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International Competition of Musical Composition for the Moving Image – Fifth Edition
Through the sonic reinterpretation of old silent films the forgotten masterpieces of the history of cinema can be made more interesting and exciting for the general public. Music can have a leading role in this kind of Renaissance, starting from the special concern for timbre in the instrumental, electronic and electroacoustic music of today. New soundtracks can do more than simply "accompany" the images on the screen, but can reveal their hidden content, giving a new voice to what would otherwise remain silent, and the sound of today can contribute towards redefining the meaning, aesthetics and conceptual structures of cinema created before the advent of the soundtrack.
With this in mind, the Edison Studio association, in collaboration with Romaeuropa Festival and with the support of Cineteca di Bologna, announces the 5th edition of “Sounds of Silences” International Competition of Musical Composition for the Moving Image, which is intended to stimulate musical creativity in its interaction with the audiovisual media.
In the preliminary stage of the competition the entrants must submit an audiovisual work, the musical part of which they themselves have composed. An initial jury will then select three finalists from among the entrants, who will be invited to create, within a period of almost 3 months, an electroacoustic soundtrack for silent movies chosen by Edison Studio in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna. A second international jury will award cash prizes to the finalists during a public event organized within the Romaeuropa Festival 2020. The total prize money to be awarded amounts to €3,000.
Regulations
1) The association Edison Studio, in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna and the Romaeuropa Festival, announces the 5th edition of “Sounds of Silences” International Competition of Musical Composition for the Moving Image.
2) The competition is open to all composers of any nationality born after 31/12/1984. Participation in the competition is free of charge and can be either individual or collective. All members of any group must be born before the above indicated date. Any composers who received an award or prize in the last edition of the competition (2019) are not allowed to participate.
3) To enter the competition all entrants must do the following, by the date of May 20th, 2020, 6 pm (italian time): - fill in the on-line registration form available in English at "https://soundsofsilences.edisonstudio.it/regolamento.php" containing a specific attachment in which they must declare their own authorship of the soundtrack they are presenting and give their authorization for the processing of their personal data.
In the on-line entry form a link must be provided for viewing in streaming the work they are submitting for the first stage of the competition (e.g. Youtube, etc.). In case the video is not public domain, the link must be a non-public one.
The organizers of the competition accept no liability for any problems related to the streaming quality of the work submitted. As regards the visual part, the candidates can choose to use an original or pre-existing video, as the assessment will be made exclusively on the basis of the relationship between the soundtrack and the moving image.
Each candidate may participate with only one work composed exclusively by himself/herself, but there is also the possibility to submit a second work created with at least one other musician born after 31/12/1984 (whose identity must be specified).
By the 1st of June 2020, the secretariat of the competition will communicate to the candidates the confirmation of receipt of the registration forms and the works they have submitted to the competition.
4) The competition consists of the three phases listed below.
4.1) Pre-selection
The works received from those entrants who have registered correctly will be submitted to a first international jury. That jury will select three works from among those that have been received. The creators of these three works will then be admitted to the following stages of the competition.
The secretariat of the competition will communicate the outcome of the selection to the three successful candidates, on the organizer’s site and those of its partners as well as to the press by the 25th of June 2020.
4.2) Composition
By the 1st of July 2020 each of the three successful individual or group entrants who have been selected will be invited to create an original soundtrack for one or more movies - with a total duration that will not exceed 35' for each finalist (or group) - chosen at random from silent films previously selected by Edison Studio with the aid of the Cineteca di Bologna.
In order to participate in the final phase of the competition the finalists must do the following, by the 1st of October 2020, 6 pm.
• Send to soundsofsilences@edisonstudio.it by means of WeTransfer (www.wetransfer.com) the films with their own original soundtracks in stereo (if the characteristics of the file make it impossible to be sent via WeTransfer, the work sent by the finalists via a different route or channel must still be received by the Edison Studio association by the October 2nd 2020, 6 pm italian time).
• The following must also be sent by the October 2nd 2020, 6 pm to the email address soundsofsilences@edisonstudio.it:
a) a description of the work in English of no more than 600 words in length;
b) a résumé or CV of the individual entrant or group of entrants in English of no more than 600 words in length;
c) pictures of the individual entrant or group of entrants in JPG/JPEG format with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI;
d) a pre-formulated statement signed by the competitors formally declaring that the soundtrack presented is entirely composed by themselves, that they have not in any way granted the rights to the use of the soundtrack to third parties before the end of the competition, that they undertake not to publicly present the audiovisual work before the day of the final award ceremony, as specified below in paragraph 4.3.
We also warn that after the final the films cannot be used publicly without the written authorization of Cineteca di Bologna. Edison Studio is not responsible for any unauthorized use of the films given by Cineteca di Bologna. The audio part composed by the finalists, instead, remains their own property.
4.3) Final award ceremony
The works of the three finalists will be presented in a public event within October-November 2020 in the context of the Romaeuropa Festival 2020. A second international jury will meet after the screening to discuss the works and will then award the cash prizes.
In the case of a group of entrants the prize money will be divided among all the members of the collective.
The jury reserves the right not to award all or any of the cash prizes, as well as to award ex- aequo prizes if it sees fit.
5) Awards
The prize pool will be divided as follow:
1st Prize € 1,500
2nd Prize € 1,000
3rd Prize € 500
The sums payable to the creators of the winning works are limited solely to the prize money indicated in this Regulation.
The creators of the winning works cannot make any further requests for any extra sums due to any use of their works by the organizers for promotional purposes related to the competition, within the limits of the existing copyright laws.
6) The organizers of the competition reserve the right to make any changes to these Regulations that they may see fit, perhaps due to the necessity to intervene for reasons of force majeure.
7) The submission of the entry form for the competition entails and signifies acceptance of all the provisions of these Regulations by the entrants.
8) Any failure by the entrants to comply with the provisions specified in these Regulations will result in their exclusion from the competition.
9) In the event of a dispute the Italian version of these Regulations will be deemed to be legally binding and valid. In any case of dispute or legal contestation the seat of jurisdiction will be that of Rome.
Info at : soundsofsilences@edisonstudio.it