Call for proposals EACEA/16/2015 – Support for Film Festivals

The present call for proposals is subject to the availability of the funds after the adoption of the budget for 2016 by the budgetary authority.

1. OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION

This notice of a call for proposals is based on the Regulation No 1295/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11/12/2013 concerning the implementation of a programme of support for the European cultural and creative sector (CREATIVE EUROPE) and its corrigendum of the 27/06/2014 .

Within the field of promoting transnational circulation, one of the priorities of the MEDIA Sub-programme shall be to:

• support audience development as a means of stimulating interest in and improving access to European audiovisual works in particular through promotion, events, film literacy and festivals.

The MEDIA Sub-programme shall provide support for the following measures:

• support initiatives presenting and promoting a diversity of European audiovisual works;
• support activities aiming at increasing knowledge and interest of audiences in European audiovisual works.

2. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

This call for proposals is open to entities (private companies, non-profit organisations, associations, charities, foundations, municipalities/Town Councils, etc.) established in one of the countries participating in the MEDIA Sub-programme (see below) and owned directly or by majority participation, by nationals from such countries.

Applications from legal entities established in one of the following countries are eligible as long as all conditions referred to in Article 8 of the Regulation establishing the Creative Europe Programme are met:
− EU Member States;
− Acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates benefiting from a pre-accession strategy, in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in European Union programmes established in the respective Framework Agreements, Association Council Decisions or similar agreements;
− EFTA countries which are members of the EEA, in accordance with the provisions of the EEA Agreement;
− The Swiss Confederation, on the basis of a bilateral agreement to be concluded with that country;
− Countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy in accordance with the procedures defined with those countries following the framework agreements providing for their participation in European Union programmes;

The Programme shall also be open for bilateral or multilateral cooperation actions targeted at selected countries or regions on the basis of additional appropriations paid by these countries or regions.

The Programme shall permit cooperation and joint actions with countries not participating in the Programme and with international organisations which are active in the cultural and creative sectors such as UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development or the World Intellectual Property Organisation on the basis of joint contributions for the realisation of the Programme's objectives.

The Agency may select proposals from applicants in non EU countries, provided that, on the date of the award decision, agreements have been signed setting out the arrangements for the participation of those countries in the programme established by the Regulation referred to above.

(Updated list of countries that fulfil the conditions referred to in Article 8 of the Regulation and that the Commission has started negotiations with can be found on the following link:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/creative-europe/library/eligibility-organisati...).

Natural persons may not apply for a grant.

3. ELIGIBLE ACTIONS

Only applications submitted by eligible entities organising audiovisual festivals in countries participating in the MEDIA Sub-programme will be accepted.

A minimum of 70% of the eligible programming presented to the public during the festival OR a minimum of 100 feature films (or 400 short films – in case of short film festivals) must originate from countries participating in the MEDIA Sub-programme. Within this "MEDIA Sub-programme countries" programming:
· 50% of the films must be non-national.
· At least 15 of such countries must be represented.

The maximum duration of actions is 12 months.

4. AWARD CRITERIA

Eligible applications will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

Relevance (40 points)
• activity towards the audience and in particular outreach mechanisms, including the use of the latest digital technologies and tools such as social media, and film literacy actions of the project.

Quality of the content and activities (20 points).
• The European dimension of the programming including its cultural and geographic diversity

Dissemination of project results, impact and sustainability (30 points).
• Size of the audience and impact on the promotion and circulation of European audiovisual works (the use of digital technologies and mechanisms to facilitate commercial or alternative distribution).

Organisation of the Team (10 points).
• The distribution of the roles and responsibilities of the Team vis-à-vis the specific objectives of the proposed action.

5. BUDGET

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is estimated at EUR 3 M.

The EU financial contribution will take the form of a lump sum according to the number of European films in the programming, between EUR 19.000 and EUR 75.000.

The Agency reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

6. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

Closing dates for submitting proposals:

- 17/12/2015 at 12.00 noon (midday Brussels time): for activities starting between 01/05/16 and 31/10/16;
- 28/04/2016 at 12.00 noon (midday Brussels time): for activities starting between 01/11/16 and 30/04/17.
Proposals must be submitted using the online application form (eForm). No other method of submission of an application will be accepted.
Applicants shall ensure that all the documents requested and mentioned in the eForms are provided.

In addition, a set of compulsory annexes that cannot be submitted online have to be sent to the Agency by post, to the following address:
Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency
Creative Europe Programme (2014–2020)
MEDIA Sub-programme – Reference of Call for Proposals
Avenue du Bourget 1
BOUR 03/59
BE – 1049 Brussels
Belgium

The package must include the copy of the ackowledgment of receipt of the application, the paper annexes and a CD-Rom or USB stick containing all these documents.

Related link: Support for film festivals EACEA/16/2015