Hi Jimmy, This is actually a very relevant topic, considering the current political climate, tariffs, etc. I’m speaking from a (small) festival’s perspective in Canada.
We generally recommend declaring what it is, and the actual value (for insurance, if not customs), but also all the usual “temporary import/export, cultural purposes only, no commercial value, no pornographic content.” We also work with our own Border Services Agency to get accreditation allowing temporary imports under a tariff item for conventions, exhibitions, trade shows, etc. Contrary to your experiences, I find shipping with USPS (or other countries’ respective postal services) preferable to couriers, if there is time and an insured, trackable option. Once one gets into customs clearance, taxes and tariff charges the latter are going to levy significantly more. I guess some big festivals might still give you their FedEx number and absorb all of those costs, but for us, receiving a package with ridiculous customs charges owing is problematic. Sometimes we can claw these back, but the time and paperwork is onerous. Obviously this is conditional on the size/value of the print, not to mention your risk aversion. Shipping a 400ft reel of 16mm is different than a 35mm feature. And, everything I just said is out the window now anyway. We recently had to alter an exhibition that would have included films and photographs due to concerns about tariffs on artwork coming from the US to Canada (and possibly on return), even with Border Services approval. I spoke to the head of our federal department and he was not sure if, or how, it would be assessed, but the various tariff documents (US and Canada) suggest it will be and anecdotal reports from artists and colleagues confirm. Unless things change drastically, we will discourage sending film prints from the US for this year's festival. Cheers, Todd Eacrett (Antimatter, Victoria BC Canada) On Fri, May 23, 2025, at 9:54 AM, Jimmy Schaus wrote: > Hello, > > For the US-based filmmakers who have had some success (or learned the hard > way about) shipping film prints internationally for festivals, I'm curious: > are there any "best practices" to avoid shipping/customs issues? I know that > each country/festival may have different specifications regarding shipment, > but if there are any general guidelines to keep in mind gleaned from > successful (or not) experiences, I'd love to hear them. I'm currently in a > painful one-two punch of failed attempts using both FedEx and DHL. > > This is my third time shipping a print overseas for a festival but first > outright failure (other times were a down-to-the-wire but ultimately resolved > customs delay with USPS and a total success with DHL, the latter accompanied > by extensive instructions and additional forms provided by the fest). > > -Is there a preferred courier? (only consensus seems to be avoiding UPS/USPS) > > -Mark as "gift" or no? > -Make explicit "for cultural purposes only", "for a film festival", "no > commercial transaction" etc., or no? > -Good responses to the question "what are you shipping?" I ask because there > are different codes that they enter for different items, and sometimes "it is > a film for projection at a festival" is met with confusion. > -ask festival to provide additional forms, or should commercial invoice > generated at courier suffice? > -any other tips? > > Sorry for the dry topic. Feel free to reply off-list, unless you think it's > helpful for all. And if your advice is "shoot digital", stop yourself :) I > also make digital work and, to quote Johnny from *Square Pegs*, it's "a > totally different head". > > Jimmy > > > -- > Frameworks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org >
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