12TH FILM FEST OCT 20-28, 2011

Filmmaker FAQ

  • Do I have to be Asian to submit my film to your festival?
    If the film's director is not Asian or of Asian descent, then the film's subject matter must deal with Asian communities, or the work must prominently feature cast members of Asian descent.
  • I am Asian, but my film has no Asian storyline or characters. Can I still submit?
    Yes! SDAFF showcases the diversity of stories by Asian and Asian American filmmakers.
  • I'm a poor filmmaker. Could you please waive my entry fee?
    Sorry, we do not waive entry fees. We encourage you to submit by the early deadline, which is at a discounted rate. If your film is accepted, we spend a lot more money and time hosting you and your film, so it's a good investment. Also, as a nonprofit organization, we depend on the entry fees to pay for administering our festival.
  • What is an "exhibition copy"? And what exhibition formats do you accept?
    An exhibition copy refers to the film or digital print that you will send to us for public exhibition at the film festival if your film is chosen. The filmmaker is expected to ship us an exhibition copy by a specified deadline (usually in late September). If your exhibition copy is screening at another festival before ours, you should instruct them to ship the exhibition copy to us. For feature films, we accept 35mm film, DCP, and HDCam. Under certain situations, we may accept Blu-ray. For short films, we accept quicktime .mov files only.
  • Why don't you exhibit your films on Digibeta or DVD?
    Digibeta is phasing out, and we don't want to rent a Digibeta deck from out of town to cater to just a few titles. DVD is not a commercial exhibition format and is prone to skipping and throwing hissy fits about region and format compatibility issues.
  • What are my chances of being accepted?
    Really good for films that are exciting and innovative, really bad for films which are not. It averages out to about the odds of getting into Berkeley. Tip for short films: your chances of selection can be increased greatly by limiting the total running time to under 15 minutes.
  • What happens if my film is selected?
    By mid-July, our programming staff should contact you by email, phone, or both to let you know that we would like to screen your film. Once you confirm your film's exhibition format with us, we begin the marketing process. We will do our best to give your film excellent exposure, but our success also depends on your help in marketing the film online as well. Each confirmed filmmaker receives one All-Festival Pass, plus access to the guest lounge. All films entered into our festival have a chance at winning an award in one of several categories from our distinguished jury, as well as the audience award.
  • Why do you have more than one way to submit a film? Should I use Withoutabox?
    Because of the number of entries each year, it's important that we streamline the process. If you have an account with Withoutabox, please submit using that system. However, we recognize that not all filmmakers have a Withoutabox account. If you want to submit to us by mail, simply download the PDF of our entry form, fill it out, and send it to us in the mail along with your DVD screener and entry fee.
  • How important is a press kit?
    Press notes are helpful but not essential to us. The most important part of a press kit is your high resolution film stills. If your film is selected, we will need stills from your film (not headshots) that are at least 300 dpi (print quality). For feature length films, we may request the filmmaker's headshot and to do an interview for marketing purposes.
13th San Diego Asian Film Festival, November 1-9, 2012