Final Cut in Venice

The tenth edition of the FINAL CUT IN VENICE workshop will take place from September 3 to 5, 2022 during the Venice Production Bridge of the 79th Venice International Film Festival (Lido di Venezia, 31 August – 10 September 2022).

The Festival’s purpose is to provide concrete assistance in the completion of films from Africa and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria; and to offer producers and directors an opportunity to present films still in the production phase to international film professionals and distributors in order to facilitate post-production and promote co-production partnerships and market access.

3.1 Workshop
The workshop consists in three days of activities, in which the working copies of a maximum of 6 selected films (see articles 5 and 6) are presented to producers, buyers, distributors and film festival programmers. Networking, encounters and meetings will allow directors and producers to interact directly with the workshop participants. One-to-one meetings between the selected film teams and professionals are organized on September 5, 2022.

3.2 Screenings
The workshop also includes screenings of material of the selected films in the presence of the directors and producers. Only Industry pass holders will be allowed to attend the screenings: producers, distributors, operators, buyers, festival programmers, representatives of the institutions and others invited in advance by the Festival management.

Final Cut in Venice will conclude with the awarding of prizes in kind or in cash, the purpose of which is to provide economic support for the post-production phase of the films.
The following is the list of prizes:

· For the sixth year, La Biennale di Venezia will give a prize of € 5,000 to the best film in post-production. The La Biennale di Venezia Prize will be attributed by a jury composed of three members named by the Festival Director, while the other prizes will be awarded by final and irrevocable decision of the Festival Director, in conjunction with the project supporters, the heads of the institutions, and the service companies providing the following prizes
- € 15.000 for the color correction of a feature-length film offered by Laser Film (Rome) for up to 50 hours of work (technician included);
- € 15.000 offered by Mactari Mixing Auditorium (Paris) for the sound mixing of a feature length film (up to 12 days of work, sound mixer not included);
- one of the selected projects will benefit from the film composers represented by Oticons and the original score that they will create. The production of the original score will include all relevant services, such as spotting sessions/composition/orchestration/mockups/final production, of a total value of € 12.000;
- for a feature-length fiction film a $ 10.000 MG or for a feature-length documentary a $ 3.000 MG for marketing, publicity and distribution in the Arab World offered by MAD Solutions for one Arab project (except for projects already funded by MAD Solutions);
- Titra Film (Paris) will offer up to € 5.000 for color-grading; up to € 3.000 for the production of a DCP master, or the creation of i-Tunes, Google or Netflix files; up to € 2.000 for French or English subtitles (translation not included);
- up to € 7.500 for the creation of the DCP master with Italian or English subtitles, offered by Sub-Ti Ltd. (London);
- up to € 7.500 for the accessible contents of the film for audiences with sensory disabilities: subtitles for the deaf and hearing-impaired and audio description for the blind and visually impaired, including audio subtitles in voiceover, in Italian or English (the subtitles and the audio-described soundtrack for the DCP will be provided) offered by Sub-Ti Access Srl (Turin).
- € 5.000 for the purchase of two-year broadcasting rights by Rai Cinema;
- $ 5.000 awarded to an Arab project and an invitation to participate in the CineGouna Platform offered by the El Gouna Film Festival;
- € 5.000 offered by Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) as a refund for post-production services – delivered by societies based in one of the EU or OACPS countries (except South Africa) – of a feature-length film realised by a director from one of the ACP countries and produced or co-produced by a society based in one of the ACP countries;
- participation in the production costs of a DCP (€ 2.500), offered by the Festival International du Film d’Amiens;
- participation in the production costs of a DCP (€ 2.500), offered by the Festival International de Films de Fribourg;
- One of the selected projects will benefit from the Eye on Films label, which will present the film to distributors and festivals affiliated with EoF and will contribute to the communication of the film for a value of € 2,500 on the occasion of its world premiere in an A-category festival.

5.1 Eligibility criteria of the films
All works submitted must be in post-production and made exclusively by filmmakers from countries as specified in Art. 2. Only feature fiction or feature art-house documentary films (expected min. length of each film: 60 minutes) will be considered.
It is preferable to send a complete working copy of the film. Should the film still be in an initial editing stage, a series of edited sequences will be accepted (totalling at least one-third of the overall anticipated length of the film), accompanied by the director’s statement of intent and a film treatment.

5.2 Subtitles
Should the language spoken in the film not be English, the copy to be submitted should be subtitled in English.

