If it’s an even-numbered year, you know that it’s time to start planning for the world’s biggest and most influential poetry film festival, ZEBRA. Their website has yet to be updated from 2016, but a call for entries has indeed been issued; you can find it on FilmFreeway in both German and English. I’ll take the liberty of pasting in the English version:

In 2018 the Filmwerkstatt Münster, in cooperation with Haus für Poesie, will host the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin. The festival will be located at Schloßtheater, a repertory cinema in Münster.

Awards & Prizes

The prizes are endowed together with € 12.000. A programme commission is going to nominate the films for the festival and the competition. An international jury will choose the winning films.

The prizes that will be awarded are (i. a.):

• ZEBRA Prize for the Best Poetry Film, donated by Haus für Poesie
• The Goethe Film Prize, donated by the Goethe-Institut
• ZEBRINO Audience Award – Best Film for Children and Young People
• The Audience Award

Rules & Terms

The ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin 2018 is inviting entries for the competition for the best poetry film. Eligible for submission are short films based on poems.

The Festival is also inviting entries of films based on this year’s Festival poem, “Endless wall-to-wall carpet (of the VIP foyer)” by Ann Cotten. The directors of the three best films will be invited to Münster to meet the poet and have the opportunity to present and discuss their films. You can find the poem together with a sound recording and various translations at https://www.lyrikline.org/de/gedichte/unendlicher-spannteppich-des-vip-empfangsraums-8387#.WkYsv1XiZEY

The closing date for entries for all competitions is the 1st May 2018. All films submitted are automatically considered for all selection processes.

Deadline: 1st May 2018 (date as postmark)

Rules of Entry

1. The organizer of the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin is the Filmwerkstatt Münster in cooperation with the Haus für Poesie.

2. Eligible for submission are poetry films with a maximum length of 15 minutes that were finished after 1st of January 2015. The ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival reserves the right to show films longer than 15 minutes in duration. All films submitted must be visual realisations of one or more poems. There are no language restrictions. Admissible formats are: DCP, Blu-ray, DVD as well as mp4 or mov files with a resolution of at least 720p or 1080p. All films that are not in English must have English subtitles.

3. The closing date for entries is the 1st May 2018 (date as postmark). Entries must be accompanied by a video file (preferably MPEG-4), Blu-Ray or DVD of the film for preview, a completed entry form, a digital film still (JPEG or TIFF, 300dpi), a translation of the poem into English or German, a short summary of the content, a biography of the poet and a biography and filmography of the director. All texts must be provided in digital form. Video files, DVDs or Blu-rays for preview purposes must be delivered within the period of submission (by the 1st May 2018) and will be retained for storing in the festival archives. The preview copies will only be returned at the express wish and expense of the sender.

4. A programme committee will select the films for the competitions and recommend films for other sections of the programme. All films submitted will automatically be considered for all selection processes. An international jury, consisting of at least three members, will choose the winning films. Those involved in the production or commercial exploitation of any of the competition films may not be part of the jury. The audience will vote the winners of the Audience Award and the ZEBRINO Prize.

5. The jury’s verdict will be taken by simple majority. The discussions and the votes will proceed in confidentiality.

6. The prizes are endowed with a total of € 12.000. The sponsor will present the winning director with a cheque or by bank transfer for this amount.

7. All entrants will be informed via e-mail of the results of the call for entries in mid-July 2018. Please make sure that your e-mail address is correct and legible. No enquiries about the selection process will be answered before mid-July 2018.

8. Submitting the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin is free of charge!

9. By submitting your film, you confirm that the film may be shown at the Festival. The film may no longer be withdrawn once the entry form has been sent off. The sender is required to obtain permission from any third parties involved in the production to agree to the film being screened at the festival.

10. The transportation costs of the film copy to the festival will be charged to the sender. There will be no screening fee for submitted films that are selected for the competition.

11. For the duration of the festival the film will be insured at copy value. Insurance protection begins with the arrival of the copy at the festival office and ends on its leaving. If a copy should be damaged, the sender must register that damage within one month from the end of festival. The festival will assume the cost of repair to a maximum amount equivalent to the manufacturing costs of a copy in the same format.

12. By arrangement with the owners of the rights, the Filmwerkstatt Münster and the Haus für Poesie will show selected Festival films as part of non-commercial selection screenings following on from the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin.

13. Registration for participation at the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival Münster|Berlin 2018 will be deemed to entail acceptance of these rules of entry. The festival management is entitled to decide on any case not covered by the guidelines and to permit exceptions in special cases.

Click through to submit.