“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.”

— Brené Brown 

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The 4RIFF showcases, nurtures, and supports the immense creativity of our communities using a tool so simple and readily available that it’s often overlooked: the mobile phone. This festival is curated and produced by Dasan Ahanu, the Cultural Organizing Director for the NC Climate Justice Collective. Dasan is an award-winning artist and a seasoned curator and cultural organizer with over 25 years of experience. 

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Inspired by the Leanne Betasamosake Simpson quote, "Strong communities are born out of individuals being their best selves," this Festival's theme is Best Me, Better We! Simpson is a Mississauga Nishnaabeg writer, musician, and scholar, and her words remind us that when we create our own sites of pow­er, we reclaim our right to joy. Our love for each other–and our pursuit of self-determination, freedom, and true well being–are the building blocks of the world we know we deserve. For our communities to thrive, each member must cultivate their own personal strengths to contribute to the whole. We must never forget who and what we are. This festival is a reminder for all of us.

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We believe all people have a vital contribution to make in centering social, ecological, and economic justice. That is why 4RIFF is based on our conceptual framework of movement building – the Four R’s of Social Transformation: Reform, Resist, Re-imagine and Re-create – that our NCCJC Co-Founder, Jodi Lasseter, developed over many years. While individuals and organizations concerned about climate change often focus most on one of these Rs, a deep and practical commitment to each R, and linking between them, is critical to the success of our climate justice movement.

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We offer our movement building framework as a way of thinking about the range of focuses for submissions; we encourage you to use the Four Rs to inform how you approach the Best Me, Better We! theme. While the 4RIFF itself is an outpouring of the Re-imagine aspect of our framework, submissions can reflect any of the Four Rs and the interplay between them. 

 

NC Climate Justice Collective’s 4 R’s Indie Film Fest (4RIFF) Guidelines

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4RIFF is open to content detailed in the three categories listed below.

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Words Spoken – This is for video content that features performed text. Submissions can include songs (sung or rhymed), poetry, or monologues. Content captured at a performance is allowed as long as the submitter has the rights to the content. 

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Picture This – This is for slideshow videos. Slideshows can be set to music. They must include at least 15-20 images. The videos must include a title that represents what the collection of images represents. 

Change in Motion – This is for edited video content. Content in this category is open to any interpretation of our theme. 

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Awards & Prizes 

We will be awarding over $2500 in prizes. The finalists will be eligible for the following awards:

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Best in Category (in each category) - $500
Staff Pick - $250
Best Overall - $750
Honorable Mention (in each category) - $250

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Submission

All films submitted must be shot on a mobile phone. No drones, GoPro cameras, SLR cameras, or tablets can be used. No AI use allowed. Use of multiple phones is acceptable.

Submitters can submit in up to two categories.

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We are only accepting online submissions at: https://tally.so/r/444gGB

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All content submitted must have a short description that details how the submission relates to the 4RIFF theme:

Best Me, Better We!

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Group submissions are acceptable. 

Age Requirements 

Submitters must be 18 and older. 

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Submitters must also provide answers to the following questions with their submission:

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1- What kind of mobile phone did you use to capture your content?
2- Did you use any software or apps in preparing your submission?
3- How long did it take for you to prepare your submission?

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The content submitted should be recorded and edited no less than 720 HD format, but we recommend 1080 HD. The length of the content should be no shorter than 1 minute and no longer than 10 minutes. 

The content must be original. Content may not infringe on the copyright, trademark or other rights of any individual.

 

The NC Climate Justice Collective and its staff are not responsible for any infringement of copyrights.  Content submitted must be newly created and captured or must have been captured within the previous year. 

Submitting your content does not guarantee acceptance. A notification of acceptance will be sent by NC Climate Justice Collective staff.

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Content is welcome in ANY LANGUAGE, but subtitles in English are mandatory (films in English don't need subtitles).

Any software to edit video (on the smartphone) and audio as well as color correction is allowed.

Use of additional equipment (professional or homemade) is limited to an external microphone, lighting, or tripod.

Submitters must have full clearance for all content, including music.

No extreme violence, hate speech, racist, sexist/misogynoir, homophobic or transphobic content is allowed.

When submitting to the Festival, participants agree to the reproduction and dissemination of their content for the display and promotion of the 4RIFF. Submissions may also be used by the North Carolina Climate Justice Collective in association with climate justice issues. 

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Submission files must be sent using google drive, dropbox, or wetransfer to dasan@ncclimatejustice.info or the download link must be included in the submission form.