Introduction to the film festival
RapidLion - The South African International Film Festival, awards the RapidLion to winning entrants. This award is fated to be the most coveted film prize outside Europe and North America. To be held in Johannesburg, the city with the biggest man-made forest in the world, boasting the richest square mile in Africa, with the largest diversity of creative and friendly people than most metropolises in the world, the greatest city in Africa, The South African International Film Festival, RapidLion, is where all filmmakers from Africa, the African diaspora and BRICS countries will showcase their best work. You will enjoy some of the best events ever hosted in the South African film fraternity, meet some of the best filmmakers that ever lived, learn from them if you participate, and leave the festival a better, more determined filmmaker than ever before. At RapidLion, the experienced will converge with the upcoming and together find ways to lead each other towards the creation of even more magical cinema. The RapidLion Award, whose design is a fusion of the Andinkra symbol of excellence and a lioness in full flight is platinum-plated. At 265mm tall, the award is 35mm shorter than the revered Oscar, but a lot more intricate in design. Weighing in at 5.2kg, 1.35kg heavier than the Oscar. It is also manufactured by the Chicago-based R.S. Owens & Company, which has been making the Oscar and Emmy awards since 1983, and has been producing some of the worlds most prestigious awards for over 73 years. On completing the final models, the company said of the RapidLion: “This award is one of the nicest pieces we’ve made. Just as beautiful as the Oscar”. The RapidLion is designed and manufactured to represent the pinnacle achievement of any filmmaker from Africa, the BRICS countries and the African diaspora. It aims to remind RapidLion film entrants that excellence comes through hard work and ferocious focus, and that these qualities can lead to greatness. Sfilmmaker is our exclusive platform for cooperation in China, and we look forward to your good film.
Awards
A RapidLion will be awarded in the following categories: - Best Student Film South Africa - Best Student Film BRICS - Best International Short Film - Best Soundtrack - Music (Best Song) - Film Editing - Cinematography - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Best Actress in a Leading Role - Best Humanitarian Film - Best Documentary Feature - Best Screenplay - Directing - Best of South Africa - Best of Africa and the African diaspora - Best of BRICS - Best Film Overall - The Lionel Ngakane Lifetime Achievement award
Rules
TERMS & CONDITIONS: We encourage you to read through these Terms and Conditions in full. TermS & Conditions for Submitting Films Through Sfilmmaker. I. Application of These Terms & Conditions (1) The following terms and conditions (the “Terms”) govern the submission of a film (the “Film”) to The South African International Film Festival (RapidLion), through Sfilmmaker.com (Sfilmmaker) and any other form of entry for consideration for RapidLion (the “Festival”). To the extent that this document is inconsistent with any other document prepared by RapidLion or anyone else, this document will take precedence. Any questions about these Terms should be directed to submissions. II. Submission Agreement 1. (1) By submitting a Film to RapidLion for Festival consideration, the submitter (the “Applicant”) represents that he or she has obtained consent from any and all owners, creators, writers, producers and/or other authorized representatives of the Film whose consent is required to submit the Film to RapidLion (the “Film Owners”) and screen the Film at the Festival, and has read, understood and agreed to the Terms. 2. (2) RapidLion may disqualify or reject, but is not required to do so, any submission that it determines in its sole discretion, is not in compliance, in whole or in part, with these Terms, and may do so without refunding any or all submission fees paid by the Applicant or returning the Applicant’s DVD submission. III. Submissions Categories and Eligibility 1. (1) Films submitted to RapidLion for Festival consideration under these Terms must be submitted in one of the categories set out below. 2. (2) Films that do not meet the eligibility requirements for any of the below categories should not be submitted and will not be considered by RapidLion. 