CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR
THE 13TH TRT INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY AWARDS
1. SUBJECT AND PURPOSE
The TRT International Documentary Awards is an event organized with the objective of supporting amateur and professional documentary film-makers; contributing to the development and propagation of the documentary genre; bringing a variety of high quality documentary films from various countries to the audience; and providing a milieu where documentary film-makers from all over the world can come together and exchange thoughts in the long run.
2. ORGANIZATION
TRT Documentary Awards is organized by the Turkish Radio-Television Corporation (“TRT” and/or “Corporation”), the first and only public broadcasting organization in Turkey.
3. CATEGORIES
3.1. TRT Documentary Awards is held in two major categories, namely National and International Categories. Participants/Competitors shall fill in and sign their application forms according to their competition categories. Participants are allowed to compete in a single category with the same film.
3.1.1. National Category: National Category is held in two sub-categories, namely “Student Films” and “Professional”. Participants shall indicate which category they will compete in in their application forms. A participant shall not compete in multiple categories and/or sub-categories even with different films. The language of the National Category is Turkish. Documentaries to enter the National Category featuring languages other than Turkish shall submit a Turkish-dubbed or Turkish-subtitled version of the film to TRT.
a. Student Films Category: Participation in this category is limited exclusively to those who are students at the production period of the film. Participants shall document their student status at the time of application. The duration of the documentaries to enter the Student Films Category shall be no shorter than 15, and no longer than 60 minutes.
b. Professional Films Category:
The duration of the documentaries to enter this Category shall be no shorter than 20 minutes.
3.1.2. International Category: The duration of the documentaries to enter the International Category shall be no shorter than 25 minutes. The language of the International Category is English. Documentaries to enter the International Category featuring or including languages other than English shall submit an English-dubbed or English-subtitled version of the film to TRT.
4. TERMS FOR PARTICIPATION
4.1. Documentary films may enter the competition. Works apart from this genre, such as TV programs, promotional films, etc. that do not have any artistic concerns and films that cannot be evaluated within the scope of cinematic art shall not be accepted in the competition.
4.2. Films that are entirely fictional or animated, etc. that contain documentary parts to support the narrative cannot enter the competition. However, entirely documentary films, like documentary dramas or dramatic documentaries that use fictional, experimental, animated, etc. parts to support the narrative may enter the competition.
4.3. Documentaries produced in compliance with the technical format of TV broadcasting (mxf, mov, mpeg-2, mpeg-4, full HD) may enter the competition.
4.4. Documentaries produced after January 1, 2020 may enter the competition. Productions that have entered the TRT Documentary Awards on previous occasions cannot enter this year’s competition.
4.5. Participating in national and international competitions other than TRT Documentary Awards and/or having received awards from those competitions does not constitute an obstacle to enter this competition. However, this participation shall not constitute an obstacle to transfer of rights stipulated to be transferred to TRT and outlined in Article 10 of this Conditions Required for the Competition. Short-listed competitors will sign the Letter of Consent, and award-winning competitors will sign the Financial Rights Transfer Contract that will be forwarded by TRT and deliver them to TRT.
4.6. Documentaries produced as a “Series” may enter this competition with a single episode that reflects the series as a whole.
4.7. Participants may enter the competition with more than one documentary in the same category.
4.8. Documentary film-makers participating in the National Category of this competition are required to be Turkish citizens. Film-makers who are citizens of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus may also compete in this category.
4.9. Documentary films that do not comply with the current broadcasting laws and legal arrangements of the Republic of Turkey, and with the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, as well as documentaries that offend any nation, country and religion, or spread propaganda, encourage and support violence, war, drug use or pornography and praise any form of fanaticism, and contain promotional elements cannot enter the competition. If such films enter the competition, they will not be evaluated.
