Pursuant to the provisions of Article 18 of the Law on Cinematography (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” No. 99/11, 2/12 and 46/2014) and the Regulation on criteria and methods of selection of cultural projects financed and co-financed from the budget of the Republic Serbia, its autonomous province or units of local self-government (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 105/2016), the Film Center of Serbia, a cultural institution of national importance (hereinafter: “Center”), announces:

Public competition for financing and co-financing projects in cinema for 2017 in the category: Co-financing the production of minority co-productions

GENERAL CONDITIONS

All legal entities and entrepreneurs, holders of copyrights and estate rights have the right to participate in the competition, provided that they fulfill the following requirements:

  • that they have been registered in the appropriate register of the Business Registers Agency (hereinafter: “APR”), which is kept for the territory of the Republic of Serbia, with their registered main activity being production of cinematographic works, audio-visual works and television programs or distribution of cinematographic works, audio-visual works and television programs or presentation of cinematographic works (hereinafter referred to as “Producers”),
  • that their business accounts have not been blocked in the period from the date of submission of the application until the date of the decision of the Board of Directors on the selection of competition;
  • that they do not have unpaid liabilities pertaining to taxes or other public levies, on the day of filing the application for the competition.

As evidence of the fulfillment of the conditions stated in the previous paragraph, when applying, interested parties must submit:

  • an extract from the website of the Business Registers Agency proving the main activity of the Producer;
  • an extract from the website of the National Bank of Serbia, which shows that the Producer’s account is not blocked.
  • contract / transfer contract, optional contract or certified statement by the scriptwriter on the basis of which the Producer acquired the option or copyright to the script for the film to be applied.

The following do not have the right to participate in the competition:

  • the winners of previous competitions who have failed to fulfill obligations within or in connection with the contest and the contract that has been signed on the basis of a competition, or an obligation towards the ministry in charge of cultural affairs (hereinafter: Ministry) arising as a result of the termination of a contract signed on the basis of a competition; and / or obligations towards the Center and / or participants regarding the implementation of supported projects; as well as persons associated with them, until these obligations are fulfilled;
  • a person who has been imposed a ban on participation in the Center’s competitions, as well as related persons, until the expiration of the ban period;
  • an entrepreneur or legal entity in which the member of the Competition Commission or a person they are associated with are the founder, director, member of the management / supervisory board or other body, a representative or procurator;
  • an entrepreneur or a legal entity with a project in which a member of the Competition Committee or a person associated with it is engaged as a member of the creative/production team;
  • those applying for a competition with films that have been publicly screened before the closing of the competition;
  • persons applying for a competition with industry films, films done for a client, educational films, commercials and advertisements, as well as films with pornographic content, content that openly offends human dignity, that advocates or encourages discrimination, hatred or violence against a person or groups of people based on their race, religion, nation, ethnic group, gender, sexual orientation or some other personal characteristic.

The associated person referred to in paragraph 1, items 1) and 3) of this Article shall mean:

  • the legal entity in whose capital that person has a significant participation or the right to obtain such participation from convertible bonds, guarantees, options and the like;
  • the legal entity in which that person is the controlling member (controlled company);
  • a legal person who, together with that person, is under the control of a third party;
  • a physical person or an entrepreneur who was the owner or a majority member of a entity that was imposed a measure of prohibition.

The associated person referred to in paragraph 1, items 4) and 5) of this section shall mean:

  • a close blood relative of a member of the Competition Commission or distant a blood relative concluding with the second degree of kinship;
  • the spouse of the member of the Competition Commission and their blood relatives concluding with the first degree of kinship;
  • adopted relative of the member of the selection committee, as well as the descendants of the adopted persons;
  • other persons who live with a member of the Competition Commission in a joint household.

Applications with unreliable and inaccurate data will be rejected, and their applicants will be sanctioned by being banned from participation in public competitions of the Center for up to five years.

