FAQ IDFA Bertha Fund

Questions fréquentes en Français

• Who is eligible to apply?
• What kind of projects does the Fund support?
• What are the selection criteria for documentary projects?
• What are the selection criteria for Other Activities?
• When should the application arrive?
• Which forms do I have to fill out?
• How do I fill out the Entry form?
• In which language can I send the application?
• How do I send the requested materials?
• What formats do you accept for a trailer, edited sequence, rough-cut or previous work?
• When will I receive confirmation?
• When will the results of the selection be known?

Who is eligible to apply?
A producer or filmmaker attached to the project. Projects without a producer will also be accepted. The filmmaker and the producer must meet the requirements stated below.

Requirements for the filmmaker:

• The filmmaker must have the nationality of a developing country and must also live and work in a developing country by which we mean a country on the DAC-list .
• The fund supports both starting and experienced filmmakers.

Requirements for the producer/organiser:

• The producer must be based in a developing country .
• If a producer from a non-DAC country is attached to the project, it is also necessary for a producer from a developing country to be involved. (In this case, we need a co-production agreement after being pre-selected.)
• The application to the fund should be made by the producer in the developing country.

What kind of projects does the fund support?
The IDFA Bertha Fund is looking for creative documentaries. In a creative documentary, the director gives form to his or her subjective vision of reality in a creative manner. Please read more about creative documentaries on the following site: IDFA’s Mission Statement . We do not apply rigid criteria, but judge each project on its own merits.
 
In the category Other Activities the IDFA Bertha Fund is looking for documentary festivals which stimulate the documentary film climate in developing countries. Festivals that stimulate the exhibition and distribution of documentaries, the audience participation and that give professional support to filmmakers.

What are the selection criteria for documentary projects?

• Quality of the content of the documentary
• Cinematic qualities of the project
• Originality of the idea, the subject, the story, or the perspective towards the subject or story
• Importance of the subject
• Quality of the visual material send with the project
• The situation of documentary production in the region or country
• Previous work of the director

What are the selection criteria for Other Activities?

• Quality of the content of the event
• The importance of the event
• The situation of documentary production in the region or country.
• Preference will be given to documentary festivals from countries from the two left columns of the DAC list (the Least Developed Countries and Other Low Income Countries) or countries in conflict areas.

When should the application arrive?

• The entry form and audiovisual material for the production and post-production category should be in our office on the day of the deadline at the latest.

Which form do I have to fill out?
Please note that starting in 2013 for the categories project development and production & postproduction , it will only be necessary to complete an entry form on MyIDFA (http://www.idfa.nl/industry/myidfa.aspx) for the deadline. In addition to basic contact and project details, the new entry form includes a synopsis (max. 400 words), a biography and a project description (max. 1,100 words). A project description can include background information, details about protagonists, information about access to protagonists and locations, visual approach, director’s statement, etc.

Only after being preselected, it will be necessary to complete an extra form, which will be sent by email after the pre-selection. This form includes the following:

• production plan (What are you going to do with the contribution and a time schedule for the whole production of the planned documentary)
• extensive budget
• finance plan (how are you going to finance the total budget)
• On which items are you going to spend the contribution?
• How can the fund give extra support to improve the project? (contacts, advice, mentors etcetera)
• Co-production agreement (only when a production company of a non-DAC list country is attached to the project)
• Optional : max 1 page with extra information about the content of the project if not yet provided in the entryform. (for example more information on characters or background etcetera)

For the category Other Activities (Documentary Film Festival) you need to fill out the entryform on MyIDFA (http://www.idfa.nl/industry/myidfa.aspx) ánd the following project form: Project Form Other Activities 2013.doc .

How do I fill out the Entry form?

• You can fill out the entry form in the MyIDFA section of our website. If you have registered before, you can login. If not, you first have to register. You will then receive a password by email. Go back to MyIDFA and login with your emailaddress and password, then click on Accreditation & Entry forms. After that click on the brown box which says: create a new entry or accrediation. A list of possible entry forms will appear, please choose the IDFA Bertha Fund entry form.
• Once you have filled out the whole form, you can submit it at the bottom of the page.
• You can only submit the form if you have filled in all obligatory information.
• You can only submit the form once. If you find any inconsistencies in the form after submitting, please e-mail them to idfaberthafund@idfa.nl.

In which language can I send the application?

• We need all applications in English, except applications from francophone Africa and Haïti, which can be in French.

How do I send the requested materials?

• When you submit the entryform, we’ll receive it automatically.
• If you’re going to send a dvd, please send it to: IDFA Bertha Fund / Att: Melanie de Vocht / Frederiksplein 52 / 1017 XN Amsterdam / The Netherlands / +31 20 6273329.
• Links to Vimeo (with the password, if required) or Youtube can be filled out in the entryform or can be send in an email to idfaberthafund@idfa.nl. If emailed separately, we still need the link on the day of the deadline at the latest.

What formats do you accept for a trailer, edited sequence, rough-cut or previous work?

• DVD (PAL or NTSC), NO HD DVD!
• A link to Vimeo or a link to Youtube. NO mov/avi or any other file which we have to download.
• NO Powerpoint presentations.
• NO mini-dv’s or dv-cams.
• DVD’s will not be returned.
• Please don’t send unedited rushes of your project. Most of the time they are not representative for the end result and are not helping your application. In the case you don’t have a trailer or rough-cut, make a selection of the material and try to make an edited sequence.
• For the category Project Development : please only send previous work or research material when it’s related to the project you’re applying with.

When will I receive confirmation?

• Once your application is complete (entry form and audiovisual material for production & post-production), we’ll send you a confirmation. Please note that it takes a while to process all the projects we receive, especially around the time of the deadlines.
• If you’re applying for production and post-production we do not confirm receipt of entry forms only.
• If we have questions or if we are missing any information, we will contact you, but please make sure you’ve send a completely filled out entryform.

When will the results of the selection be known?
After a first selection round the fund will make a pre-selection. The filmmakers of the pre-selected projects will receive a more extensive application form, which must be completed and returned within two weeks. This form includes among others an extensive budget, finance plan and production schedule. If applicants do not comply with this requirement, projects will be automatically rejected. Within two months after the deadline the Fund will inform applicants of the selection results.