ORGANIZATION
Estoril Film Festival 09 is organized by Leopardo Filmes, Lda. and it takes place in Estoril, from the 5th to the 14th of November 2009.

OBJECTIVES
Estoril Film Festival 09 intends to be a place of reflection where a different space is introduced between cinema and the other forms of artistic creation, a space where entertainment, dialogue, spectacle, debate and above all the films are a place of affirmation of the cinematic art.

Focusing on cinema and directors, Estoril Film Festival will present 12 films (national premiers) in its official selection – in competition – a sample of the most interesting and innovative productions that have been made, that is demonstrative of the most original and independent perspectives of film-making.
The latest films of the most respectable names of national cinema will also be presented, in a section not in competition.

SECTIONS

The festival’s official selection is composed of 12 European films. It is a selection of the most recent cinematographic productions which intends to focus on those films that stand out for their original quality and aesthetic innovation, as well as productions which focus on specific aspects and social and cultural problems of their countries of origin.

NOT IN COMPETITION
In order to illuminate the diversity of contemporary cinema, the Not in Competition section of Estoril Film Festival 09 offers the most recent works of European and international directors.
The selection of films will provide a general perspective on Cinema, bearing in mind the bridge that connects artistic vision and commercial interests.

RETROSPECTIVE
An historical monograph, a theme program of one of the larger names of contemporary cinema – conceived to contribute to a history of cinema or to offer the audience the (re)discovery of the work of an important and still active author.

HOMAGE
The homage intends to honour a great author, actor or actress, presenting his or her work. In parallel to the film program there will be a vast program to introduce his or her work which is composed of, among other events, presentations and debate sessions.

RARE FILM-MAKERS
This year, Estoril Film Festival commences a section dedicated to directors who, throughout the ages, created punctual works of unquestionable quality, free of any pressure by the film industry. The first of many which the festival will continue to dedicate to these directors over the next editions.

CinemART
Section dedicated to great figures of the world arts that did not resist the fascination to make a Film.

CINEMA AND ITS HISTORY

In a perfect symbiosis between history, present and future, cinema is the art which best creates a dynamic relation between society and its time.

Since there is no better way to understand the present than through homage to the works of the past, Estoril Film Festival will present, in each edition, some essential works in the relation between Cinema and its History.

MEETING OF THE EUROPEAN CINEMA SCHOOLS

The festival annually promotes the meeting of the different European cinema schools. Each school presents its most representative works and afterwards there will be a space where those projects will be defended and discussed at a round table. We intend, with this space for reflection, to create an important stimulus to cinematographic creation.

EUROPA DISTRIBUTION MEETING

Estoril Film Festival is still the venue for the Annual Meeting of the distributing members of Europa Distribution.

Europa Distribution, created in March 2006, is a network composed of the most important European independent distributors. It is currently composed of 67 distributors, representative of 19 European countries.

JURY
The members of the Jury will be presented by the festival director. The Jury will have to respect the following conditions:

The Jury must be composed of at least five members. Members must not have any interests in the production or other aspects of a film in competition. The Jury will deliberate in secret and its decisions will follow the rule of majority. The members of the Jury must not in any way express their opinion publicly on the movies in competition, on which they will have to make a decision by the official announcement of the winners. No potential conflict (concerning the organization of the festival) which is not contemplated in the Festival regulations will be solved by the Festival Director according to the International Regulations.

AWARDS
The International Jury will present the following awards to films In Competition:
- Best Film – Prize money €20.000
- Second Best Film
- Cineuropa Award

MEO AWARD
The MEO Award – Best Short-Film – established in 2008 by the Grupo PT brand intends to stimulate, through a prize money worth 5.000€, the new talent in competition with works from the European cinema schools.

L’OREAL AWARD
The ‘L’Oreal Paris – Young Talent’ Award was established in 2007 and awards a prize money worth 5.000€, with the intent to contribute to the development of the careers of young actors in Portugal.

FILM SELECTION

All films, in competition or otherwise, are selected by the festival’s Selection Committee, in accordance with the festival Director.

The Festival accepts as films in competition:

- Films with European production.
- Films which have been finished at least 12 months before the limit for entering films in this category (September 2009)
- The festival does not accept any film which has participated in the official competitions of Cannes, Locarno, San Sebastián, Venice and Berlin, except under special conditions and at all times subject to the approval of the Artistic Director.

ENTERING FILMS:
The producer who detains all rights over the film must communicate his intention to participate in the festival through its formal enrolling, complete and signed, before the 18th of September of 2009. The festival will recognize the formal enrolling as the only representative form of the film, excluding other companies or people that may have been part of the film’s production, who should negotiate any aspect relative to the film’s production with that person. Once accepted and selected the film may not be withdrawn from the program by its producers.

LIMITS AND DELIVERY OF THE SELECTED FILMS

The transport expenses are the festival’s responsibility. The films’ safety will be assured by the festival for as long as they are under the festival’s and the transporting company’s responsibility. The festival will assure the costs of the works invited to participate for as long as they are under the festival’s responsibility. In the case of loss of any work within the limits of the festival, the festival will uphold its responsibility to reimburse the costs of the copy in accordance with the standard prices of a laboratory, if the loss is notified within two weeks of the end of the festival.

The copies of the selected films must be in their original language, with English subtitles. All the Portuguese translation and subtitling expenses of the films presented will be assured by the festival, unless the production responsible explicitly refuses it.

All the invited films must assure the Festival a copy of the spotting list and a faithful copy of the final editing in DVD format, for purposes of electronic subtitling. The participants must also provide the festival with official clips and trailers in BETA cassette, so as to facilitate the promotion of the films during the festival.

For each of the films in competition, the festival Director will invite a delegation of two members for a period of four days. The costs of their transport and lodging are the festival’s responsibility. The festival Director can make exceptions to this rule.

 
The undersigned of each selected film must agree to place the festival’s official logo in the promotion of said film (posters, press kits, trailers, opening titles, official website). The official logo can be requested by e-mail on the festival’s official website.

 
In order to best promote the films in each section on the various television networks, the undersigned are invited to provide the festival with official clips and trailers of the selected films (BETA screeners). In accordance with the international regulations, only these materials will be delivered to the television networks by the festival.

All copies must be returned within 10 days after the close of the festival.

 If a copy is not in perfect conditions for projection, the festival is entitled to refuse its presentation.

The festival will adopt every safety measure against piracy in effect in the main international film festivals.

The undersigned of the selected films will be notified before the official Press Conference.
All copies of the films for exhibition, as well as all the promotional material for the festival’s invited films, must be delivered to the festival’s official address, never later than the end of the week preceding the opening of the festival. The address is:
Estoril Film Festival 09
Shipping Office
Urbanização da Matinha, Bloco B 1º Dto. - 1950-323 Lisboa - Portugal.

Copies of 35mm films (or other formats) from countries outside the European Union must be sent to the festival’s official international transporters, so that the necessary procedures for import can be carried out.

Participation in the festival obliges to the observance of the present regulations. Producers, distributors and other interested parties entering films in the festival must assure that they are legally authorized to do so.

 
The festival director holds the right to make decisions on issues not contemplated in the present regulations, as well as to make exceptions to the regulations in cases where it is justified and duly motivated. For any question pertaining to the interpretation of an article, the original Portuguese version of these regulations will be ultimately referred to.