What is the Depth Of Field International Film Festival?

What is the Depth Of Field International Film Festival?

The DOFIFF is a semi-annual competition presented as a virtual festival (on-line only) that uses its funding to help take its winning films to major markets such as the the AFM, Cannes and many others through major distributors, instead of using funds to rent theatres and host a party that lasts for a few hours. Our goal is a long-term success story for our festival winners by getting them the distribution exposure that counts. Sure, parties are fun, but our end goal is not to host a party. We are in the business of helping you make your film successful and get seen by distributors, and only they can dictate a theatre showing to further test the market.

What makes DOFIFF special?

• Unlike most festivals, DOFIFF can guarantee that a select few of our winning films of the highest quality will be given to major, established distributors such as World Wide Motion Pictures Corporation, Shoreline Entertainment, Koan Distribution, etc., for possible ‘pickup’ opportunities in the distributors marketing packages.
• There is a huge over supply of indie movies. The numbers indicate that at least 30,000 new movies and videos of all kinds (both indie and major) are released every year. Our quest to showcase you to distributors that will actually view your film will help you wade through the sea of films that those distributors are bombarded with every day:  we move you to the front of the line.
• DOFIFF has agreed to provide this service to deserving, struggling filmmakers who might not otherwise get the chance to be seen by a major distributor or attend a major international buyers market, AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU.  And there are NO CONTRACTS to be signed with DOFIFF for this service.
• This award is dependent upon a sufficient number of competitive entries in any given category, but we KNOW you are out there! National and International alike!

Are there other awards besides the "Best Of" in each category?

• Yes: ALL "Official Selection" films in all categories are also eligible for other special recognition awards.
• These awards are available in each category, based on adequate competition and merit: Best actor, actress, cinematography, digital special effects, special effects makeup, female director, original song, costuming, etc., as well as awarding ‘Honorable Mention’ status to runner’s up. (For a list of the special recognition awards, click the “Submit Sub Cat” button on the DOFIFF.com menu bar)

Are there any unusual category classifications?

• Yes, we believe you will have a hard time finding a "Dust Collector" category like ours (Feature Films that were produced up until, and including, 2008), webisode, inspirational, plus we have separated "Sci-Fi" and "Horror" into two separate categories (we find too often that they are lumped together even though we consider them to be completely unique genres).

Are there discounts for students?

• Yes:  Students:  $28, no matter which deadline. 

Do you allow entries that ALREADY HAVE DISTRIBUTION?

• Projects may not have distribution unless that distribution contract is NON-EXCLUSIVE; the only exceptions to this are the categories of TV Commercials and PSA's. (NON-EXCLUSIVE means that distribution companies other than your current distributor have permission to approach you and contract a distribution deal with you.)
• TV Commercials and PSA's are allowed to enter DOFIFF regardless of their distribution status.

Does DOFIFF have any premiere policies?

• We do not have any official premiere policies, films screened at other festivals domestically and abroad may screen at our competition, when and if we decide to have  live screenings.

What if my movie doesn’t make it as an “Official Selection”?

Each film, whether accepted into the festival or not, will be watched in its entirety:  Our co-founder is a Committee Member for the Universal Film & Festival Organization (UFFO.ORG).  The UFFO is a non-profit operating out of the U.K., which exists for "Promoting best business practices for film festivals.”  This guarantees that your film will benefit from a fair and thorough judging process.

• Any film receiving a rejection letter gets FREE Earlybird entry into DOFIFF’s next competition.
• Anyone who has suffered the blood, sweat and tears to tell their story deserves recognition and feedback, and all rejection letters will include a list of improvements requested by the judges, as well as a list of good qualities about your film that you should try to keep when re-filming or re-editing.

What are the steps involved in the selection process?

• When you submit your film, it must first pass through our 1^st wave of judges to obtain official Selection status.

If you do not receive a separate email, then your film has already been deemed suitable for presentation to the 2^nd wave of NOMINATING judges for possible nomination to compete in your designated category.

•  If the 2^nd wave of judges nominates your film, you will receive an Official Nomination letter and instructions on how to download your Official Nomination Laurels.

 Nominated films will be listed by category on the DOFIFF.COM website.

• At the end of the competition, Winners will be announced and will receive Official Winner emails with instructions on how to download your Winning laurels.

• In order to insure that each film is studied and rated on an individual basis, DOFIFF has instituted a system where entries do not compete against each other, but instead are recognized for their own individual merits.
  For all intents and purposes, they compete against themselves:  each entry is judged on individual merits and scored on an inherent value system.
  The judges focus is on your film when it is your turn to be evaluated, not on all the other films that are in cue: this insures that they will not have comparisons going on in their minds when they should be focusing entirely on YOU.
  
  
  Judges score entries on a performance scale and winning entries are recognized and awarded not only for Best Of Show, but also for two Awards of Excellence levels, two Awards of Merit levels, a Kudos Endeavor Award, or no award.
  Best of Show honors are granted to the top scoring entry/entries for each season;  Awards of Excellence are granted to entries with truly exceptional artistic and technical achievements; and Notable achievements are recognized at the Award of Merit and 'Kudos' award levels.
  The number of awards granted at any given level will fluctuate based on the total number of entries received for each competition deadline.