Terms & Conditions - the basics

The Neptune Cinema: 53-Hour Film Festival Competition Rules:

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These rules govern the competitive aspects of The Neptune Cinema: 53-Hour Film Festival (N53HFF). Please read them carefully to ensure eligibility and compliance. For rules re- garding the filmmaking process, refer to the Filmmaking Rules at https://neptunefilmfest. wixsite.com/the-neptune-theater.

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The N53HFF Organizers may add to or amend these rules at any time prior to the beginning of the Official Time Period.

Eligibility

In the United States, the Team Captain must be a legal resident or legal visitor of the United States or the District of Columbia. A team is not eligible if either the Team Captain or any Team Member is one of the following: employee, festival producer, contractor, director, or officer of The Neptune Cinema: 53-Hour Film Festival, its parent, subsidiaries, or affiliated companies, distributors, web design, advertising, fulfillment, judging, or Festival agencies involved in the administration, development, fulfillment, and execution of this Festival (col- lectively, Festival Parties), or the immediate family member of any Festival Party (e.g., spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, and spouse or stepchild) or those living in their same household (those persons whether related or not who live in the same residence for at least three months during the twelve-month period preceding the start date of the Festival). Void where prohibited.

To Enter

To register for The Neptune Cinema: 53-Hour Film Festival in Memphis, TN, follow the instructions found on https://neptunefilmfest.wixsite.com/the-neptune-theater. Registration is based on a first-come, first-served basis, and space is limited. As this is the first year of the N53HFF in Memphis, TN, the Early Bird registration fee is $65 per team, the Regular registration fee is $80 per team, and the Late registration fee is $95 per team. Early Bird registration begins July 22, 2025, and closes August 5, 2025. Regular registration begins August 6, 2025, and closes September 5, 2025. Late registration begins September 6, 2025, and closes September 19, 2025.

Official Filmmaking Period

The Neptune Cinema: 53-Hour Film Festival will commence on Friday, September 19, 2025, at 7:00 PM local time and end on Sunday, September 21, 2025, at midnight in Memphis, TN, as announced on the Festival website.

Withdrawing from the N53HFF

N53HFF Refunds If a team (Entrant) must withdraw, refunds will be paid on the following schedule:

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• NotifytheN53HFFmorethan30dayspriortothecompetitionweekend(beforeAugust 20, 2025), receive a full refund minus a $25 administrative fee.

• Notify the N53HFF 7–30 days prior to the competition weekend (August 20, 2025– September 12, 2025), receive a full refund minus a $50 administrative fee.

• No refunds less than 7 days prior to the Kickoff event (after September 12, 2025).

  Note: In lieu of a refund, registration may be credited to the following year’s N53HFF at no charge. This request must be made through the Withdraw link on the Festival website at least seven (7) days prior to the Kickoff event.

  To Withdraw To withdraw and, if eligible, request a refund or transfer, the Team Captain
  must complete the request form available at https://neptunefilmfest.wixsite.com/the-neptune-theater.

   

• Participation of Minors

  Some events (e.g., Kickoff, Drop-Off) may be held in “21 years of age or older” locations. Every effort will be made to ensure that under-21 teams are not adversely affected. Entrants may wish to consider having at least one team member who is 21 years or older.

   

• Team Captain’s Agreement

  Entrants will be required to sign the standard N53HFF Team Captain’s Agreement. If under the legal age of majority in Tennessee, a parent or legal guardian must sign it on behalf of the Team Captain.

  As a condition of entry, participants must agree to the Team Captain’s Agreement, which sets forth the rights of Entrant and N53HFF with respect to the use of Entries by N53HFF. Entries that do not include all required information and/or do not adhere to the foregoing and following requirements will be considered void and will not be considered in The Neptune Cinema: 53-Hour Film Festival.

   

• Production Costs

  All costs associated with the production of the Entry are solely the responsibility of the Entrant.

   

• Judging of Entries
  Eligible Entries will be judged based on the judging criteria stated below.

  Kickoff Event - Entrants must be present at the designated times at the designated events to participate.

Basic Requirements of the Festival

Entrants must adhere to the official N53HFF Filmmaking Rules. In addition, at the Kickoff Event on September 19, 2025, at 7:00 PM, Entrants will receive an assignment and be given exactly 53 hours to make a video (an “Entry”). See Filmmaking Rules Page at https: //neptunefilmfest.wixsite.com/the-neptune-theater for details.

