Frequently asked questions

Judges will include distinguished journalists, authors, actors, musicians, artists, dancers, chefs, poets, scriptwriters, casting agents, film critics, theatre and film directors, producers, editors, animators, broadcasters, political commentators, academicians, leaders in artificial intelligence and NGOs and more.

The film festival consists of twelve categories with fiction and nonfiction options. They are the following:

• My AI
  AI focused. Fiction or nonfiction. Any genre. Any film festival category. NO AI generated films will be accepted
• My Animation
  Fiction or nonfiction. Any genre. Any film festival category. Claymation & Lego stop motion included.
• My Art
  Arts and crafts (sculpting, painting, photography, drawing, etc…). Could be time-lapse video.
• My Audition
  Display of acting prowess as if in front of casting.
• My Dance
  Production highlighting any and all forms of dance and choreography, i.e. ballet, contemporary, hip hop, tap, folk, swing, ballroom, Irish, Bollywood, Latin, disco, polka, tango, break, etc.
• My Experience
  Convey distinctive or problematic aspects of life in HOME country, region, city/village, or school. Autobiographical or Citizen journalism.
• My Food
  Cooking or baking show; new recipe; restaurant review; plane food; food implications (religious, geographic, ethnic, environmental, health).
• My Music
  Production highlighting student singing and (or) instrumentals.
• My Poetry
  Highlighting poem written by member of production team.
• My Shorts
  A short fictional story or scene (possibly intertextual or based on a real-life event). Any genre.
• My Trailer
  Trailer to a proposed movie that a student wants to produce or see produced. Any genre.
• My Voice
  Address social, political, and (or) economic issue and suggest ways of tackling it OR share inspirational advocacy or humanitarian work being done by students at school.

Each school develops its own process for determining which films will move to the Student Shorts Film Festival (maximum of three films per category per school). Submissions must be made at some point between Saturday, December 7 (2024), and Thursday, May 8 (2025). This will be done via a Google Form.

Any films produced between September 1 (2024) and immediately prior to the submission deadline of May 8 (2025) are eligible for submission.

Two answers. First, all contenders will receive a digital ”Finalists Certificate”. The blue-ribbon jury will also announce a variety of additional awards not mentioned in the judging process description. Categories may include “Most Novel”, “More with Less”, “Best Actor”, etc…

No. Middle/JH students will compete separately from SH/Upper School students. However, the film festival does not oppose some vertical diversity in student production teams. While every film must be submitted either in the JH/Middle or SH category, the following combinations would be permissible:

• A
  Junior high, KS3, middle school students may serve as major or minor actors as well as secondary crew members in SENIOR HIGH productions. Adults may play minor acting roles.
• B
  Senior high (upper school) students may play secondary roles as actors and/or crewmembers in JUNIOR HIGH productions. Adults may also play minor acting roles.

Up to the judges, but they have donated in previous student film festivals. Can’t promise. This is an unfunded labour of love.

We hope that each school submits as many films as possible to the festival platform. Student production teams themselves will determine whether their names are included in their film credits or YouTube titles. Needless to say, the more films available, the more enriching the experience for all participants.

The DO's:
• All films must represent original work by the members of each production team.
• All films must be 2 minutes or less. All others will be disqualified.
• All films must be produced primarily by secondary students (KS3, middle school, junior and senior high).
• All submissions to the international festival on or before May 8 and must include an Image Release Form (available on request and will be linked to upcoming official film festival website).
• All films that utilize 3rd -party music must clear this with the original owners/license holders.
• All films may include names of student production team members; however, all films must include the name of the responsible Production Team and school represented.
• All films that utilize 3rd -party music must clear this with the original owners/license holders. Copyright and Fair Use laws must be respected
The DONT's
• No submission may contain any third-party work, INCLUDING ANY MUSICAL RECORDING OR COMPOSITION, unless (1) Production Team has a license to use such work in the submission from the owners/licensors; (2) such work is in the public domain.
• No submission may contain pornography or obscene content.
• No submission may infringe on a third party’s intellectual property/privacy rights.
• No submission may contain any form of hate speech (based on gender, gender orientation, ethnicity, race, religion, nationality, etc.)
• No submission may contain any third-party work, INCLUDING ANY MUSICAL RECORDING OR COMPOSITION, unless (1) Production Team has a license to use such work in the submission from the owners/licensors; (2) such work is in the public domain. Remember, the spirit of this festival is the amplification of original creativity and personal voices.

If the international film festival organizers are aware of a submission that has not adhered to the above stated rules and guidelines, that submission will be eliminated from the competition. However, if time allows and the violation was accidental, festival organizers will attempt to provide the Production Team an opportunity to resubmit their film.

Official Film Festival YouTube Page.

ALL submitting student production teams will receive both an official certificate of participation as well as written jury feedback. We believe that this type of substantive feedback will make our film festival special and personally valuable to all participating children and youth.