RULES & REGULATIONS

RULES & REGULATIONS

BFF Web Series / BFF OTT Awards

Please read the rules and regulations carefully before submitting your film.

If you have any queries regarding submissions. Please Contact Us at 9815068100.

1. Objectives of the Award

• The Award is aimed at acknowledging, encouraging and honouring the flourishing OTT content and its creators. It seeks to foster growth and innovation in the Indian OTT industry by encouraging and celebrating web series content produced for and screened on digital platforms. The award also aims to encourage OTT content in Indian languages by promoting regional diversity and creativity in the web content industry, including content produced in regional languages. The Award will recognize and reward exceptional talent that has realized its potential due to the opportunities provided by the OTT space in India.
  The Bathinda Film Festival Short Film Awards, Feature Film Awards & BFF Series / Over The Top (OTT) Awards is an event organised by Bathinda Film Foundation to recognise the best content creation and creators in the dynamic digital space. By participating in the Bathinda Film Festival OTT Awards, you agree to be bound by and abide by the terms and conditions governing the same which are as follows:

2. GENERAL RULES FOR BFF SERIES/ BFF OTT AWARDS

• 2.1) There is No Entry Fee in any category.
• 2.2) The web series/season under application must have a total runtime of at least 100 minutes, have a minimum of three (3) episodes and be tied together under the same title or trade name.
• 2.3) Pilot episode or Promotional episode or Trailer of maximum of 5 minutes duration will have to submit via Google drive/We transfer/ Youtube link for the purpose of AV (Audio Visual) display & for Jury delibrations.
• 2.4) In order to be eligible for consideration in the BFF OTT Awards, each Entry should be submitted as a streaming link in the form and manner prescribed by BFF.
• 2.5) In addition to the above, the Participant shall be required to submit images/posters and clips of duration 30 to 90 Seconds of the Entries in the form and manner prescribed by BFF, to play as a part of the nominations clip/ AV and for promotions of the BFF Awards.
• 2.6) Both released & un-released web series can be submitted.
• 2.7) Last date for Entries : 28-10-2024 (05:00 pm.)
• 2.8) Google Drive /We transfer/ Youtube/ Facebook links are allowed.
• 2.9) ਵੈੱਬ ਸੀਰੀਜ਼ / ਸੀਜ਼ਨ ਦਾ ਕੁੱਲ ਰਨ ਟਾਈਮ ਘੱਟੋ-ਘੱਟ 100 ਮਿੰਟ ਦਾ ਹੋਣਾ ਚਾਹੀਦਾ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਘੱਟੋ-ਘੱਟ ਤਿੰਨ (3) ਐਪੀਸੋਡ ਹੋਣੇ ਚਾਹੀਦੇ ਹਨ ਅਤੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਐਪੀਸੋਡ ਇੱਕੋ ਸਿਰਲੇਖ ਜਾਂ ਵਪਾਰਕ ਨਾਮ ਦੇ ਹੇਠ ਇਕੱਠੇ ਬੰਨ੍ਹੇ ਹੋਏ ਹੋਣੇ ਚਾਹੀਦੇ ਹਨ।
• 2.10) ਜਿਊਰੀ ਵਿਚਾਰ-ਵਟਾਂਦਰੇ ਦੇ ਉਦੇਸ਼ ਲਈ ਵੈੱਬ ਸੀਰੀਜ਼ ਦਾ ਪਾਇਲਟ ਐਪੀਸੋਡ ਜਾਂ ਪ੍ਰੋਮੋਸ਼ਨਲ ਐਪੀਸੋਡ ਜਾਂ ਟ੍ਰੇਲਰ ਵੱਧ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਧ 5 ਮਿੰਟ ਦਾ ਬਣਾ ਕੇ Google Drive /We transfer/ Youtube ਲਿੰਕ ਰਾਹੀਂ ਭੇਜਿਆ ਜਾਵੇ।
• 2.11) BFF OTT ਅਵਾਰਡਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਵਿਚਾਰ ਲਈ ਯੋਗ ਹੋਣ ਲਈ, ਹਰੇਕ ਐਂਟਰੀ ਨੂੰ BFF ਦੁਆਰਾ ਨਿਰਧਾਰਤ ਫਾਰਮ ਅਤੇ ਤਰੀਕੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਵੈੱਬ ਸੀਰੀਜ਼ ਦਾ ਇੱਕ ਸਟ੍ਰੀਮਿੰਗ ਲਿੰਕ ਵੀ ਭੇਜਿਆ ਜਾਵੇ।
• 2.12) ਉਪਰੋਕਤ ਤੋਂ ਇਲਾਵਾ, ਹਰੇਕ ਵੈੱਬ ਸੀਰੀਜ਼ ਦੀ ਇੱਕ 30 ਤੋਂ 90 ਸਕਿੰਟਾਂ ਦੀ ਕਲਿੱਪ/ਏ.ਵੀ. ਦੇ ਰੂਪ ਵਿੱਚ Nominations ਲਈ ਭੇਜੀ ਜਾਵੇ।

