Warmth of the day to all in this place! I bring goodwill and good intent to members of the International Democratic Union on behalf of gracious people of Gardavasque. We seek membership in the IDU to advance the cause of human dignity and democratic principles in the world.

Following the 2008 IDU Football Championships, the idea of an international football competition laid dormant. Now, in the interests of promoting peaceful international athletic competition and strengthening the bonds of friendship between nations, the IDUFC has been revived. This annual competition will determine the best football team in the IDU.

All matches will be played in Laeral. Matches will be played at the following locations:
Group A: Parc de Noblesse, Loiraine (53,000); Stade Nationale de Lyrene, Bethune (47,000)
Group B: Stade Cenefort, Cenefort (52,000); Songshan Athletic Arena, Meilinis (41,000)
Group C: Stade International Laeralien, Laeralsford (76,000); Hanshui Stadium, Nanhai(58,000)
Group D: Laeralsford Sporting Center, Laeralsford (55,000); Parc de Auvergne, Cote d'Argent (43,000)

All matches involving the Laeralian national team taking place at the Stade International Laeralien. In all other groups, the location of each match is determined by the Laeralian Ministry of Culture. The quarterfinals will take place at the first stadium listed for each group, while the semi-finals will be at Laeralsford Sporting Center and the Parc de Noblesse, while the final will be at the Stade International Laeralien.

The 16 eligible teams have randomly been assigned to groups as follows:
Group A: Bonalando, Lauchenoiria, Legionas, United New England
Group B: Lumeau, Slokais Islands, Shuell, The Dezreik
Group C: Conternia, Gnejs, Laeral, Verwood
Group D: Gonhog, Libertas Omnium Maximus, New Lusitania, Trive

Laeral will reimburse transit and housing costs for all athletes. Ticket sales are allocated through a lottery system, with 20% of seats reserved for Laeralites, and greater preference given for those wishing to see the team of their home nation.

Each team will play each of the teams in it's group once. The two teams in each group that do best based on points (3 points for a win, 1 for a tie, 0 for a loss) will move on to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals, and all subsequent matches, will be single-elimination, with penalties used to resolved draws. The winner of the IDUFC Final will be awarded the IDU Cup, as well as the right of first refusal for next year's IDUFC.

IDU Film Festival 2018

Categories

Best New IDU Film:
- Entries must be films made within an IDU nation and not released outside their nation of origin more than one year ago.
- Entry should consist of a plot synopsis, language(s) spoken, list of main characters & actors, any relevant production or background information.

Best IDU Classic Film:
- Entries must be films made within an IDU nation and released more than four years ago.
- Entry should consist of a plot synopsis, language(s) spoken, list of main characters & actors, information on why the film is considered a classic.

Best Actor in an IDU Film:
- Entries must be actors/actresses of any sapient species who has appeared in a film produced within an IDU nation in the last eight years.
- Entry should consist of details about the actor/actress and must cite a specific film they have appeared in.

Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film (new this year):
- Entries must be non-fiction films made within an IDU nation within the last four years.
- Entry should consist of a synopsis of the film, language(s) spoken, any relevant production & background details.

Best Foreign Film:
- Entries must be films produced outside of the IDU, not released outside its nation of origin more than two years ago.
- Entry post should consist of a plot synopsis, language(s) spoken, list of main characters & actors, any relevant production & background details.

Judging

Every nation that has sent any entries to any category is entitled to cast one vote for each category. The nation has free choice over how to determine their vote. The exhibitors of independently submitted films are not entitled to vote.

The judges’ decisions are final.

OOC: you may enter films using puppets, however voting is restricted to one vote per player.

Prizes

The winner of each category shall receive a golden butterfly statue and a certificate detailing the award, as well as the opportunities that come from the prestige of winning. The travel costs of the exhibitors of winning entries will be reimbursed, within reason.

The nation that wins the Best New IDU Film category will have the honour of hosting next year’s film festival in 2019. In the event of a tie, it is the responsibility of those governments to decide who has this honour.