Festival Terms of Submission

By submitting an Entry into The Neptune Cinema: 53-Hour Film Festival, each Entrant warrants and represents that the Entrant owns all rights to the Entry he/she/they is entering in this Festival, including, without limitation, the video or digital recording, and the perfor- mance contained in each Entry, with the exception of any assets provided by the N53HFF for use by Entrants in connection with this Festival. Each Entrant further warrants and represents that the Entrant has obtained permission from each person who appears in the Entry to grant the rights to the Festival Parties described in these Official Rules, and will submit copies of such permissions to the Festival Parties. By submitting an Entry, Entrant agrees to the Official Rules, and further agrees to indemnify and hold the N53HFF, Festival Parties, and their respective affiliates, officers, directors, agents, co-branders, or other part- ners, and any of their employees (collectively, the Festival Indemnitees), harmless from any and all claims, damages, expenses, costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), and liabilities (including settlements), brought or asserted by any third party against any of the Festival Indemnitees due to or arising out of the Entrant’s Entry materials in this Festival, or the Entrant’s conduct during and in connection with this Festival, including but not limited to trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property rights, right of publicity, right of pri- vacy, or defamation. Entrant agrees to release, indemnify, and hold harmless N53HFF and the Festival Parties from any and all claims that any advertising, presentation, web content, or any other material subsequently produced, presented, and/or prepared by or on behalf of N53HFF or the Festival Parties infringes on the rights of Entrant’s work as contained in any Entry.

Designated Team Captain

If any group of individuals elects to collaborate on an Entry, they are required to designate one (1) person as the agent of the group to enter The Neptune Cinema: 53-Hour Film Festival, agree to these Official Rules, sign the Team Captain’s Agreement, and accept the prize on behalf of the group. Neither N53HFF nor any of the Festival Parties are liable for any disputes between collaborators arising out of or related to the Festival.

Selection of Winners

Entries will be judged in a two-tier process: first locally in Memphis, TN, then internationally with each Official Winner eligible for the Best 53-Hour Film of the Year award. Entries will be judged by a process in which qualified panels of judges will evaluate the eligible entries based on the following judging criteria:

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• Artistic Merit (e.g., Story, Creativity, Entertainment Value) (45%) • Technical Merit (30%)
• Adherence to the Assignment (25%)

N53HFF Winner

The Top Entry will be declared the Official Winner. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken based on the highest score in the first Judging Criteria, continuing thereafter to each Judging Criteria in order, as needed to break the tie. Entrants agree that the N53HFF has the sole right to decide all matters and disputes arising from this Festival and that all decisions of N53HFF are final and binding.

General Conditions

By participating, Entrants agree to these Official Rules, which are final and binding in all respects. The Neptune Cinema: 53-Hour Film Festival is governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee, USA, and all claims must be resolved in the Tennessee courts or the Federal courts located in Tennessee.

Limitations of Liability and Release

No liability or responsibility is assumed by N53HFF or Festival Parties resulting from any user’s participation in or attempt to participate in the Festival or ability or inability to upload or download any information in connection with participating in the Festival. No respon- sibility or liability is assumed by the N53HFF or Festival Parties for technical problems or technical malfunction arising in connection with any of the following occurrences which may affect the operation of the Festival: hardware or software errors; faulty computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, electronic, wireless, or Internet connectivity or other online commu- nication problems; errors or limitations of any Internet service providers, servers, hosts, or providers; garbled, jumbled, or faulty data transmissions; failure of any e-mail transmissions to be sent or received; lost, late, delayed, or intercepted e-mail transmissions; inaccessibility of the Website in whole or in part for any reason; traffic congestion on the Internet or the Website; unauthorized human or non-human intervention of the operation of the Festival, including without limitation, unauthorized tampering, hacking, theft, virus, bugs, worms; or destruction of any aspect of the Festival, or loss, miscount, misdirection, inaccessibility, or unavailability of an email account used in connection with the Festival. N53HFF and Festi- val Parties are not responsible for any typographical errors in the announcement of prizes or these Official Rules, or any inaccurate or incorrect data contained on the Website or social media sites maintained by the N53HFF. Use of the Website and the N53HFF’s social media sites is at the user’s own risk. N53HFF and the Festival Parties are not responsible for any personal injury or property damage or losses of any kind which may be sustained to the user’s or any other person’s computer equipment resulting from participation in the Festival, use of the Website, or the download of any information from the Website. By participating in the Festival, Entrant agrees to release, indemnify, and hold N53HFF and Festival Parties harmless from any and all claims, damages, or liabilities arising from or relating to such Entrant’s participation in the Festival.

Winners
Winners will be posted online at https://neptunefilmfest.wixsite.com/the-neptune-theater.

Festival Organizer
The Neptune Cinema: 53-Hour Film Festival [720 Neptune St, Memphis, TN, 38104]