3. Eligibility and Submission Criteria:

• In order to be eligible for participation in the Bathinda Film Festival OTT Awards, the Indian content shows on OTT Platforms or Youtube or Facebook:
• 3.1) Should be deemed as an original piece of work (commissioned, produced, co-produced or acquired with the purpose of releasing on an OTT Platform/ Social Media/ Youtube/ Facebook)
• 3.2) The Entry should be primarily created in the Punjabi or Hindi Language.
• 3.3) If language of the web Series is other than Punjabi or Hindi, Punjabi Subtiles must be provided before 15-10-2024.
• 3.4) The Entries should have been completed or released between the period starting from January 1, 2023, and ending on Oct. 28, 2024.
• 3.5) Un-released Web series are also eligible to participate in BFF SERIES.
• 3.6) All rights for Entries should be owned by the OTT Platforms/Production Houses/Producers as may be applicable.
• 3.7) All Entries submitted by the Production House or any individual should be approved by the platform on which the show is hosted. The responsibility of getting the Entries approved by the platform with necessary permissions completely rests with the Production House. Any request for a change of award category after submission of the entry form shall be subject to the approval of BFF.
• 3.8) In order to be eligible for consideration in the Bathinda Film Festival Series/ OTT Awards, each Entry should be submitted as a streaming link in the form and manner prescribed by BFF.
• 3.9) All eligible Participants / entrants in each Category (as defined in these Terms) shall have their name listed on the credit rolls of the Entry. A PDF upload of the credits, if required, with each Entry in the form and manner prescribed by BFF. No changes in credits shall be allowed after the Submission (as defined in these Terms).

4. In addition to the above, the Participant shall be required to submit images/posters and clips of the Entries in the form and manner prescribed by BFF, to play as a part of the nominations clip and for promotions of the BFF OTT Awards across all mediums.

• 4.1) Please refer to the following specifications for Clips/images
  Wrapper Format: MP4 OR MOV
  Video Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) or
  (4K) Resolution: 3840x 2160 4k resolutions will be given priority, try to send 4 k resolution Videos.
  Video Ratio: 16:9
  Duration: 30 to 90 sec. (with rights to BFF to edit as per the requirement at different phases and mediums)
  Image Specifications: 300 dpi with 2 to 3 options.
• 4.2) Each Participant desirous of submitting Entries to the BFF OTT Awards shall be eligible to submit a maximum of 4 (four) Entries in each Category.
• 4.3) To be eligible for the award, the web series has to be originally created / shot series in any Indian language/ World Language. It has to be an original piece of work commissioned, produced, co-produced, licensed, or acquired with the purpose of releasing on the OTT Platform/ Youtube/ Facebook. All episodes of the entry (web series/season) should have been released on OTT platform/ Youtube/ Facebook between January 1, 2022, and September 30, 2024 or Un-released Web Series.
• 4.4) The award for the Best Web Series will be presented to one web series for its artistic merit, storytelling, technical excellence and overall impact. Certificates will be awarded to Director(s) / Creator(s) or both, and the Producer(s) / Production House(s) /OTT Platform (in case of original production or co-production) and to the OTT platform streaming the web-series.
• 4.5) There shall be a two-tier system, a Preview Committee and a Jury, for making selections for the award. The jury would comprise eminent film / web series professionals / personalities acclaimed in the field of web-series, cinema, and other allied arts from across India. The preview committee and the jury would be constituted by Bathinda Film Foundation.

