CIFF 2025 RULES & REGULATIONS 

CIFF 2025 RULES AND REGULATIONS – INTRODUCTION

In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires:

• Festival refers to the Celebrating India Film Festival (CIFF) 2025.
• Applicant refers to the Producer or Rights Holder of the film, or in the case of co-productions, the entity legally authorised to submit the film for CIFF and act on its behalf for all festival-related purposes.
• Festival Organiser refers to Graphisads Limited, or any agency or institution formally associated with Graphisads Limited for the purpose of organising CIFF 2025.
• These CIFF 2025 rules provide the official framework for participation and are binding for all applicants.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The CIFF 2025 rules are designed to support the festival’s core mission and ensure clarity and fairness in all processes. The Celebrating India Film Festival aims to:

• Showcase Cinematic Diversity: Present a wide range of Indian films, spanning various genres, formats, and regional languages.
• Promote Cultural Understanding: Use cinema as a tool to foster dialogue about India’s diverse cultures, traditions, and social issues.
• Support Emerging Talent: Provide a platform for emerging filmmakers in alignment with CIFF 2025 rules and submission standards.
• Facilitate Knowledge Exchange: Become a hub for learning, networking, and collaboration through panel discussions, masterclasses, and In Conversation sessions.
• Recognise Excellence: Celebrate and honour outstanding cinematic achievements through awards and recognition, guided by transparent CIFF 2025 rules.

THEME

The CIFF 2025 rules support the festival’s thematic focus, ensuring that submitted films align with one or more of the following:

• Environment and Wildlife: Films that explore India’s biodiversity, conservation, and communities living in harmony with nature.
• Tourism and Heritage: Films that showcase a journey through India’s stunning landscapes, monumental heritage, legacy, traditions, and cultural identity, promoting tourism.
• Art, Culture, and Spirituality: Films that delve into India’s diverse artistic traditions, cultural practices, and spiritual philosophies, celebrating India’s creativity, philosophy, and introspective spirit

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

The following awards shall be presented at CIFF 2025:

• Best Feature Film

₹1,00,000 cash prize + Trophy + Certificate

• Best Documentary

₹51,000 cash prize + Trophy + Certificate

• Best Short Film

₹25,000 cash prize + Trophy + Certificate

• Other Awards and Special Recognitions 

COMPONENTS

• Certificate each to the Director(s) and Producer(s)
• Cash Prize shall be shared equally: 50% to the Director(s) and 50% to the Producer(s). In case of multiples, each group’s portion will be divided equally.

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

The following conditions must be met by all film entries:

• Films must be in any Indian language or be a silent film, and must be submitted in their original language. English subtitles are mandatory.

• The director and producer must be Indian nationals.
• International co-productions shall be eligible, provided that at least one co-producer is Indian and the principal creative and technical team comprises primarily Indian nationals.
• Films must have been completed between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2025.
• Film Duration and Categorisation:
  • Feature Films shall include Fiction Films with a total running time of more than 72 minutes.
  • Non-Feature Films shall include Animation Films and Fiction Films with a total running time of less than 72 minutes, and  Documentary Films.
• All entries must be submitted exclusively via FilmFreeway using the official entry form before the submission deadline, i.e., July 7, 2025.

• Disqualification- A film will be disqualified if:

• The English subtitles are not included for the entire film, unclear, or unreadable etc. Applicants should ensure that subtitles are clear and readable and do not merge with the visuals or background. 
• The technical specifications do not conform to the prescribed format.
• Any attempt is made to contact or influence members of the jury or selection committees.
• The applicant provides false, misleading, or inaccurate information at any stage. In such cases, the Celebrating India Film Festival (CIFF) – 2025 reserves the right to reject the entry and cancel the film’s selection, if selected.

PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION

• All entries must be submitted via FilmFreeway using the official online entry form.
• Incomplete submissions or those not conforming to prescribed criteria may be declined.
• Each entry form must be accompanied by a professionally encoded screener available on FilmFreeway. The screener must remain accessible throughout the entire selection process and until the official announcement of the selected films.
• The last date for online application submission is July 7, 2025. Applications received after this date may be rejected.
• By submitting a film to CIFF 2025, the applicant affirms full agreement with all rules and regulations outlined herein.
• Incomplete or non-compliant submissions may not be considered for selection. Entries that do not comply with the requirements specified in the regulations may be summarily rejected.

SELECTION PROCESS

• All submitted films shall be first reviewed for eligibility and suitability for the programme by the Programming Department, headed by the Festival Director.
• The shortlisted films shall be screened by the Preview Committee, which will recommend the films for screening at the Festival and nominations for the award. 
• The nominated films shall be evaluated by a designated Jury panel.
• The Committee and Jury will determine their own working process.
• It is clarified that not all selected films shall be nominated for awards. The applicant shall be required to explicitly indicate, by selecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in the entry form, whether they agree to have their film considered for screening only (without award nomination) as part of the Festival’s curated sections. Films for which such consent is not provided shall be excluded from consideration for screening in the curated section. No requests or appeals regarding changes to this categorisation shall be entertained.

• The decision of the Jury panel shall be final and binding, and not subject to appeal.
• The Festival Director, CIFF, or their nominee may attend jury deliberations to provide information or clarification. However, they will not participate in the deliberations or vote.

FESTIVAL PROGRAMMING

• Screening Format Requirements for Selected Films: Upon official selection, the film must be submitted in the following screening format:
  • Feature Films: DCP – Unencrypted, DCI Compliant – J2K, Interop or SMPTE formats (Note: Interop DCPs must be in 24 fps) must be submitted on an external hard disk.
  • Non-Feature Films: MP4, MOV, or H.264 file (Resolution: 1920 x 1080), submitted via USB Pen Drive
• Promotional Materials Requirements for Selected Films: Upon official selection, the following materials shall be submitted along with the screening format:
  • Director’s photograph (high-resolution)
  • Film stills in both portrait and landscape orientation
  • Official film posters in both portrait and landscape orientation
  • Trailer (under 180 seconds) or Teaser of the film (under 30 seconds)

The above promotional materials shall be submitted by all selected entries and shall be utilised for use in the Festival’s official communication, promotion and publicity purposes. The publicity materials of selected films will be retained by the Festival Organisers for future communication, promotion and publicity purposes. 

• A Certificate shall be felicitated to all the selected films during the festival. The director and producer will be credited as declared in the application form. Requests for changes to these credits will not be accepted at any stage.

The names of the Director(s) and Producer(s) shall be credited and awarded based on the information provided by the applicant in the entry form. No requests for name changes shall be entertained at any stage. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the names entered match the credit titles in the submitted film, as these may be used for verification, if required.

• The Festival shall not offer or provide any screening fee or financial compensation for films selected for screening and inclusion in the festival. Submission to the festival implies agreement to this condition. 
• In addition to the films submitted, the Festival shall also showcase an independent curation as part of a thoughtfully programmed line-up that may include retrospectives, tributes, thematic segments, and other curated showcases based on internal programming considerations. These decisions shall be final.
• Final scheduling and section placement will be at the discretion of the Festival.

GENERAL CONDITIONS

• Submission of a film to CIFF 2025 implies full and irrevocable acceptance of all rules, terms, and conditions outlined in these regulations.
• Any matters not expressly covered within these regulations shall be addressed and resolved by the Organising Committee, and its decisions shall be final and binding. The decision of the Jury shall be final and binding, and not subject to appeal.