Competition Introduction and Important Information

  1. Objectives:
    • This competition is intended to discover and celebrate outstanding short films that tell touching stories on Taiwanese soil, capture the local cultural features or ephemeral moments of beauty worthy of international attention, and/or demonstrate the cultural ambience unique to Taiwan.
  2. Competition Criteria:
    • There is no age limit or restriction based on nationality. The competition is open to everyone. There is no registration fee.
    • Those under the age of 20 require a letter of consent from their legal guardian.
    • Those invited to serve as judges for the competition may not enter the competition.
    • Units under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are not eligible for the competition.
    • The works submitted shall be original and have never received any award at any other open competitions and/or selections
  3. Submission Period: August 31 – October 16, 2019 (before 23:59:59 in Taiwan local time).
  4. How to Submit:(Note: All videos must be uploaded. DVDs sent by mail will not be accepted).
    • Step 1: Upload the video in the required format to your personal YouTube channel.
    • Step 2: Click the “Submit” button on the official website.
    • Step 3: When submitting your film, please provide the following information: entrant name/team name and profile, inspiration for your film (no more than 300 words), a brief description of the film, the shoot location (please be specific), and the video URL. The consent box for the "Competition Rules” must be checked in the registration process.
  5. Competition Results Announcement:
    • October 31 (Thur.), 2019: the names of the 20 shortlisted submissions will be announced on the event website.
    • November 6 (Wed.), 2019: The list of winners will be announced at an awards ceremony.
  6. Awards ceremony: November 6 (Wed.), 2019
  7. Winner announcement on website: November 8 (Fri.), 2019 (provisional)
  8. Film Requirements:
    • Subject matter and setting: Taiwan should be the subject matter or main backdrop for the film, and the works should tell a local story or portray a moment of beauty that will resonate with international audiences.

    • Film duration: Submissions (including the opening, the primary content and the credits) should not exceed three minutes, based on the YouTube broadcast time. Submissions exceeding three minutes in length will be disqualified without any notice, whereas submissions not exceeding one minute in length are welcome.

    • The film’s aspect ratio should be 16:9.

    • There are no requirements for the type or brand of camera equipment to be used in the making of the film, however, a resolution of at least 1280x720 (720p) is required, with 1920x1080 (1080p) being ideal.

    • When uploading the film to YouTube please title it following the format below: Film name - 2019 Trending Taiwan, e.g., ‘I Just Love Taiwan - 2019 Trending Taiwan. Both the Chinese "潮台灣" and English "Trending Taiwan" logos must be placed throughout the video. These can be downloaded from the link here.

    • Entrants are advised to consider the requirements for broadcasting on different platforms during the film-making process, and should leave space for foreign language subtitles and the font of any text used should be sized appropriately for viewing comfort.

    • Panorama VR submissions are welcome but are not an imperative criterion for the competition. Entrants are encouraged to be creative and choose innovative subject matters.

    • Films with themes involving interactions between Taiwanese people and individuals from ASEAN, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, New Zealand and Australia are strongly encouraged.

  9. Other information:
    • In the event of violation of the competition rules, any infringement, and/or any other illegalities, the organizer reserves the right to disqualify the entered work and recover the awarded prize; for details on copyright rules please refer to the Copyright License Agreement on the event page.

    • If more than half of the judges are in agreement, the organizer may choose to "not award" or increase the number of places in other categories based on the performance and judging results of the submissions.

    • The organizer has the right to examine whether any of the works submitted has participated in any other open selections in addition to this competition, whether there has been any duplicate submissions, whether any work submitted that has already been awarded but adapted, edited, and/or rehashed for this competition, and/or whether there is any forgery, fraudulence, or illegitimacy. In the event of any of the aforementioned violations or issues, the organizer may disqualify any entrant and cancel any award won, and the organizer reserves the right of prosecution. Upon registration, entrants shall check "I understand the competition rules and shall agree to abide by the Copyright License Agreement herein".