3. (3) For the purpose of the below categories: a. “South African” films are Films that were directed by a South African citizen or permanent resident of South Africa AND list South Africa as one of the countries of production. b. African films are films made by persons who were born in Africa or are members of the African diaspora. c. BRICS films are Films that were directed by a citizen or permanent resident of one of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) AND list ANY of the BRICS countries as one of the countries of production. 4. (4) Submission categories: Category Eligibility requirements South African Features: South African feature films with runtimes of 60 minutes or longer. African & African Diaspora Features: Feature films made by people born on the African continent or permanently resident in any African country and by members of the African diaspora with runtimes of 60 minutes or longer. BRICS Features: Feature films by filmmakers from South Africa, Russia, China, India and Brazil with runtimes of 60 minutes or longer. Documentary Features: Documentary feature films by filmmakers from any part of the world with runtimes of 60 minutes or longer.Student Shorts: Films with runtimes of 59 minutes or less made by film students from Africa, the African Diaspora, Brazil, Russia, India and China studying in any film school in the world. International Shorts: Films with runtimes of 59 minutes or less made by film practiotioners from all parts of the world. 5. (5) The Festival is organised into a series of programmes, which are subject to change from year to year but might include, for example: In-Competition, Finalists, In-The-Spotlight, BRICS, etc. RapidLion may slot selected films into programmes at its sole and absolute discretion. 6. (6) RapidLion prefers that all short and feature films presented are, at minimum, African premieres. We will accept submissions that have already premiered in Africa, but the film’s premiere status will be taken into consideration when final programming decisions are made. 7. (7) A Film will not be eligible for consideration and should not be submitted if: 1. the Film was completed prior to January 1 of the year that precedes a RapidLion festival edition. For example RapidLion 2019 will not accept films made prior to 1 January 2018. 8. (8) All Feature Films and documentary feature films must be submitted as DVD screeners (as described below) or via Sfilmmaker as described below. 9. (9) All Short Films must be submitted online via Sfilmmaker as described below. 10. (10) For maximum copyright protection, all selected feature films must be available for final screening at the festival in a BD-ROM Blu-ray disc, (1920 x 1080p/Full HD/FHD) , 16:9 ratio with either a Region Free or Region B encoding, by January 15 , of the year of the RapidLion festival edition the film is being entered for. RapidLion should be made aware of all High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) encoded discs.
Evaluation
Jury Name | Judge photos | Jury Profile |
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Authorization type
Duration (several sessions)
Film Festival Features
Dates & Deadlines
2020-08-14
Submission start time
2020-08-31
Earlybird Deadline
2021-01-10
Regular Deadline
2021-02-05
Late Deadline
2021-02-05
Late Deadline
2021-02-26
Last Deadline
2021-02-26
Submission end time
2021-03-10
Finalist notification start time
2021-03-11
Finalist notification end time
2021-04-05
Award ceremony start time
2021-04-11
Award ceremony end time
Categories and fees
2020/08/31
Earlybird Deadline
Standard: 10 Dollar
Student: 10 Dollar
2021/01/10
Regular Deadline
Standard: 20 Dollar
Student: 20 Dollar
2021/02/05
Late Deadline
Standard: 30 Dollar
Student: 30 Dollar
2021/02/26
Last Deadline
Standard: 40 Dollar
Student: 40 Dollar
2020/08/31
Earlybird Deadline
Standard: 20 Dollar
Student: 20 Dollar
2021/01/10
Regular Deadline
Standard: 30 Dollar
Student: 30 Dollar
2021/02/05
Late Deadline
Standard: 45 Dollar
Student: 45 Dollar
2021/02/26
Last Deadline
Standard: 65 Dollar
Student: 65 Dollar
2020/08/31
Earlybird Deadline
Standard: 15 Dollar
Student: 15 Dollar
2021/01/10
Regular Deadline
Standard: 25 Dollar
Student: 25 Dollar
2021/02/05
Late Deadline
Standard: 35 Dollar
Student: 35 Dollar
2021/02/26
Last Deadline
Standard: 45 Dollar
Student: 45 Dollar
2020/08/31
Earlybird Deadline
Standard: 5 Dollar
Student: 5 Dollar
2021/01/10
Regular Deadline
Standard: 10 Dollar
Student: 10 Dollar
2021/02/05
Late Deadline
Standard: 10 Dollar
Student: 10 Dollar
2021/02/26
Last Deadilne
Standard: 10 Dollar
Student: 10 Dollar
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