Tasveer Film Fund
Tasveer Film Fund
Remote
Deadline
Posted
Tasveer is excited to present the 3rd year of the Tasveer Film Fund (TFF), with partial support from Netflix. This fund is solely for people of South Asian origin and for South Asian-based films.
We are excited to announce that Tasveer is more than doubling its Tasveer Film Fund grant in 2022, from $15,000 to $50,000. The Tasveer Film Fund aims to empower South Asian filmmakers to bring their scripts to life with monetary grants, as well as year-long support with resources and mentorship access. We believe that our support can help to take some of the fundraising burden away from filmmakers, while helping to connect them with important resources to get their projects made. These films, that bring necessary representation and social justice issues to light, deserve to be fully resourced and widely seen.
With support from Netflix, TFF will once again offer awards for US-based filmmakers, which includes increased grants in the Short Narrative, LGBTQIA+ Short, and Documentary categories.
New in 2022, Tasveer is presenting a Feature Film Track, which will award up to $15,000 to a feature-length narrative. This track is open to submissions from any country.
We will host a live pitching session to determine the award winners in each category. The top 3 finalists will be invited from each category to pitch their short film, LGBTQ+ films, or their documentary treatment.
Online pitch dates:
Documentary Pitch: Thursday, October 20th, 8am-10am
LGBTQI+ Short Film Pitch: Thursday, October 20th, 12pm- 2pm
Feature Film Pitch: Friday, October 21st, 8am-10am
Short Film Pitch: Friday, October 21st, 12pm - 2pm
Awards & Prizes
Narrative Short: $10,000 (US only), Supported By Netflix & Tasveer
LGBTQIA+ Narrative Short: $10,000 (US only), Supported by Netflix & Tasveer
Documentary: $15,000 (US only), Supported by Netflix & Tasveer
Narrative Feature: $15,000 (Global), Supported by Tasveer
Requirements
INFORMATIONAL WEBINAR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfgDswuxgk8
ELIGIBILITY & SUBMISSION MATERIALS
NARRATIVE SHORT - $10,000 PRODUCTION FUNDS
- The Writer, Director, and lead character must identify as South Asian.
- Writer or Director must be a resident of the United States.
- Must be in the pre-production stage.
- Maximum 20 pages in length.
- Must be completed by September 2023
- Must screen at Tasveer South Asian Film Festival 2023
- Submission materials must include bios for key creative team, artistic statement, logline, synopsis, script, budget, and project timeline. Please upload one PDF document rather than multiple files.
LGBTQIA+ NARRATIVE SHORT - $10,000 PRODUCTION FUNDS
- The Writer, Director, and lead character must identify as South Asian and LGBTQIA+.
- Writer or Director must be a resident of the United States.
- Must be in the pre-production stage.
- Maximum 20 pages in length.
- Must be completed by September 2023.
- Must screen at Tasveer South Asian Film Festival 2023
- Submission materials must include key creative team, artistic statement, logline, synopsis, script, budget, and project timeline. Please upload one PDF document rather than multiple files.
DOCUMENTARY - $15,000 FINISHING FUNDS
- The Filmmaker and lead subject must identify as South Asian.
- The Filmmaker must be a resident of the United States.
- Must be in the post-production stage.
- Must be completed by September 2023.
- Must screen at Tasveer South Asian Film Festival 2023.
- Submission materials must include key creative team, artistic statement, logline, synopsis, treatment, PDF with a link to a clip or clips (20 minutes max), budget, and project timeline. Please upload one PDF document rather than multiple files.
NARRATIVE FEATURE - $15,000 DEVELOPMENT FUNDS
- The Writer, Director, and lead character must identify as South Asian.
- The Writer & Director can reside anywhere in the world.
- Must screen at Tasveer South Asian Film Festival 2024
- Submission materials must include key creative team, artistic statement, logline, 1-2 page synopsis, development timeline, the first 30 pages of the feature-length script or detailed writing treatment.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL CATEGORIES
- Script submitted must be written in standard script format.
- When creating/updating your project, select “SCRIPT” as your format and “USA” as your Origin.
- Use the Files & Attachments section of your FilmFreeway project profile to upload the various materials.
- Scripts must be submitted in English, even if they might be shot in another language.
- Filmmakers submitting to Narrative Short, LGBTQIA+ Narrative Short, and Documentary must be based in the U.S. and have a U.S. bank account in order to receive funds.
- Filmmakers submitting to the Feature Narrative track can be based anywhere in the world.
- Filmmakers for all categories must be of South Asian descent.
- Preference will be given to scripts with a social justice theme and centered on the South Asian diaspora experience.
- The project cannot be discriminatory against people of any background, ethnicity, religion, race, sexuality, or gender.
- Submission fees are non-refundable regardless of the outcome of the submission.
- Scripts submitted in previous years will not be eligible for resubmission in 2022.
- If you are experiencing an error message, please make sure you have chosen “SCRIPT” as your format and “USA” as your Origin.
LEGAL RULES AND REQUIREMENTS
- The completed film must include an “In association with Tasveer” card, along with the Tasveer logo in the opening credits. And, Special Thanks to some key members and mentors for their contribution should be included in the closing credits. Names will be provided by Tasveer.
- The grantee consents to Tasveer using their name, photo, project title, and any other relevant information for promotional purposes on their website and other publicity platforms.
- The Film Fund money must only be used towards the making of the film, and cannot be re-assigned for any other purpose.
- Upon completion of production, the filmmaker must submit a cost report of how the funds were used.
- If the filmmaker has not used the funds or is unable to complete their film by the agreed-upon deadline, they agree to return the grant fund in its entirety to Tasveer. Consideration may be given to schedules affected due to Covid-19.
- In the case of the grantee defaulting on using the funds, Tasveer reserves the right to reassign the funds to the runner-up filmmaker.
For more information and FAQs please visit https://tasveer.org/filmfund