For the inaugural event, there is no submission fees.
You will be notified through email if your work is included in the festival. We hope to see you there!
- Ownership and Authority — The submitter must own the film or have full legal authority from the copyright owner(s) to submit it and authorize its exhibition.
- Copyright Clearance — The filmmaker must have permission to use all copyrighted material appearing in the film, including photographs, artwork, video clips, archival footage, graphics, animation, scripts, and other protected works, unless a valid legal exception applies.
- Music Rights — All music must be original, properly licensed, in the public domain, or otherwise legally authorized for the film's intended festival exhibition. This should cover both the musical composition and sound recording when applicable.
- Talent and Appearance Releases — The filmmaker should have appropriate releases or permissions from actors, interview subjects, presenters, voice talent, and other identifiable individuals whose participation requires consent.
Minors — When legally required, filmmakers must obtain authorization from a parent or legal guardian for participating minors. Your rules can explicitly require documented parental/guardian consent as a condition of submission.
- Location and Property Releases — Filmmakers are responsible for obtaining any location, property, artwork, or other releases required for lawful production and exhibition of their film.
- Trademark and Brand Rights — Films must not unlawfully use trademarks, logos, branded material, or other protected intellectual property.
- Privacy and Publicity Rights — The film must not unlawfully violate an individual's privacy or right of publicity. This is particularly important for documentaries, travel films, interviews, and films featuring real people.
Defamation and Unlawful Content — The submitter should warrant that the film does not contain unlawful defamatory material or otherwise violate applicable law or third-party rights.
- No Conflicting Rights or Litigation — The filmmaker should confirm that there are no ownership disputes, contracts, liens, pending litigation, or other restrictions preventing the festival from legally exhibiting the film.
- Festival Exhibition Rights — If selected, the filmmaker should grant Passport Cinema Film Festival a limited, non-exclusive license to exhibit the film during the festival. The agreement should clearly define whether this includes theatrical, educational, virtual, or other screenings. Importantly, the filmmaker should retain ownership and copyright. FilmFreeway states that filmmakers retain their intellectual-property rights when using its service.
Promotional Rights — The filmmaker should authorize the festival to use the film's title, poster, still images, filmmaker information, trailer, and a defined amount of footage for festival marketing, publicity, press, social media, and programming. Define the amount of footage you may use rather than leaving this unlimited.
- Travel Creator Rights — For your Travel Creator Showcase, bloggers and vloggers should meet the same copyright, music, appearance, location, privacy, and other clearance requirements as traditional filmmakers. Being published on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or a personal blog does not eliminate the creator's responsibility to have appropriate rights to submitted material.
- AI-Generated Content — Filmmakers must disclose the percentage of AI-generated video, images, voices, music, performances, or other content and warrant that they possess sufficient rights to submit and exhibit the finished work.
Thank you for interest!