5.3 Subsequent submission
Each film may submit to only two editions of the “Final Cut in Venice” workshop, and may submit the second time only if substantial progress in the production of the working copy has been achieved, and if the film was not awarded in the previous edition.

5.4 Submission to other sections of the Festival
Submission to the “Final Cut in Venice” workshop precludes submission to any other official section of the Festival that same year. However, it is possible to submit the film to official sections of the Festival the following year. Moreover, upon the discretion of the Festival Director, a film in post-production that was submitted to the official sections of the Festival but was not selected may be submitted to the workshop the same year.

6.1 Selection
The Festival Director, assisted by a staff of experts, is responsible for selecting the films; his decision is final and irrevocable.

6.2 Selection results
The selection results will be communicated to the submitted films by 11 July 2022.

7.1 Materials to be sent for the selection
In order to be considered for selection, by 20 June 2022, applicants must:
a)   fill out the Final Cut in Venice SUBMISSION FORM, in acceptance of the present regulations;
b) send a link with the password (valid at least until 11 July 2022) for online viewing to: finalcut@labiennale.org.

7.2 Informational material about the film
Informational material about the submitted film must be sent exclusively in electronic format to: finalcut@labiennale.org.

7.3 Return of the films sent
The Festival is not required to return the films submitted for the selection process.

8.1 Entry form
Invited films will receive an Entry form, which must be filled out and returned by 13 July 2022. The Festival’s reception of the completed and signed form implies the legal acceptance of the invitation on the part of all those to whom it is sent; acceptance is considered final and binding.
The film’s invitation to participate in the workshop must remain completely confidential until the Festival program has been officially announced; failure to comply will result in the film’s exclusion from participation.

8.2 Copies and materials
The representatives of the invited films must send by 15 July 2022 all informative material required for the catalogue and the Venice Production Bridge-VPB (synopsis, statement of intent, crew and cast list, director’s biography and complete filmography, photographs of the director and cast and scenes from the film in b/w or in color). It must be labeled “Material for VPB” and sent to: finalcut@labiennale.org.  

The screening copies in DCP in the original version with English subtitles, must be sent by and no later than 16 August 2022. A working copy that is further along with respect to the version submitted to the selecting commission can be sent:
- 2 copies in DCP, in the original version with English subtitles;
- 1 link or DVD in original version with English subtitles, for the exclusive use of the Festival’s internal services.

Only in special cases, which must be authorized in writing by the Director, the deadline of 16 August 2022 can be extended; however, should the copies of the film not arrive by 26 August 2022, the screenings will be cancelled.

Mailing address to which the screenings copies must be sent:

La Biennale di Venezia – Cinema Department
FINAL CUT IN VENICE
79th VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Palazzo del Cinema, Lungomare Marconi, 30126 Lido di Venezia
Tel. +39 041 5218878 / Fax +39 041 5218854

8.3 Shipping costs
The full cost of sending the material to the Festival headquarters, including customs expenses as well as their return freight, will be borne by the applicant.

The Festival will cover trip expenses and accommodations for the directors, and accommodations for one producer, for each of the selected films, for four nights (2 to 6 September 2022), if the conditions regarding the development of the pandemic will allow it.

Films which are selected and awarded one or more workshop prizes must indicate the authorized logo and the phrase “With the support of the Final Cut in Venice workshop” in the opening credits of the film (if other film partners appear in the opening credits), in the poster’s logos block and in all promotional material. As a binding condition, in the closing titles the authorized logo and the phrase “With the support of the Final Cut in Venice workshop” must appear in the foreground, with the logos of the workshop partners who gave the prizes smaller in the background. The film that will be awarded the Venice Biennale Prize has to display alongside the logo of the Festival also the sentence ‘La Biennale Prize Final Cut in Venice 2022’. The films selected for Final Cut in Venice and not awarded will have to report on the credits the logo of the Festival with the phrase "The film took part in the workshop Final Cut in Venice".

Participation in the Final Cut in Venice workshop constitutes unconditional adherence to these Regulations. The producers, distributors or other subjects submitting the film must ensure they are legitimately entitled to enter the film.

The Festival Director reserves the right to settle any case not covered by these Regulations, and to waive the Regulations in special and well-motivated instances. In case of dispute regarding the interpretation of the single articles of the Regulations, the original text written in Italian is to be considered final.