Criteria for International Children's Film
and/or Television Festivals to be able to award a CIFEJ Prize

Considering that CIFEJ, in its Statutes and by-laws, clearly states in article 2.2.8 that one of its objectives is ëto promote and encourage the production and dissemination of films, especially designed for children or suitable for them, with the following objectives: entertainment, art, information, educationí, the following rules and regulations are to be followed.

1-The festival must be an active CIFEJ member, and must have paid its membership fees.

2-The aim of the International Childrenís Film and/or Television Festival (or a section dedicated to children) should be to promote high quality films and/or television programs for young audiences.

3-The Festival:

a) Will clearly define in its regulations its chosen specialization, and that it is a competitive event.

b) Will present films from at least five countries.

c) The following applies only to festivals that host an international adult jury; they must guarantee that the jury:

-Be made up of a majority of persons foreign to the host country;

-Does not include any person in any way connected with the production or commercial exploitation of a competitive entry;

-Will include among its jury members only persons having a genuine knowledge of the television and/or film industry.

d) Will list all prizes in its regulations.

e) The competition section should consist of at least 8 different screenings (a screening being the exhibition of a feature film or a set of shorts, or a television program with a minimum duration of 45 minutes);

f) The production date of the films presented in the Official Competition should not exceed 4 years before the date of the festival;

g) Ideally, the jury should see the films during a public screening in front of a young audience; this rule should not apply to television program festivals;

h) The festival has to send the list of prizes and winning films 2 weeks after the event to the CIFEJ Secretariat, and a complete report, with names of the jury members, number of guests and spectators, official catalogue, a month after the closing ceremony of the event. The official press book of the event can be sent later on.

i)The festival should also cooperate with CIFEJ in promoting the goals of the organization, either by inviting an official observer from the organization, or helping organize a CIFEJ press conference, or by putting together special screenings, workshops, information stand, etc.

j) The request coming from a festival to award a CIFEJ Prize must be sent to the Secretariat at least 6 months before the dates of the event. The required documents for the application should consist of:

- Complete information on the event, including the Rules and Regulations of the festival, to confirm that the festival follows the rules above mentioned, and that it is a well organized festival;

- Copy of the official catalogue and press kit with additional material from previous editions, to confirm that it is a well promoted festival.

The decision of awarding a CIFEJ Prize to an international childrenís film and/or television festival will be taken by the board of directors, and will be valid for 3 consecutive editions of the festival. If during that period, the board of directors notices that the festival is not observing the rules, the decision could be reversed. After that period, the application must be renewed.

Administration questions

All requests for a CIFEJ Prize from a Festival, and management of the CIFEJ Prize will be handled by the CIFEJ Secretariat in Montreal.

Correspondence should be addressed to:

Executive Director
CIFEJ
3774 Saint-Denis, bur. 200
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H2W† 2M1
fax: (514) 284-0168††† phone: (514) 284-9388†††††††
e-mail: info@cifej.com

CIFEJ, February 2001

1. The CIFEJ Prize awards films or television programs for children and young people which in form and content express the following qualities†:

a) the promotion and respect of the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child (see annex A);

b) a potential to an international distribution;

c) a high standard of artistic achievement and technical competence.

2. The CIFEJ Prize awards one production chosen among the films in the Official Competition section. It is the festivalís Artistic Director or Program Director that decides that these productions are appropriate for children and young people. The CIFEJ Prize is independent of other festival prizes, and can be given to a film awarded with other festival prizes.

3. The CIFEJ Prize ñ a trophy and a diploma ñ goes to the director of the film.

4. The CIFEJ Prize is given by the international festivalís jury or by a special CIFEJ Jury. In the first case, at least one member of that jury must be a CIFEJ member, and this person cannot be from the host country. The choice of the CIFEJ member who will be part of the jury, should be made by the festival director, but must be done in consultation with the CIFEJ Secretariat and the CIFEJ President. This CIFEJ Jury member will represent the organization and advocate the ideas of the CIFEJ Prize to the rest of the Jury members. She or he will be the one to animate the discussions concerning the CIFEJ Prize.

In the second case, the special CIFEJ Jury has to consist of three members: one from the host country and two from other countries. At least one of the members of the jury should be a CIFEJ member with experience in CIFEJ work.

5. The CIFEJ Prize should be given in a separate jury decision.

6. The CIFEJ Secretariat will handle the administration of the CIFEJ Prize, and will circulate all pertinent information concerning the award, the winning films and programs.

The Jury's guidelines

The spokesperson for CIFEJ will guide all jury deliberations related to the CIFEJ Prize. Each jury member is obliged to see all productions.

The jury should accompany their decisions on award winners with short written commentaries for the use of the festival organizers and the CIFEJ Secretariat. The jury members are sworn to absolute secrecy, in public as well as in private, about jury discussions and votes.

The Festival's duty

The Festival is responsible for travel and full accommodation of CIFEJ Jury members. The festival should also make sure that an interpreter is available for Jury members when necessary, and that films or television programs are subtitled or translated. The festival Director is also responsible for all contact with CIFEJ Secretariat.

(Annex A)
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Three articles Concerning the Media

Article 3

7. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration.

8. States Parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures.

9. States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision.

Article 13

1.The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writhing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the childís choice.

2.The exercise of his right may be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:

d) For respect of the rights or reputation of others; or

e) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.

Article 17

State Parties recognize the important function perform by the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health. To this end, States Parties shall:

(a) Encourage the mass to disseminate information and material of social and cultural benefit to the child and in accordance with the spirit of article 29;

(b) Encourage international co-operation in the production, exchange and dissemination of such information and material from a diversity of cultural, national and international sources;

(c) Encourage the production and dissemination of children's books;

(d) Encourage the mass media to have particular regard to the linguistic needs of the child who belongs to a minority group or who is indigenous;

(e) Encourage the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of the child from information and material injurious to his or her well-being, bearing in mind the provision of article 13 and 18.

The full text of the Convention is available via the Web site http://www.unicef.org/crc/fulltext.htm