples of the director’s previous works if any.
  •  Applications lacking in supporting material will not be considered for evaluation nor will the applicant be contacted to send the missing material.
  •  Applicants need to submit a script and a treatment of the submitted project.
  •  If you are applying with a project that is partly or fully animated, the submission of a mood board is mandatory.
  •  Supporting files/samples for the submitted project and previous works smaller than 2 MB can be uploaded directly to the application.
  •  Supporting files/samples for the submitted project and previous works exceeding 2 MB should be included as links to files on sharing websites (such as Dropbox, Vimeo, YouTube…).

Evaluation and Selection Process
Following the submission deadline, PCD will conduct an administrative check to ensure that applications are complete and adhere to the guidelines. Only applications that pass the administrative check will be processed. The applications will be sent to the independent jurors’ committee which will assess the applications and choose the project to be granted.

Winner Announcement
The winner of the Palestinian Sunbird Production Award will be announced during the Palestine Cinema Days Closing Ceremony on October 09, 2019, and then will be published on PCD and Filmlab: Palestine websites and Facebook pages.
Grant Contract
As soon as the winner is announced, Filmlab: Palestine will send a contract to be signed by the winner. The contract will include start and end dates, grant amount, budget breakdown, financial requirements, payment schedule, general provisions, implementation and amendments, required reports and project results.
Payment Conditions & Schedule
The winner will receive 50% of the grant amount as the first payment. When 80% of the first payment has been spent AND the shooting has started, the grantee must submit an interim narrative and financial report to Filmlab: Palestine. Once the report is approved, the grantee will receive the remaining 50% of the grant total amount will be transferred and with the submission of the final deliverables and reports, the grant will be closed.

Submission deadline: September 01, 2019, Apply Now.

For enquires and information, please email us at: [email protected]