1. I am a screenwriter and/or producer with an eligible short film project, can I enter the contest?
To enter the contest, you must collaborate with a director of age 18 or over, who has directed at least one publicly screened film but no more than one feature length film. The director will be the contest entrant. If you are the sole producer of the film, you cannot also be its director. As long as there are two or more producers attached to the film, one of them may be the director/entrant. The screenwriter and director can be the same person.
As long as you are a director of age 18 or over, who has directed at least one publicly screened film but no more than one feature length film, you can enter the contest.
Yes. You do not have to live in the Unites States to enter the contest. This is a global film contest.
Yes. However, with the exception of cast/actors, everyone else involved with the project in any capacity must be at least eighteen (18) years of age as of the date of contest entry. You must comply with all state and/or federal laws in your jurisdiction concerning the employment of minors if you work with actors under the age of eighteen (18).
No, you cannot enter the contest. However, you might be eligible to apply to our film grant program for funding. Please visit the film program website at film.claimscon.org
The director’s prior work will be assessed by the judges to evaluate director’s technical and artistic ability. The director’s prior work will be among the factors considered in choosing the finalists and winner.
No. You must submit a prior work sample that displays your directing skills. However, if you were the co-director on your prior work sample, then that is acceptable.
No, you may not. Your entry will be disqualified.
No. You must attach the link for the prior work sample to the online entry form. You can password-protect the online work sample and enter the password in the appropriate field on the entry form. The link should be accessible for six months. We will not accept your prior work sample in any other format or after the submission of your contest entry.
No. Your prior work sample can be a publicly screened short or feature-length film. However, please be advised that if you have directed more than one feature-length film, you will be disqualified from the contest.
Your prior work sample can be in a different language as long as it has English subtitles.
The Holocaust, defined as the systematic persecution and murder of Jews by the Nazis and their allies between 1933 and 1945 (and in the immediate post-war period), must be the main focus of your film project for the purposes of the contest.
While your film cannot use the Holocaust as a backdrop to discuss other issues, you are not limited to the World War II period itself. For example, your film may portray the experiences of Holocaust survivors after the war up to the present day, or focus on a topic such as current issues in art/property restitution. You are also not limited to the use of Jewish protagonists/main characters to portray the Holocaust experience (for example, a film might focus on a rescuer).
We recommend the following websites as a starting point:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Central Europe Center for Research and Documentation (Centropa), Austria
Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation, California
Center for Medicine After the Holocaust, Texas
Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, Illinois
Holocaust Museum Houston, Texas
Simon Wiesenthal Center (Museum of Tolerance), California
Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, New Jersey
Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, New York
Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center, Japan
POLIN: Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Poland
Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, South Africa
Polish Center for Holocaust Research, Poland
Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute, Poland
As long as your project is historically accurate and portrays the Holocaust realistically, it is eligible for contest entry. The events or characters portrayed in the film can be fictional.
Yes, it is eligible for contest entry. If you film includes animation, you will need to provide a sample of the animation style.
No, you cannot enter the contest in the narrative category without a screenplay. A screenplay not exceeding twenty (20) pages and in standard industry format is required for all narrative short film entries. Treatments are acceptable only for the documentary category.
You can submit up to two entries for the contest. Each entry must be for a different project; the second entry cannot be a revision of the first entry. If you submit more than two entries, we will consider only two and the rest of your entries will be disqualified.
We allow adaptations only if the original work is already in the public domain or if you adapted the screenplay from your own original work in a different format or if you are able to demonstrate that you have acquired the rights to the underlying material. Entries featuring any other kind of adaptation will be disqualified.
No. You cannot enter the contest with that screenplay unless the option expires and has not been renewed by the time of entry, or the individual/entity that has the option is one of the producers of the film and you are attached to the film as a non work for hire director.
No. Principal photography cannot begin before the winner has been announced. For documentaries, no more than 20% of the film may be shot.
Yes, the budget of your film can be over $40,000. However, at the time of the winner is announced, you must document that you have secured the necessary additional funding commitments.
The winner must sign all documents required by the Claims Conference in order to receive any of the prize money and to proceed to production stage of the short film
No, it can be in any language. However, screenplays in other languages must be accompanied by English translations at the time of entry. If the prize winning film is in a language other than English, it must have English subtitles.
No. You retain ownership in the film.
Please contact us at filmcontest@claimscon.org before the entry deadline. We will not respond to inquiries over the phone, fax or in person.
Background image: Family pictures of the Florentine Family of Tel Aviv from before and after the Shoah.
Photo: Sarah Levin.
© Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany