GZDOC 2019 Golden Kapok Award Competitionisnow calling for entries. By far, the organizing committee has received more than 2000 submissions. Click here for more information.

The Golden Kapok Award Competition is dedicated to recognizing talented filmmakers as well as their outstanding contributions in the realm of documentary. In 2018, 4542 films from 122 countries/regions competed for the GZDOC Golden Kapok Award, including premium programs from world top production houses such as BBC and National Geographic.

GZDOC welcomes documentaries of all genres to compete under the international standard. In 2019, a few changes will be made in a bid to broaden the selections, including the introduction of new awards. A total of 15 awards will be presented to 16 winners, while two winners share the GZDOC Outstanding Achievement Award. 

Please register online at GZDOC official website, www.gzdoc.cn, and submit your documentaries to China’s top documentary film festival, which is also the biggest documentary film festival in Asia! The deadline for submission is August 31st, 2019.

Regulations for GZDOC 2019 Golden Kapok Award Competition are as follows.

I. Introduction to the Golden Kapok Award Competition

Golden Kapok Award Competition of Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival (GZDOC) is dedicated to presenting outstanding documentaries to the public, promoting various cultures, cultivating documentary audiences, and promoting domestic and International documentaries in China.

II.Date of Event

The Documentary Film Festival is held in Guangzhou every December.

2019 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival will be held from December 9th to December 12th, 2019.

III.Eligibility for Golden Kapok Award Competition

1. The Golden Kapok Award Competition is open for the following 4 types of films:

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

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

Documentary Series: three or more episodes, the running time of a single episode is not limited, and content is inter-related;

New media documentary: the length is no more than 30 min per episode, the number of episode is unlimited, used to be shown on new media.

2. To be eligible for 2019 GZDOC Golden Kapok Awards, a film entering the Award Competition must be produced no earlier than January 1, 2017.

3. Films that, in any version (including the re-edited version), had participated or been screened in the previous GZDOC,will not be eligible for the Award Competition.

IV.Submission Guidance

(i)Submission Deadline

Submissions for the 2019 GZDOC are open from March 15, 2019 (GMT+8) to August 31, 2019 (GMT+8). The submission must be completed online and all the other required submission materials should be sent to the General Office of the Organizing Committee (OC) by the deadline. The application received after the deadline or the application with incomplete materials will not be accepted as qualified entries.

Application Process and Required Materials

1. Please register online at GZDOC Golden Kapok Awards official submissions sites, www.gzdoc.cn, click "Call for -Registration" to complete the online submission form.

2. Please upload the following submission materials:

（1）One poster in JPG format, pixel no less than 150 dpi;

(2) 1-3 Film stills in JPG format, pixel no less than 150 dpi;

(3) A photo of director in JPG format, pixel no less than 150 dpi;

(4) For non-Chinese dialogue films, a full-length English subtitle file (SRT or ASS format) or subtitle script (wordfile or txt file) is required. 

3. Please submit the following video material:

(1) The preview version

Requirement:

① Film in MP4 format, 1080P and above, data rate 2000kbps to 5000kbps;

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

③To add a watermark, please mark "GZDOC Preview" in the upper right corner. Any other watermarks should not be applied, in a bid to ensure the viewing effects.

(2) Trailer

Requirement:

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

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

(3) Please submit your video material in one of the following ways:

①Mailing

Please mail the copies of preview film and trailer in DVD/USB /Mobile Hard Disk along with the film title and contact information to: 

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

Contacts: Mr. Ding Zhizhao

Tel: 86-020-38780150-806

Zip code: 510627

②Internet transmission

Upload the film’s preview version and trailer into Cloud Storage (such as Baidu CloudDisk) and send the download link and password to film@gzdoc.cn along with film title and contact information.

(iii)Registration fee 

Free Entry

(iv)Notices for Material Delivery

If you choose to post your materials, in order to ensure the materials delivered on time, please use the traceable and signature-required express delivery service. Please do not use the surface mail. If the materials are sentfrom overseas, please use the international express (such as DHL or FEDEX), indicated "no commercial value" and "for cultural use only" on the package, and fill in the customs declaration value less than 10 US dollars. No application materials will be returned. Do not send film prints, master tapes or other originals. The Organizing Committee 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 submission form correctly and completely. The information in the form will be used and published in the process of pre-selection, evaluation and final announcement. If there is any information wrong or missing, the responsibility will be borne by the applicant.