5. OFFICIAL SELECTION OF WEB SERIES

• 5.1) Selection of web series for BFF will be done by a Preview committee & Jury.
• 5.2) However, Festival President and Festival Director reserves the right to accept or reject any web series that is likely to offend sentiments, feelings or sensibilities of any caste, community, religion and sect or is likely to promote racism or ill will in the society.
• 5.3) The Pre-Screening committee / Official Selection committee / Preview Committee will finalize the List of Official Selection of web series in each edition or Category.
• 5.4) The decision of the Selection Committee shall be final & binding on all the Participants.
• 5.5) The festival will not provide any feedback on web series or specific reasons for selection or rejection of any film.
• 5.6) Only the web series makers who make it to the official selection of the festival will be notified about selection at the end of the selection process and no information will be divulged before that.
• 5.7) The festival is not bound to share any information about the received web series / entries or the number of web series received with anyone.
• 5.8) The festival will not provide any feedback about the selection process of the web series.
• 5.9) The Preview Committee & Jury can evolve its own rules for assessment of the entries. The Festival Director or his representative can attend the Preview Committee and Jury deliberations.
• 5.10) Once the web series has been selected and the right holder confirms her/his agreement, web series in the official programme shall not be withdrawn from the festival programme before or during the event.
• 5.11) The festival will notify the selected web series makers.
• 5.12) If selected, the representatives of the selected web series must keep this information confidential (including on social media) till the official press conference of the Bathinda Film Festival, where the final list of selected web series will be announced. Breach of this will make the selection of the web series liable to be cancelled.

6. Copyright

• 6.1) It is the sole responsibility of the entrant to secure clearance from the copyright holders of any copyrighted material included in the web series. BFF will not be held responsible for the unauthorized inclusion of any copyrighted material.
• 6.2) Bathinda Film Festival reserves the rights to copy or use the material submitted by the participants in any form, online or offline, for the festival’s promotional and archival purposes. Note that your entire web series will never be shared with anyone or uploaded online without your permission. We understand that web series makers want to keep the web series private, and we will honour that.
• 6.3) All content used in the web series must be either owned or licensed. If any copyrighted material is used in the web series, the participant must have the permission and submit a copy to the Festival Organizers.
• 6.4) Only the rights holder is eligible to fill the form. You are solely responsible for the authenticity of the information provided by you. In case of any discrepancies found in the information provided by you, your entry will be disqualified.
• 6.5) An applicant submitting a web series to the festival must confirm that they have the requisite authority or has obtained the requisite authority from the rights holder to submit this web series in the BATHINDA FILM FESTIVAL.
• 6.6) BFF reserves the right to disqualify any fweb series with any unauthorized inclusion of copyrighted material.

