I. About Next Wave Awards International Student Documentary Competition

Started from 2003, Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival（GZDOC） aims at building a professional platform to facilitate exchanges between China and the global documentary industries, to connect domestic and international producers, distributors, broadcasters and to promote Chinese documentaries. GZDOC is the only state-level documentary film festival,with a longest history in China. It is the biggest documentary film festival inAsia. It’s also a market place with financing and trading functions.

Supported by GZDOC， Next Wave Awards is the top-level student documentary competition in China. It was established in 2014 and has been held for five consecutive times. There are hundreds of colleges and universities at home andabroad participating in this competition every year.

Next Wave Awards is committed to educating and finding newtalents for documentary industry. By offering Competition, Campus ScreeningTour, Masterclass, Training Camp, Academic Forum and University Media Association，Next Wave Awards not only brings industrial insights to the students, but alsoallows them to learn deeply about production, marketing, distribution, andpost-production. Passion, curiosity, determination, and perseverance, are thespirits that Next Wave Awards sheds spotlights on.

II. Date of Event

GZDOC is held in Guangzhou every December. The CampusScreening Tour will be conducted from April to June each year.

The 7th Next Wave Awards will be held from December 14th to December 17th,2020.

III.Eligibility for Next Wave Awards

1. Next Wave Awards is open to the following two types offilms:

Documentary Feature: motion pictures with a running timeof more than 30 minutes (including Opening Credits);

Documentary Short: motionpictures with a running time 30 minutes or less(including Opening Credits);

2. To be eligible for Next Wave Awards, the films must beproduced no earlier than January 1, 2019.

3. To be eligible for Next WaveAwards, the films submitted must be created by the registered university students (including masters and doctoral students). The applicant must provide a copy ofthe his/her school certificate or student ID, and the co-producer can jointlyparticipate in the competition.

4. Films that, in any version (including the re-editedversion), had participated or been screened in the previous Next Wave Awards,will not be eligible for the competition.

5. The films submitted to Next WaveAwards can also participate in Golden Kapok Award, Golden Kapok Screening andDoc Shop of GZDOC.

IV.Submission Guidance

 (i) Submission Deadline

Submissions for the 2020 Next Wave Awards are open from April 20, 2020 (GMT+8) 00：00 to September 20, 2020(GMT+8) 24:00. The submission must be completed online and all the otherrequired submission materials should be sent to the General Office of theOrganizing Committee (OC) by the deadline. The application received after thedeadline or the application with incomplete materials will not be accepted asqualified entries.

 (ii) Application process and requiredmaterials

Please register online at GZDOC official submissions sites,www.gzdoc.cn, click "Registration - Next Wave Awards" to complete theonline submission form.

 Please upload filmand trailer into Vimeo and indicate the download link and password in entry form:

1. Preview version (The full film)

Requirement:

①     Filmin MP4 or MOV format, 1080P and above, data rate 2000kbps to 5000kbps;

②     For MANDARIN dialogue films, complete Chinese and English subtitles are required.For NON-MANDARIN dialogues (including English) films, English subtitles arerequired.

③     To add a watermark, please mark "NEXT WAVE Preview" in the upper rightcorner. Any other watermarks should not be applied, in a bid to ensure theviewing effects.

2. Trailer

Requirement:

①Motion Pictures with a running time of less than 3 minutes,in MP4 format, 1080P and above, data rate 2000kbps to 5000kbps

② For MANDARIN dialogue films, complete Chinese and Englishsubtitles are required. For NON-MANDARIN dialogues (including English) films,English subtitles are required.

Please send belowmaterials to nextwave@gzdoc.cn as soon as the entry form is submitted.

1. For NON-MANDARIN dialogue films, a full-length Englishsubtitle file (SRT or ASS format) or subtitle script (word file or txt file) isrequired.  

2. 3-5 film stills in JPG format, pixel no less than 150dpi;

3. 1-3 posters in JPG format, pixel no less than 150 dpi;

4. 1-2 photos of director in JPG format, pixel no less than150 dpi;

5. Student Status Letter / Student IDCard Scanned Copy

If it is inconvenient to submit online, the above-mentionedapplication materials can be stored by DVD/USB /Mobile Hard Disk or otherstorage medium. Make sure the storage medium contain the application materialsonly. Please send it to the OC, noting "Next Wave Awards，"Film title and contact information to:

Address: Room 3303, YingLong Plaza,No.76, West Huangpu Avenue, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province,China.  

Contact: Liang Jiaqi

Tel: 020-38780150-817

Zip code: 510627

 (iii)Registration fee

Free Entry

 (iv) Notices for material delivery

If you choose to post your materials, in order to ensurethe materials delivered on time, please use the traceable andsignature-required express delivery service. Please do not use the surface mail. If the materials are sent from overseas,please use the international express (such as DHL or FEDEX), indicated "Nocommercial value. For cultural purposes only" on the package, and fill inthe customs declaration value less than 10 US dollars. No application materialswill be returned. Do not send film prints, master tapes or other originals. The OC will not pay for the delivery fee caused by the application and has the right to refuse the delivery unpaid.