DECISION-MAKING CRITERIA

In addition to the criteria prescribed in Article 18 of the Law on Cinematography, the Competition Commission will evaluate projects based on the following criteria:

The quality of the scenarios (originality and universality of the theme and content, narrative structure and persuasiveness of the plot, innovation and potential contribution to the development of film language, expected appeal of the film for both domestic and international cultural space);

The director’s rating (the rating of the director’s concept, the director’s work, the success of the last film / the quality of the previous short-listed feature or documentary film (in the case of a debutant), ratings, prizes (foreign, domestic), festivals);

Evaluation of the main producer and domestic co-producer (the main producer: the feasibility of the project (complexity, budget, terms) and participation of international co-producers in the project, professional and financial credibility, success of previously produced films, domestic co-producer: professional and financial credibility, success of previously produced films);

Participation of domestic professionals, equipment and locations (director / screenwriter) (director of photography / main animator / composer / editor / screenwriter / sound recorder /sound designer / costume designer / lead role / supporting role; recording in the Republic of Serbia; renting equipment in the Republic of Serbia; post-production of tones or images in the Republic of Serbia.)

REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

Participants in the competition are obliged to submit the following documentation alongside their application as evidence that they meet the requirements for participation in the competition, which are stated in the general terms of the competition:

The final version of the script; synopsis; directorial explication; biography of directors and scriptwriters; storyboard (for animated films only); biography of the producer, or the profile of the production house; producer’s explication; list of the film authors; list of acting and technical talent (if existing at this stage of the project); financial plan (expected inflow of funds) with representation of co-production share in percentages, by countries of co-producers; distribution and marketing plan (if existing at this stage of production); timeline of film production, concluding with the date of making an appropriate first copy of the film; a co-production agreement showing the specifications of the Serbian side participation; proof that 50% of financial resources provided (e.g. bank guarantee, certificate of possession of appropriate technical capacities, contract whereby a third party is obliged to participate with its own funds in the realization of the project, excluding letters of intent and similar.); the film budget, i.e. budget estimate, in RSD and EUR amounts with indication of costs accrued in the Republic of Serbia; signed contract or confirmation that the project is being supported for production in a co-producing country, evidence of the way the project is financed.

DURATION OF THE COMPETITION

The competition is open for one month from the day of its public announcement in “Večernje novosti”, or from September 4, 2017 to October 4, 2017.

Application Form and Competition Documents are submitted in Serbian in electronic form in PDF format:

to the electronic address of the Center: konkurs2017@fcs.rs with a mandatory mention of the project title and the name of the competition for which the project is applied, in the subject

or

by regular mail, to the following address: Film Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Koče Popovića 9 / III with the notation “Do not open – application for the co-financing of projects in cinema for 2017 in the category: Co-financing of the production of minority co-productions”, or can be delivered personally.

The date of the documents being dropped off at an authorized post office shall be considered to be the date of submission of the application for the competition.

The application form is available on the website of the Film Center of Serbia (www.fcs.rs).

Untimely and incomplete applications, applications not submitted by authorized persons, applications not submitted on the prescribed form and applications that are not the subject of this Competition will not be considered.

DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

Within 60 days of the closing of the competition, the Competition Commission will deliver a proposal on the selection of projects and submit it to the Board of Directors. Based on the proposal of the Competition Commission, the Board of Directors of the Center will make a decision on the selection of projects and the allocation of funds for co-financing selected projects within 15 days from the date of the adoption of the Commission’s proposal.

The winners of the funds under this competition are obliged to use 80% of the funds obtained exclusively in the territory of the Republic of Serbia (by engaging professionals, actors and collaborators on the production who are citizens of the Republic of Serbia, or by filming, obtaining equipment and using studios or laboratories in the Republic of Serbia).

The Center will sign contracts on co-financing with selected project applicants, providing that they have previously submitted the tax administration’s certificate on paid public revenues that is not older than 10 days, confirming that the Producer does not have due and unpaid tax liabilities. The selected applicants are obliged to open an account with the Treasury Department.

OTHER INFORMATION

This text of the contest contains all the rules and conditions that will apply during the implementation of this competition. The provisions of the Law on Cinematography and the Law on General Administrative Procedure shall apply to all issues that are not explicitly regulated by the provisions of this competition.

By submitting the application to the competition, the contestants confirm that they are acquainted with and accept the conditions stated herein.

The submitted documentation will not be returned.

All additional information and explanations of importance for the implementation of the procedure can be obtained by calling +38111 2625131, or via e-mail sent to: ognjen@fcs.rs and bojana@fcs.rs.