7. Authority Letter

• 7.1) The applicant must submit Authority Letter with the form “I confirm that I have the requisite authority or i took the requisite authority from the rights holder of this web series to submit the web series in the BATHINDA FILM FESTIVAL 2024.”
• 7.2) ਮੈਂ ਪੁਸ਼ਟੀ ਕਰਦਾ/ਕਰਦੀ ਹਾਂ ਕਿ ਮੇਰੇ ਕੋਲ web series ਨੂੰ ਸਬਮਿੱਟ ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਲੋੜੀਂਦੀ ਅਥਾਰਟੀ ਹੈ ਜਾਂ ਮੈਂ ਬਠਿੰਡਾ ਫ਼ਿਲਮ ਫੈਸਟੀਵਲ 2024 ਵਿੱਚ web series ਜਮ੍ਹਾਂ ਕਰਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਇਸ web series ਦੇ ਅਧਿਕਾਰਧਾਰਕ ਤੋਂ ਲੋੜੀਂਦੀ ਅਥਾਰਟੀ ਲੈ ਲਈ ਹੈ.

8. Transportation & Insurance

• 8.1) Transportation and insurance costs of Pen Drives/DVDs/BLURAYs, related documents, photographs and publicity materials from the country of origin to the Festival Office shall be borne by the applicant.
• 8.2) For any duties, fees and charges accrued from the transporting of the trophy, awards, prizes will be covered by the recipient, not the Festival organizers.
• 8.3) The Pen Drive /DVDs / Blu-ray/HDD sent for selection will be retained by the Festival for Festival Archive. Also, DVDs/Pen Drives/HDD containing photographs & publicity material received with the Entry Form will be kept by the Festival.

9. Rights of the Festival Director

• 9.1) Festival Director reserves the right to accept or not to accept any web series on any ground without assigning any reason.
• 9.2) Decisions of the Festival Director regarding all matters not expressly provided in these regulations or which require interpretation of the clauses mentioned above shall be final & binding on all.
• 9.3) The Festival Director reserves the right to settle all cases not covered by the guidelines and to grant exceptions in special cases.
• 9.4) The festival director also reserves the right to remove any web series from the selection List in any special cases as deemed by the festival.
• 9.5) All cases will be governed by and construed in all respects in accordance with the laws of India and settled under the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Bathinda City.

10. GENERAL CONDITIONS

• 10.1) The web series that are selected for official Selection List will not be allowed to withdraw under any circumstances until the festival is over.
• 10.2) The applicant will be the main point of contact for all future communications regarding this entry into the festival.
• 10.3) If any dispute arises the decision of the Festival President will be Final for all.
• 10.4) Festival President reserves the right to change / modify / alter any rule or its part or event of this competition anytime.

