Submissions through Film Freeway ONLY.




FALL 2023

Ocean Life Documentary



    The Whaler
Director Philippe Blanc
in Ocean Life Documentaries
Switzerland












May 12, 2024
Opening Date
May 31, 2024
Earlybird Deadline
June 30, 2024
Regular Deadline
July 31, 2024
Late Deadline
October 31, 2024
Extended Deadline
November 23, 2024
Last Chance
December 8, 2024
Notification Date
June 20 – 21, 2025
Event Date



We've put a lot of effort into ensuring that our film festivals give you a way to keep doing well.
All our festivals have helped hundreds of filmmakers worldwide get the recognition they deserve by giving them exposure, a truly deserved award, and a chance for distribution with long-established worldwide distributors.
We created our festivals by implementing a rule that all others have yet to adopt. If your film gets rejected, we will let you know why and give you a chance to fix it, then resubmit it for free before we close submissions or the following season.

Welcome to the Nature Without Borders International Film Festival, where distribution and exposure opportunities abound.

NWBIFF is a sister festival to the Documentaries Without Borders International Film Festival and the Depth of Field International Film Festival, a FilmFreeway "Top 100 Reviewed" festival.

NWBIFF accepts worldwide Films/Documentaries under many major categories and sub-categories.

Distribution:

Over the years, our sister festivals have sent hundreds of winning films to long-established distribution companies, many signing for distribution. NWBIFF operates with that same vantage! Your top award with NWBIFF gets you into our distributor review group.

Remember Feedback: The one aspect that most festivals overlook.

Everyone who submits to the Nature Without Borders International Film Festival will receive either of the two benefits:

1): your film is already competition caliber and receives Official Selection status OR
2): If your film is not selected, you will receive a letter outlining what needs corrections. Make the suggested changes and resubmit for free, even if it's for the following season. If we tell you to make changes to your film, it helps you improve it and make it more marketable. It also makes it more likely that you will be accepted at festivals other than ours.

We only live-screen the Best of Festival winners.
Our screening event is to collect audience reactions to be used by our distributors. We don't conduct after-screening networking parties or seminars.
Video interviews of the viewing audience may be conducted and shown on WRPN.tv


  

Awards & Prizes

The "Best of Festival" winners will be reviewed by Worldwide Motion Pictures Corporation, Adler & Associates, and Cardinal XD Distribution for possible worldwide distribution.

Opportunities for Sub-Category Awards include cinematography, score, original concept, direction, SFX, acting, writing, editing, and many more!

Best of Festival Award: Given to outstanding entries chosen from among the Best of Show Winners based on genre and national or international origin.

"Best Of Show" is selected by genre and domestic/foreign, so there will be over one BOS, i.e., BOS Documentary (Domestic), BOS Documentary (Foreign), and so on.

"Award of Outstanding Excellence,"

* (Please note: If there is insufficient competition within any category, we reserve the right to withdraw a "Best Of" presentation.)

Other award levels include:
"Award of Excellence,"
"Award Of Exceptional Merit,"
"Jury's Choice Award,"
"Award Of Merit,"
"Kudos Endeavor Award,"

NWBIFF is a live screening festival and virtual competition: We invest in getting distributor recognition for quality films to give them a life beyond a one-time festival showing.
We live-screen only the Best of Festival winners.
Our screening event is to collect audience reactions to be used by our distributors. We don't conduct after-screening networking parties or seminars.
Video interviews of the viewing audience may be conducted and shown on WRPN.tv
Long-term screening opportunities are available on WRPN.TV Entertainment Network (optional)

Our founders are active Committee Members of the Universal Film and Festival Organization (UFFO.ORG), a U.K.-based non-profit founded to implement the best business practices for festivals.

If your film is not selected, you will receive a letter outlining what needs corrections. Make suggested corrections and resubmit for FREE, even next Season.



RULES AND TERMS


Subscribing to our WRPN.tv mail list is highly recommended to ensure you receive award notifications and additional discounts.
 
We are not responsible for winners missing opportunities because of failure to receive or read emails.
subscribe HERE

NWBIFF is granted the right to use an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for competition at the festival for promotional purposes.
A clip of winning entries may also be streamed on the NWBIFF.COM website and WRPN.TV.

The number of awards granted at any level will fluctuate based on the total number of entries received for each competition deadline. Just as entering major categories doesn't guarantee you'll be chosen or win an award, entering sub-categories doesn't. Suppose a filmmaker only enters a sub-category and not a major category. In that case, the film may only be accepted if the judges think the sub-category is suitable, even if the film itself is good and could have won an award. Conversely, films may also receive awards for sub-categories written by the judges, even if the filmmaker did not submit them.

Also, your film name will appear in the Official Selection list only if you have submitted the entire film into one of the main (full-price) categories (films submitted for judging in the reduced-rate, production value sub-categories will not be listed).

Subscribing to our WRPN.tv mail list is highly recommended to ensure you receive award notifications and additional discounts.
 We are not responsible for winners missing opportunities because of failure to receive or read emails.


The individual or corporation submitting the film warrants that it may commit the film for screening and understand and accept these requirements and regulations.

The competition reserves the right to refuse entries, and there are no waivers.
DVDs WILL NOT BE RETURNED!

Refund Policy: If you withdraw your submission before it is officially selected, you will receive a refund.
If you withdraw AFTER being Officially Selected, there will be NO refunds.
All our judges (selection and awarding) are paid. We don't use unpaid volunteers.

We live-screen only the Best of Festival winners.
Our screening event is to collect audience reactions to be used by our distributors. We don't conduct after-screening networking parties or seminars.
Video interviews of the viewing audience may be conducted and shown on WRPN.tv

Submissions other than the English language must be subtitled or dubbed.
If there is insufficient competition within any category, NWBIFF reserves the right to withdraw a "Best Of" presentation.

NWBIFF has set up a system where entries don't compete against each other but are instead judged on their own merits, ensuring that each film is studied and rated on its own.
They compete against themselves; each entry is scored according to an inherent value system.

When it is your turn to be evaluated, the judge's focus is on your film rather than on all the other films on cue, which ensures that they are not thinking about comparisons when they should think about you.

Judges score on a performance scale, and winning entries are recognized and awarded Best of Festival and Best of Show, as well as two Awards of Excellence levels, two Awards of Merit levels, a Kudos Endeavor Award, or no award.

The top-scoring entry or entries for each season are given the Best of Festival and Best of Show awards.
Awards of Excellence are granted to entries with exceptional artistic and technical achievements.
Notable achievements are recognized at the Award of Merit and Kudos award levels.

Submitters must protect Nature Without Borders International Film Festival, WRPN.TV, and ROMAN PICTURES from and against all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including, but not limited to, attorney's fees and court costs) that may be caused by any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss or damage to the screening videos entered.