4.10. The members of RTÜK (the Supreme Board of Radio and Television of Turkey), the Chairman and members of TRT's Executive Board and Deputy Directors General (as long as they retain their positions at TRT), full or alternate members named to be in the Selection Committee, all TRT employees involved/not involved in the organization of the Competition, their spouses and the companies they own, as well as their first degree relatives cannot enter the competition, and cannot contribute to or support films during their production. In case these terms are found to be violated, concerned films will be excluded from the Competition. If those films have been deemed worthy of any prize, they will be withdrawn.
4.11. Documentaries produced or co-produced by TRT or produced for TRT cannot enter this competition.
5. APPLICATIONS
5.1. TRT Documentary Awards is open to all documentary film-makers who meet the required conditions to participate. Participation is free of charge.
5.2. Application and Pre-Selection Process: Those who want to enter the competition may acquire the application form on www.trtbelgesel.com starting from March 4, 2022, until 6 pm Friday, April 1, 2022, which is the deadline for pre-selection. For the application to be completed, the application forms shall be filled thoroughly; the clarification text shall be read and confirmed, and the documentary films shall be uploaded to the necessary area or shall be shared with their downloadable links and passwords (if any).
5.3. Documentaries to be uploaded should be Turkish-dubbed or Turkish-subtitled for the National Category; and English-dubbed or English-subtitled for the International Category. For films in other languages with no English subtitles, an English srt file shall be added to the application form. Films shall be recorded in a format suitable for TV broadcasting such as mxf, mov, mpeg2, mpeg4.
5.4. Those who thoroughly fill the application form and complete their application shall be considered to have accepted the conditions of participation, competition specifications, and the clarification text.
5.5. For hand or mail deliveries of documentaries to be short listed, they shall be sent to
TRT Genel Müdürlüğü, İç Yapımlar Dairesi Başkanlığı
TRT Belgesel Ödülleri, Turan Güneş Bulvarı
B Blok Kat: 6 No: 616 06550 Or-An Çankaya – ANKARA / TÜRKİYE.
Applications made or mailed after April 1, 2022 will be disregarded.
5.6. The pre-selection results shall be announced on April 25, 2022.
5.7. The Competition Process: Documentaries that are short-listed will submit the following materials:
5.7.1. For the National Competition: One full HD copy of the Turkish-dubbed documentary (a Turkish-subtitled copy of films that are not Turkish dubbed) recorded into a Portable Memory or a HD Cam cassette, with mov/mxf extension (a full HD and English-subtitled copy of films that compete in the National Professional Category); Turkish Dialogue Text; synopsis of the film; a trailer of the film (preferably 30 to 60-seconds long); at least two stills from scenes of the documentary (at least in 300 dpi resolution, in JPEG or TIFF format); a photo of the applicant (at least in 300 dpi resolution, in JPEG or TIFF format); a short autobiography and filmography of the applicant; Promotional Materials (Poster, Brochure etc.); and wet-signed Letter of Consent.
For the International Competition: One Full HD and English-dubbed or subtitled copy of the documentary, recorded into a Portable Memory or a HD Cam cassette, with mov/mxf extension; English Dialogue Text; a synopsis of the film; a trailer of the film (preferably 30 to 60-seconds long); at least two stills from scenes of the documentary (at least in 300 dpi resolution, in JPEG or TIFF format); a photo of the applicant (at least in 300 dpi resolution, in JPEG or TIFF format); a short autobiography and filmography of the applicant; Promotional Materials (Poster, Brochure etc.), and wet-signed Letter of Consent.
The above listed materials must be delivered by hand to the abovementioned address of the Organization and Executive Committee or sent by mail, or if they are uploaded on a website, its http link and download code must be sent to the relevant persons, by April 29, 2022 at the latest. Submitted copies shall not include commercial breaks. The finalists are required to deliver the original copy of the Letter of Consent forwarded by TRT, which is to be signed by the owner/s or the representatives of the Film, to the Organization and Executive Committee, before the Selection Committee begins its final work.
