TO SUBMIT YOUR FILM ONLINE, CLICK HERE!

SUBMISSION DEADLINES FOR HARD COPIES OF FILMS IS MARCH 23RD.  SUBMISSION DEADLINES FOR UPLOADING YOUR MOVIES TO THE FESTIVAL IS APRIL 12TH! For those interested in submitting hard copies of your films, please read the Rules page and make sure that your work fits with our guidelines.  Once you have done that, please fill out our entry form, located here:  Submissions

Then send your films to:

Randy Girdner

c/o Shanghai Student Film Festival

Shanghai Community International School

198 Hengqiao Road

Kangqiao, Pudong

Shanghai, China 201315

Please ensure that you email Randy at rgirdner@scischina.org when you send your submission so that he will know what/when to expect you entry.

CATEGORIES

There are four main categories in the Shanghai Student Film Festival:

DOCUMENTARY

NARRATIVE

VIDEO ART (INCLUDES MUSIC VIDEOS)

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

A DOCUMENTARY is a movie that attempts, in some way, to document reality. Even though the scenes are carefully chosen and arranged, they are not scripted, and the people in a documentary film are not actors.

A NARRATIVE tells a fictional story using actors. Narrative cinema is usually contrasted to films that present information, such as a documentary.  Your average Hollywood film is a narrative (although it might not be a very good one).

VIDEO ART is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data.  For the purposes of S2F2, music video is included into this category.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS are 45 second “commercials” covering a serious topic that is both informative and based upon fact.

ANIMATED work may be submitted into any of the above categories.

TECHNICAL AWARDS are given for Animation, Cinematography, Sound, Script, and Editing, in addition to awards being presented for Best Category Film in Elementary (up to Grade 5), Middle (6-8), and High School (9-12).

Lastly, students are also eligible for to win the Best in Show prize, which is the overall award for the festival, rewarding work of outstanding achievement in both technical and creative merits in your film.

RULES

There are certain requirements for each entry into the Shanghai Student Film Festival.  Below are a few of the requirements for the work that you submit:

TIME LIMITS

Despite your son’s or daughter’s desire to make the next Lawrence of Arabia, we like to keep the films short and to the point.  It makes for a better film and a better festival.  Thus, we have time limits for each of the following categories (including credits).

Elementary School

Elementary school entries into the festival must be 3 MINUTES OR LESS.

Middle School

All entries from middle school students should be 4 MINUTES OR LESS.

High School

High school students’ films should be 5 MINUTES OR LESS.

Public Service Announcements

All PSAs should be NO LONGER THAN 45 SECONDS.

In order to give proper consideration to ALL entries, ANY FILM THAT DOES NOT ADHERE TO THESE TIME FRAMES WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. Whether it’s three minutes or thirty seconds over, we MUST keep these rules in place.

FORMATS

Students MUST submit their films as data files.  That means no DVDs.  In addition, those data files must use one of three formats:  .MOV (this is a quicktime file), .M4V (this is the Itunes format that is also sometimes used in IMovie), or .AVI (a standard Windows movie format).  ANY MOVIES THAT ARE NOT SUBMITTED IN THESE FORMATS WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.

COPYRIGHT

Students MUST USE THEIR OWN MATERIAL FOR THE FESTIVAL.  This means that students MAY NOT use ANY copyrighted material in any of their films, unless they have express, written consent of the copyright holder.  If students have consent, that consent MUST be submitted with their entry on the submission forms.

Students MAY use copyrighted material for the VIDEO ART category, specifically with music videos.  However, students who use copyrighted material in their music videos ARE NOT eligible for any Best in Show prizes.