Venue

The festival will take place in Buttercity, which is the capital of Lauchenoiria, situated in the north-east of the country. Films will be shown in a variety of cinemas across the city, and transport will be provided between venues if required.

Films may be entered by national agencies or independently (however, independent films will be vetted and their exhibitors are not entitled to vote).

Accommodation will be provided in the Butterfly Hotel, situated in the centre of the city, for all official exhibitors and judges, and for up to one other person accompanying each of these individuals. Further guests can be accommodated, but this will incur an additional fee. Any additional accommodation requirements should be specified at the time of booking.

Cars will be provided upon request, and guests will also be provided with a pass allowing unlimited travel on the city’s extensive public transport network throughout their stay. Guests are invited to make full use of this for sightseeing throughout their stay.

Each nation entering a film in any category is entitled to bring eight exhibitors or judges, plus an additional four individuals for each additional entry.

Further Information

The start date for posting entries is Monday 19th November 2018. The closing date for entries is Monday 3rd December 2018. Deadline extended until 10th December.

Voting will take place from the 4th December 2018 until the 12th December 2018. for two weeks after the close of entries.

If you have any further questions, please get in touch. Entries should be posted in this thread from Monday onwards.

[floatright]21 Brumaire CCXXVII[/floatright]

This will be starting soon. We will just RP in real-time and then when the RP is finished, we'll go back and say "this happened on X date" etc - the reason for this is we're all a little busy, and the holiday period is coming up, so we can't all commit to posting what I imagine will be quite lengthy pieces on X day at X time, and expect nations to respond (again with quite possibly lengthy pieces) before that day is out.

It'll be done in 2 phases.

First, we will address crimes done in the war. Secondly, we will discuss reparations.

In the first phase, the judge will call on each country (or in the case of Lauchenoiria, the interim-government) to present before her each grievance they have against specific persons or people. The judge will do this one at a time. So, for example, when the judge calls on the interim-gov, they might say Charissa Clarke, the Chaher family, reps of Gonhog govt, reps of Kerlile govt etc etc.

Once all the grievances are done, the judge will then collate them (for where a person/entity has been accused of a grievance by more than one country), and will assign a running order of when they will be heard. Then per case, she will hear prosecutory arguments, and then defence arguments.

For the sake of ease, there'll be no jumping in and rebuttal statements allowed. Think of it as the opening and closing prosecution and defence arguments rolled into one.

In the second phase, we'll do the same, but instead will be applications for reparations (i.e. costs etc) - so the interim government of Lauchenoria might say Conternias owes them X amount for y. Again, judge will hear arguments in favour, and then arguments not in favour.

After those two phases are done, the judge will pronounce her verdicts.

Any questions?

Dear Nation of the IDU,

With blessings of the Bonalandan Executive Council, I, Marja Brito (Head of the Department for Scientific Research and Dissemination), invite you to contribute in the investigation into the phosphorescent pebbles, or 'Glowstones' of Diamant.

The Bonalandan Council has allocated a reasonable budget to this research. On top of our own basic direct funding into the research we are willing to make further investment matching that brought to the project by other nations up to a cap of 1 million Moneros per nation to be shared with the international research project for services provided.

We invite applications from prospective contributing researchers from your great nations. Please encourage your researchers to apply with a brief covering letter outlining their specialism and background and where appropriate the facilities that your nation will be making available to the project.

In the spirit of international collaboration that Bonalando strives to promote, all participants should remember that all research findings will be available to all participating nations through their involved parties but will also be available to the wider international community.

This thread will be used for OOC planning and idea sharing for any RPs relating to international projects in which Bonalando is pivotal.

General idea is to help everyone know how best to be involved while maintaining consistency within IC thread.

In the spirit of open play I'd like RPs to be pretty open, however I think it worth using this thread as a place for those keen on contributing to establish how they intend to contribute. This should help to reduce undesirable bumps and unnecessary awkwardness in the RPs.