6. EVALUATION
6.1. Pre-Selection Committee and How it Works:
6.1.1. The Pre-Selection Committee consists of at least 5 (five) persons. Members of the committee are comprised of a representative from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, a representative from a Professional Association, academics, industry and TRT representatives. Upon the approval of the Organization and Executive Committee, the Pre-Selection Committee may increase the number of Committee Members that would break down applications into categories and evaluate them.
6.1.2. The Pre-Selection Committee shall evaluate and eliminate the documentaries submitted for the competition, in terms of their compliance with the Conditions, technical and aesthetic aspects, creativity and category selection.
6.1.3. The Pre-Selection Committee submits its reasoned decisions to the Organization and Executive Committee in written and signed form.
6.1.4. The Organization and Executive Committee has the right to eliminate applications with missing documents or materials from its evaluation process.
6.2. Selection Committees and How They Work:
6.2.1. Selection Committees are composed of at least 5 members in each of the 3 competition categories, namely the National Student Category, the National Professional Category and the International Category. Members of the Selection Committees are named by the Organization and Executive Committee of the TRT International Documentary Awards, from among film-makers from various countries, academics who are involved in cinema, film critics, members of the associations on the cinematic art, broadcasters, organizers of film festivals and various individuals, who have expertise in different fields but also have an esteemed place in society with regard to their views on cinema.
6.2.2. Individuals who have contributed to the making of the documentary films that have entered the competition cannot be a member of the Selection Committees.
6.2.3. the Organization and Executive Committee of the TRT International Documentary Awards shall assign a non-voting observer to the meeting of the Selection Committees. The observer may contribute to the solution of problems that might arise with regard to the methods to be used in the process.
6.2.4. Before viewing the films, Selection Committees will hold their first meeting with one assigned member from the Organization and Executive Committee. At this meeting, necessary information shall be presented regarding the TRT International Documentary Awards. Selection Committees will then select their President from among their members and establish their method of work during the process.
6.2.5. Selection Committee members are obliged to view all films.
6.2.6. Selection Committees shall make their decisions for awards in consideration of the creativity and artistic qualifications of the films.
6.2.7. Selection Committees decide with absolute majority. All voting processes are confidential.
6.2.8. Working language of the Selection Committees is Turkish in the National Category, and English in the International Category.
6.2.9. Committee Members, including the President of the Selection Committee, have only one vote each.
6.2.10. Selection Committees shall determine the films to be awarded in all categories from among the films that were deemed eligible to enter the competition. Selection Committees are not obliged to give an award if they conclude that submitted films are not qualified enough to win awards. Should two films be deemed worthy of one award, the said award will be shared between two films. The awards may be presented on behalf of institutions or persons that contribute to TRT Documentary Awards.
6.2.11. Selection Committees shall submit their signed and reasoned decisions in writing to the Organization and Executive Committee of the TRT International Documentary Awards, prior to the date of the announcement of the results. Participants do not have a right to object to the results.
7. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE RESULTS
The results shall be announced officially in an Award Ceremony on Monday, June 6, 2022.
8. AWARDS
8.1. The awards in the national and international categories are as follows:
8.1.1. National Category:
a) Student Films Category:
Best Film Award : 25,000.00 ₺
Special Prize : 20,000.00 ₺
Special Prize : 15,000.00 ₺
b) Professional Category:
Best Film Award : 50,000.00 ₺
Special Prize : 40,000.00 ₺
Special Prize : 30,000.00 ₺
8.1.2. International Category:
Best Film Award : 10,000.00 €
Special Prize : 7,500.00 €
Special Prize : 5,000.00 €
8.2. Selection Committees cannot give any kind or number of awards that are not specified in the Conditions without prejudice to the provisions of Article 6.2.10. However, if an individual, association or institution wishes to give an additional special award, aside from the existing award categories in the TRT Documentary Awards, then they shall submit an application to the Organization and Executive Committee of the TRT Documentary Awards during the same year the competition is to be held. The Organization and Executive Committee shall evaluate the application and convey the final decision Selection Committees.
