Term
The Awards closes for online submissions on 23 September 2020, at 11:00 pm GST (the Entry Deadline).  All entries must be received by the Entry Deadline.

Who may enter?
This competition is FREE to enter and open to all nationalities over the age of 18. There is a Junior Category for under 18’s resident in the UAE.
Employees of Sharjah Government Media Bureau, and each of their affiliates, subsidiaries and agents, are not eligible to enter or win a prize in the main categories, however, there is a restricted category for Sharjah Government employees.

How to enter
For the photography categories, images must be submitted through our online awards platform at XPOSURE AWARDS  The images should be suitable for public display, printing and publication in the Xposure Year Book. The JPG file format should be used and the preferred resolution is 300 dpi and preferably in a ratio of 3:2

For the film category, you can upload your file in MP4 format with a maximum file size of 1GB. Scripts together with other information may be referenced. Uploads are accepted through the awards platform in the respective category.

More detail for photo submissions

• The preferred image size should be close to 5,000 pixels on the longer dimension. We accept images that were not captured at this resolution as long as they are over 2700 pixels on the long dimension. For more information on electronic submission guidelines see our FAQ.
• To enter electronically, you must first register online. Once the registration process has been completed, you will receive an e-mail confirmation. Just log into the competition and follow the instructions to upload images from your computer. Digital images should have a long dimension of at least 2,700 pixels and saved at 300 dpi 28cm, or larger, as a jpeg file.  We can accept images that are up to 8 megabytes uncompressed if you cannot downsize the pictures. (Uncompressed is the size you see in Photoshop’s “Image Size” display which represents the count of pixels in the image. It is not the file size on your computer’s hard drive viewable on your desktop.) Images may be colour profiled in sRGB, Adobe-1998, or not colour-managed.
• You may enter up to ten (10) images or films per user distributed in any ratio across the awards categories and each entry must be allocated to the category selected from the drop-down selection box. (see categories). To enable entrants to submit across multiple categories only one image may be uploaded at a time with the exception of stories in the TAPSA section.
• To qualify, your photographs of films must be taken or produced in the past 3-years.
• An entry consists of one photo or film, in addition to completed Title, Caption, Place Taken and Date Taken.
• Each submitted photograph, in its entirety, must be a single work of original material taken by the competition entrant. By entering the contest, the entrant represents, acknowledges and warrants that he or she has full power and authority to enter the photograph and that the photograph does not infringe any copyright or violate any other intellectual property rights. The entrant agrees to indemnify Sharjah Government Media Bureau from any and all third party claims arising from the photograph.
• Unless in a category specifically designed for photo manipulation entries should not include adding or removing content or staging a photograph to mislead the viewer. Adjustment of levels, colour, contrast and brightness are permitted.
• Photographs that include sculptures, statues, paintings, and other works of art will be accepted as long as they do not constitute copyright infringement or fraud, provided that entrants are prepared to submit a release form as described below in “Third Party Releases/Licenses.” When photographing the work of others, it must be as an object in its environment and not a full-frame close-up of another person’s art.
• Photographs that include a watermark or name that is not part of the original image capture will be disqualified.
• Short film entries can be in any language but if submitted with other than the spoken English language, then English subtitles should be present.
• Running time of film entries must be at least 3 min and no greater than 18 min.
• The entries will be judged in accordance with the Judging Criteria, as defined in judging and awards. The photograph must not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of the Sponsors, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. Photographs deemed inappropriate will be disqualified without notice.
• Online entries must be made by a user registered online at our awards platform and by the authorised account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. “Authorised account holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, internet domain owner, or other person or organisation (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address.

PHOTOGRAPHY JUDGING

The panel of judges is looking to award the overall winner of the annual international photography awards and the overall best picture from all photography award categories.

In addition to the main prizes, all winning and shortlisted photographers will be included in the publication of the Xposure Year Book and featured in a gallery at Xposure 2021. In each category, judges will award:

One winner
One runner-up
Five shortlisted photographers

The winner and runner-up from each category will be invited to the Xposure Festival Awards Ceremony where the final outcome of the position will be announced.

Qualification
All submitted images will be screened by the Moderators to ensure that no offensive or culturally sensitive material is presented to the Jury. Submissions will either be approved or rejected at this stage. Any offensive submissions will be removed from the competition without notice.

Judging Procedure
Round One – Entries will be judged from artistic merit and overall impact
Round Two – Entries will be judged from the composition, technical quality and effectiveness of expressing the category theme

Round One Process
The VIP jury (the “Judges”) will independently review each entry and apply a credit rating on the basis of Overall Impact and Artistic Merit. The collective credit ratings from this process form the round one score.

Short List Round One
The 25 highest ranked images in each category will go forward to round two. In the case that two or more images are in ranking position 25 all those images with the equal 25th point score will go ahead into round two.

Round Two Process
In Round Two the judges will apply a credit rating on the basis of Photographic / Technical Quality, Image Composition and Effectiveness in expressing the category theme.

The Judges individually consider the three aspects (criteria) for each image and allocate credits on each element. The collective scores will determine the ranking. Should one or more images be placed equally in ranking 1, 2 or 3, there shall be a final “Tie-Break” round of judging.

Tie-Break Process
If a tie-break is required, the judges will consider the respective images once again based on the criteria of Originality. The Judges will apply a credit rating of 1 to 6 in the Tie Break process. Decisions of the Judges are final and binding.

SHORT FILM JUDGING

Short films will be judged and scored following the criteria set out below. Short Films include video clips in MP4 format and can be any running length from 3 min to 18 min.

One winner
One runner-up
Five shortlisted filmmakers

The winner and runner-up from this category will be invited to the Xposure Festival Awards Ceremony where the final outcome of the position will be announced.

Qualification
All submitted films and video clips will be based on a URL submission to your video clip or film hosted on Vimeo, YouTube or any other suitable platform. Any offensive submissions will be removed from the competition without notice.

Judging Procedure
Round One Process
The VIP jury (the “Judges”) will independently review each entry and apply a credit rating on the basis of Merit. The collective credit ratings from this process form the round one score.

Short List Round One
The 25 highest ranked video clips / short films will go forward to round two. In the case that two or more entries are in ranking position 25 all those in the equal 25th place score will go ahead into round two.

Round Two Process
In Round Two the judges will apply a 1 – 8 credit rating on the basis of seven criteria.

• Concept.
• Theme
• Style/Tone
• Characters & Dialogue
• Structure / Plot & Pacing
• Presentation
• Commercial Potential

The Judges individually consider the criteria for each video clip / short film and allocate credits on each element. The collective scores will determine the ranking. Should one or more entries be placed equally in ranking 1, 2 or 3, there shall be a final “Tie-Break” round of judging.

Tie-Break Process
If a tie-break is required, the judges will consider the respective entries once again based on the criteria of Originality. The Judges will apply a credit rating of 1 to 6 in the Tie Break process. Decisions of the Judges are final and binding.