11. GENERAL AGREEMENT FOR PARTICIPATION IN BATHINDA FILM FESTIVAL

• 11.1) I have read the Rules and Regulations on the website and accept the Rules and Regulations of Bathinda Film Festival. I certify that I hold necessary rights for the presentation of this film in Bathinda Film Festival and that all rights and permissions have been made. This film is not subject to any litigation nor is threatened by any litigation. By accepting these conditions, I transfer to Bathinda Film Festival the right to use excerpts of the submitted film, its stills, and trailers, for the purposes of publicity and marketing of the film festival at the various social networks and on the website of the festival, and for other non-commercial purposes related to the promotion of the festival. I hereby agree to indemnify Bathinda Film Festival, in the event that such rights have not been properly transferred.
• 11.2) ਮੈਂ ਵੈੱਬਸਾਈਟ ਤੇ ਨਿਯਮਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਸ਼ਰਤਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਪੜ੍ਹਲਿਆ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਮੈਂ ਬਠਿੰਡਾ ਫਿਲਮ ਫੈਸਟੀਵਲ ਦੇ ਨਿਯਮਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਸ਼ਰਤਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਸਵੀਕਾਰ ਕਰਦਾ/ਕਰਦੀ ਹਾਂ। ਮੈਂ ਪ੍ਰਮਾਣਿਤ ਕਰਦਾ/ਕਰਦੀ ਹਾਂ ਕਿ ਮੇਰੇ ਕੋਲ ਬਠਿੰਡਾ ਫਿਲਮ ਫੈਸਟੀਵਲ ਵਿੱਚ ਇਸ ਫਿਲਮ ਦੀ ਪੇਸ਼ਕਾਰੀ ਲਈ ਲੋੜੀਂਦੇ ਅਧਿਕਾਰ ਹਨ ਅਤੇ ਇਹ ਕਿ ਜਿਥੇ ਕਿਤੇ ਲੋੜ ਸੀ ਸਾਰੇ ਅਧਿਕਾਰ ਅਤੇ ਇਜਾਜ਼ਤਾਂ ਸੰਬੰਧਿਤ ਪ੍ਰੋਡਿਊਸਰ / ਡਾਇਰੈਕਟਰ ਤੋਂ ਲੈ ਲਈਆਂ ਗਈਆਂ ਹਨ। ਇਹ ਫਿਲਮ ਕਿਸੇ ਵੀ ਮੁਕੱਦਮੇ ਦੇ ਅਧੀਨ ਨਹੀਂ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਨਾ ਹੀ ਭਵਿੱਖ ਵਿਚ ਕਿਸੇ ਮੁਕੱਦਮੇ ਅਧੀਨ ਆਉਣ ਦੀ ਸੰਭਾਵਨਾ ਜਾਂ ਧਮਕੀ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਗਈ ਹੈ. ਇਹ ਫਿਲਮ ਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ ਕਾਨੂੰਨ ਅਤੇ ਵਿਵਸਥਾ ਦਾ ਪਾਲਣ ਕਰਦੀ ਹੈ. ਇਹਨਾਂ ਸ਼ਰਤਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਸਵੀਕਾਰ ਕਰਦੇ ਹੋਏ, ਮੈਂ ਬਠਿੰਡਾ ਫਿਲਮ ਫੈਸਟੀਵਲ ਨੂੰ ਵੱਖ-ਵੱਖ ਸੋਸ਼ਲ ਨੈਟਵਰਕਸ ਅਤੇ ਫੈਸਟੀਵਲ ਦੀ ਵੈਬਸਾਈਟ 'ਤੇ ਫਿਲਮ ਫੈਸਟੀਵਲ ਦੇ ਪ੍ਰਚਾਰ ਅਤੇ ਮਾਰਕੀਟਿੰਗ ਦੇ ਉਦੇਸ਼ਾਂ ਲਈ ਪੇਸ਼ਕੀਤੀ ਫਿਲਮ ਦੇ ਅੰਸ਼ਾਂ, ਇਸ ਦੇ ਸ੍ਟਿਲ ਅਤੇ ਟ੍ਰੇਲਰਾਂ ਦੀ ਵਰਤੋਂ ਕਰਨ ਦਾ ਅਧਿਕਾਰ ਟ੍ਰਾਂਸਫਰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਫੈਸਟੀਵਲ ਦੇ ਪ੍ਰਚਾਰ ਨਾਲ ਸਬੰਧਤ ਹੋਰ ਗੈਰ-ਵਪਾਰਕ ਉਦੇਸ਼ਾਂ ਲਈ ਵਰਤੋਂ ਕਰਨ ਦਾ ਅਧਿਕਾਰ ਟ੍ਰਾਂਸਫਰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ। ਮੈਂ ਬਠਿੰਡਾ ਫਿਲਮ ਫੈਸਟੀਵਲ ਨੂੰ ਮੁਆਵਜ਼ਾ ਦੇਣ ਲਈ ਸਹਿਮਤ ਹਾਂ, ਜੇਕਰ ਅਜਿਹੇ ਅਧਿਕਾਰਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਸਹੀ ਢੰਗ ਨਾਲ ਤਬਦੀਲ ਨਹੀਂ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ।

12. Disclaimer

• 12.1) All disputes in respect of any matter relating to the BFF shall be subjected to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts and forums in Bathinda City only.
• 12.2) Bathinda Film Festival & Bathinda Academy of Motion Pictures are the registered trademarks of Bathinda Film Foundation.
• 12.2) All rights reserved with Bathinda Film Foundation 2024.