8.3. The individuals, associations or institutions that make an application for such an additional award shall inform the Organization and Executive Committee about the purpose of the additional awards and the final decision is taken by the Organization and Executive Committee.
8.4. If TRT had acquired broadcasting rights of a film participating in the competition before the results are announced and the said film wins an award, the differences in sum between the prize amount and the License Fee, determined by the TRT Purchase Agreement, shall be awarded to the applicant. No additional payment will be made if the amount indicated in the Purchase Agreement is higher than the amount of the Prize.
9. INTELLECTUAL RIGHTS
9.1. The below-mentioned rights of the documentaries awarded in the National Category shall be transferred exclusively to TRT for 2 (two) years and with unlimited runs, with full authority and a sub-license for Turkey for all kinds of TV broadcasting including Internet TV, IPTV, podcasting and new media; free TV, encrypted TV streams, pay TV streams etc. that shall be carried out by satellite and terrestrial broadcasting. The license period starts from the date when the prize amount is transferred to the account of the right holder(s) following the signing of the Financial Rights Transfer Contract with TRT. TRT can exercise the aforementioned rights of processing, reproduction, distribution, representation as well as broadcasting rights on all TRT channels and all of its other mediums including all TRT satellite TV channels, in Turkish and in other languages, in the form of dubbed or subtitled.
9.2. The below-mentioned rights of the documentaries awarded in the International Category shall exclusively be transferred to TRT on the condition that they are dubbed in the Turkish language, for 1 (one) year and with unlimited runs, with full authority and a sub license for Turkey for all kinds of TV broadcasting including Internet TV, IPTV, podcasting and new media; free TV, encrypted TV streams, pay TV streams etc. that shall be carried out by satellite and terrestrial broadcasting. License period starts from the date when the prize amount is transferred to the account of the right holder(s) following the signing of the Financial Rights Transfer Contract with TRT. This right includes broadcasts from TRT's own satellite TV channels during the license period.
9.3. Applicants shall agree, acknowledge and pledge that their Film is original; that they do not violate copyrights or other rights of third parties; that they obtained necessary permission from the author and the associated copyright holders for other work used in the documentary; that they, should they win an award, are entitled to transfer these rights to TRT; that they are the owner of all rights of the Film and free from the rights and demands of third parties; that they do not breach any rights, particularly copyrights of any third parties; that there are no conflicts regarding the Film; and agree that TRT shall be exempt from claims that arise from the use of these rights by TRT; that they are the addressee of any kinds of compensations and other penal sanctions that will be demanded by persons included in their film or they employed; that they will not sell, transfer or grant the film to other institutions or persons except to TRT during the license period; that otherwise they will be responsible of all legal, administrative, criminal and financial outcomes that will arise; that they will compensate the damage TRT may suffer; that they are aware that they may be punished according to the Law of Intellectual and Artistic Rights numbered 5846.
9.4. Applicants, if their Film is awarded, shall submit necessary documents (Financial Rights Transfer Contract that will be provided by TRT) proving that they have transferred the said rights to TRT from the Film’s Director, Dialogue Writer, Musical Score Composer and, if there is any, from Scriptwriter and/or Animator, or if these rights were transferred to another individual, association or institution, applicants are required to obtain them and submit original copies of these documents to TRT as well as other materials/documents required by TRT for broadcasting purposes.
9.5. As for the documentaries that have been awarded, including the special prize and additional awards, there shall be no cost for the use of the right that has been transferred to TRT, and award-winners shall deliver the Financial Rights Transfer Contract to TRT before the award is given.
9.6. Should their Film be awarded, applicants will submit to TRT (if they have not delivered previously), a broadcast-ready copy of their Film, which will include musical effects track and audio track recorded on different channels (with M&E tracks), bearing the technical specifications required by TRT, along with the text and promotional materials of the Film.