2. The signup 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 preselection and evaluation will be delivered to this contact first. Please keep the call and the mailbox accessible.

3. After the film is submitted to GZDOC, 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 materials submitted, including the film application information, posters, stills, trailers or snippet less than 3 minutes, on GZDOC’s official channels.

(vi) Update and Supplement Registration Information and Materials

1.If applicant wants to update information or material after submission, please send an email to film@gzdoc.cn and explain the update in detail. After reviewed and approved by the Organizing Committee, the update will be completed.

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

3.If the preview version is the version in post production, the applicant can submit the final screening version after being selected, but applicant cannot update the version during the evaluation process.

(vii) Copyright Statement

Applicant (and applyingcompany) shall own the copyrights or distribution rights of the film submittedby him/her; shall ensure that there is no dispute over copyright of the film; guarantee it has acquired the copyrights/authorizations from the copyrightowners for the music, video, image and 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 (and applying company). GZDOC reserves the right to disqualify any film with unauthorized copyrighted materials.

V. Awards

Best Feature Documentary Award (1)

Best Documentary Director Award (1)

Best Short Documentary Award (1)

Best Documentary Series Award (1)

Best First Feature Documentary Award (1)

Best International Production Documentary Award (1)

Art Doc Award (1)

Special Jury Prize (1)

China Story: Best Feature Documentary Award (1)

China Story: Best Short Documentary Award (1)

China Story: Best Documentary Series Award (1)

China Story: Best New Media Documentary Award (1)

Best Sino-foreign Coproduction Documentary Award (1)

Best Global Impact China Documentary (1)

VI. Evaluation Process

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

1.The initial Selection committee is responsible for presenting the semi-finalist from all the submissions. The applicant who is selected for semi-finalist will be notified by email in mid October, and the list will be released on the official website.

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

3.The winners will be selected from finalists by Jury Committee and will be announced at the Golden Kapok Award Ceremony, held on December 9- December12, 2019.

VII. The Notice for Finalists

1.Finalist Confirmation

The applicant shall confirm the participation in the final evaluation with the OC within two working days after receiving the notification (email) from the OC. Once the applicant confirms the participation, the finalist film cannot be withdrawn for any reason.

2.The Screening Version

After the film is selected for finalist, the official screening version must be submitted to the OC. Apart from the technical adjustments such as mixing, grading, and subtitle translation, the screening version must be in consistent with the preview version. OC Films cannot be updated during the evaluation process.

3.Use of Film Selected

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

4.Classification of Premiere

(1)Worldwide Premiere - Films that have been internationally broadcast, screened at film festivals, are available online, or have been released via streaming, home video, or any other public platform are not eligible.

(2)International Premiere – Films that have been broadcast, screened at film festivals, are available online, or have been released via streaming, home video, or any other public platform outsidethe production countries are not eligible.

(3)Asia Premiere - Films that have been broadcast, screened at film festivals, areavailable online, or have been released via streaming, home video, or any other public platform in Asia are not eligible.

(4)China Premiere - Films that have been broadcast, screened at film festivals, are available online, or have been released via streaming, home video, or any other public platform in China are not eligible. (This category is mainly for domestic work).

5.Premiere Screening Term

The evaluation process will not be affected by a film’s premiere status. Once afilm， that is qualified for the premiere screening, also get selected into the finalist competition, it’s agreed that Organizing Committee has the right to premiere the film during documentary festival. Any third party shall not premiere the film or conduct any activity that will breach the premiere screening term between the film owner and the OC. 

6.Screening schedule

The finalist films will bepublicly screened twice from December 1 to December 20, 2019. The screening schedule and venue will be decided by the Organizing Committee. The winning films will be screened at least once before December 30, 2019. The screening times would not exceed the number of awards the film will obtain.

7.Publicity Requirements

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

VIII. Statement

1.Any changes against the regulations will be posted on the "GZDOC Regulation-Announcement" page of the official website (www.gzdoc.cn). The applicant can withdraw from the event if he/she thinks the modified clauses are unacceptable by notifying the Organizing Committee within 10 working days after the announcement is posted. Otherwise, it will be deemed that 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 the screening session of 2019 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival should accept all the above terms and conditions. If there is any dispute, it shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of PRC

The Head of Golden Kapok Award Competition Department

Mr. Ding Zhizhao

Tel: 020-38780150-806

Email: film@gzdoc.cn