 (v) The use of information and application materials

1. Please fill in entry form correctly and completely. The information in the form will be used and disclosed in the process ofpre-selection, semi-final evaluation and final evaluation. If there is anyinformation missing, the responsibility will be borne by the applicant.

2. The sign-up account used in the official website (www.gzdoc.cn) will be used as the contact of applicant by default. The follow-up notification related to pre-selection and evaluation will bedelivered to this contact first. Please keep the call and the mailbox accessible.

3. After the film is submitted to Next Wave Awards, the application information and materials will be presented on the official website, as well as online and offline media for publicity. The Organizing Committee has the right to edit and use the film information and materia lssubmitted, including the film application information, posters, stills,trailers or snippet less than 3 minutes, on GZDOC’s official channels.  

 (vi) Update and Supplement of registration information and materials

1. If applicant wants to update information or materialafter submission, please send an email to nextwave@gzdoc.cn and explain the updatein detail. After reviewed and approved by the OC, the update will be completed.

2. If there are follow-up materials (such as posters,stills, promotional materials, awards, etc.), please send the materials tonextwave@gzdoc.cn and explain the updated materials.

3. If the preview version is the version in postproduction, the applicant can submit the final screening version after being selected, but applicant cannot update the version during the evaluationprocess.

 (vii) Copyright Statement

Applicant (and applying company) shall own the copyrightsor distribution rights of the film submitted by him/her; shall ensure that there is no dispute over copyright of the film; guarantee it has acquired thecopyrights/authorizations from the copyright owners for the music, video, imageand text contained and used in the films; ensure the original contents in the film do not violate the copyrights or legal rights of any other third parties.Any disputes, damages or compensations arising out of or in relation to the copyright infringement of the film shall be borne by its applicant (andapplying company). OC reserves the right to disqualify any film with unauthorized copyrighted materials.

V.Awards

The 7th Next Wave Awards has 7 awards (6 for Excellent Documentariesand 1 for Excellent Organization). The specific awards are as follows:

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE  (1)

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT  (1)

BEST YOUTH DOCUMENTARYDIRECTOR  (1)

BEST CREATIVE DOCUMENTARY (1)

SPECIAL AWARD OF THE JURY COMMITTEE（1）

SPECIAL AWARD FOR PRESENTING CHINA（1）

BEST ORGANIZING UNIT（1）

VI.Evaluation process

The entries will be screened for the pre-selection,semi-final evaluation and final evaluation. They will be reviewed and selected by the Selection Committee and the Jury Committee. The OC is responsible forinviting professionals and setting up the Selection Committee and the Jury Committee.

1. The pre-selection committee is responsible for presentingthe semi-finalist from all the applicants.

2. The Semi-final Jury committee is responsible for presenting the finalists from the semi-finalists. The finalists will benotified by e-mail in mid-November and released on the official website.

3. The winners will be selected from the finalists by the Jury Committee and will be announced at Next Wave Awards Ceremony, held on December14 - December17, 2020.

VII.The Notice for Finalists

1. Finalist confirmation

The applicants shall confirm the participation in the finalevaluation with the OC within two working days after receiving the notification (email) from the OC. Once the applicants confirm the participation, they cannotwithdraw for any reason.

2. The use of information and materials

Once the film is selected, the application information andmaterial submitted online and offline will be presented on the documentary filmfestival brochure, official website, or for online and offline media promotionevents. The OC is entitled to edit and publicly use the materials, includingfilm entry information, posters, stills, trailers and clips of no more than 3minutes and on GZDOC’s official channels. If there is any information ormaterial missing during the application phase, all materials must be completedat the finalist stage.

3. Screening authorization and scheduling

Once the applicants confirm their participation in the final evaluation, it is agreed that OC is authorized to publicly screen the film duringthe campus screening tour from March to June 2021. The screening schedule andvenue will be decided by the OC.

4. Publicity requirements

After the film is selected, the OC will provide the NextWave Awards logos for Finalist or Winner. The film selected must include the NextWave Awards logos in all its subsequent promotional materials, and it’sstrictly forbidden to modify the logo.

VIII.Statement

1. Any changes against the regulations will be posted onthe " Competition - Next Wave Awards" page of the official website (www.gzdoc.cn). The applicant can withdraw from the event if he/she thinks themodified clauses are unacceptable by notifying the Organizing Committee within 10 working days after the announcement is posted. Otherwise, it will be deemedthat the applicant accepts all the modified clauses.

2. If there were any situations that are not specified above, the OC reserves all rights for the final explanation of the regulations.

3. The applicant signing up for 7th Next Wave Awards International Student Documentary Competition should accept all the above terms andconditions. If there is any dispute, it shall be governed by and construed inaccordance with the laws of PRC.

General Office of the Organizing Committee of Next Wave Awards International Student Documentary Competition

April 26, 2020

The Head of NextWave Awards International Student Documentary Competition Department

Contact: Liang Jiaqi

Tel: 020-38780150-817

E-mail:nextwave@gzdoc.cn

Address:Room 3303, YingLong Plaza, No.76, West Huangpu Avenue, Tianhe District,Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.

Zipcode: 510627