9.7. Participants know and accept that should their Film be short-listed, they will not qualify for an award without signing the Letter of Consent attached to this Conditions Required, and should they qualify for an award, will not acquire the award without signing the Financial Rights Transfer Contract.
10. THE SUM OF THE AWARDS
After the statutory deductions, the amount of the awards will be paid by TRT within 1 (one) month following the signing of the Financial Rights Transfer Contract by both Parties and the submission of the documents and required materials regarding the award-winning film, which are specified in Article 8 of this regulation and agreed to by the owner of the Film. If the applicant has transferred the rights, which are required to be granted to TRT under the terms and conditions of this document, to an individual or an establishment (Distributor), the amount of the award will be paid in the following terms: after the statutory deductions, 50% of the award sum will be paid to the applicant and the remaining 50% to the individual or the establishment who holds the rights. The documents and materials requested by TRT must be delivered in 6 (six months) at the latest from the date of the official announcement of the results, without prejudice to the dates indicated in the other articles of this document. Should the applicant fail to meet the commitments and provide invalid information on the application form, or should TRT determine that there are violations of the provisions in this document, payment shall not be made. However, if payment has already been made, the amount of the award shall be returned to TRT with legal interest. The applicant shall accept and undertake this provision.
11. GENERAL CONDITIONS
11.1. Applications who do not meet requirements may be eliminated by the Organization and Executive Committee, the Pre-Selection Committee or by the Selection Committee of the TRT Documentary Awards.
11.2. Co-productions are considered eligible to enter the competition on behalf of the association that submits them. The applicant guarantees that other co-producers accept this participation.
11.3. The co-producers must be indicated in the application form.
11.4. Shipment and custom clearance fees, freight charges and insurance costs stemming from the competition will be borne by the participant.
11.5. The Organization and Executive Committee of TRT Documentary Awards may hold public screenings for all or some of the documentaries in different languages, which have entered the competition and passed pre-selection process, in cities and theatres both at home and abroad, for cultural purposes.
11.6. Reproduction and distribution rights of the award winning documentaries in DVD format, shall be transferred non-exclusively to TRT to be used during the License Period, upon permission by the owner(s) of the Film. TRT may reproduce and distribute free of charge and for cultural purposes, a DVD set including the copies of the documentaries, awarded in the competition. TRT may also distribute, for promotional purposes, a DVD press kit including the demos of the award winning documentaries and/or a catalogue including promotional materials of the finalist Films that have passed the pre-selection stage.
11.7. Documentary materials submitted by applicants to TRT for pre-selection stage shall not be returned. Copies of the documentaries that passed the pre-selection, except for copies of the awarded documentaries, will be returned to the address on the application form with costs to be covered by TRT, provided that such a request is indicated in the application form.
11.8. TRT shall have the right to publish and broadcast a maximum of 3 (three) minute excerpts of documentaries that participated in the competition, on its own TV channels, its mediums and on other Turkish TV channels or mediums to promote the competition.
11.9. All kinds of visual materials submitted to TRT for the competition, may be broadcast/used free of charge in all other media including the printed media and the internet for promotional purposes.
11.10.Streaming of documentary films awarded in the competition shall be subject to relevant broadcasting regulations of TRT and broadcasting principles of RTÜK.
11.11.The application form of the competition is signed by the owner and/or the Director(s) of the documentary film.
11.12.Provisions written in this document are in Turkish and have been translated into English. In case of differences in the interpretation and implementation ıf the provisions, the Turkish version will prevail.
11.13.TRT is exclusively entitled to decide whether to make an evaluation, should other matters not mentioned in this regulation arise and if participation does not reach the desired level.
11.14.TRT has the exclusive right to unilaterally make any changes to the provisions.
11.15.Applicants in this competition are considered to have accepted these terms and conditions.
11.16.The Courts of Ankara are authorized for the resolution of disputes arising from the implementation of this document.
