RULES & GUIDELINES

POSTMARK DEADLINE: SEPT 1, 2019

Shorts can be submitted in the following categories: Narrative, Documentary or Animation.

Films must be submitted either on DVD – NTSC or PAL (please test before sending) or digitally via the online submission form. Exhibition files must be encoded as h.264 in .mp4 or .mov container.

Films must have been completed after April 1, 2018. Films must be available for screening during the Austin Film Festival, October 24 – October 31, 2019

Selected films will play at the Young Filmmakers Showcase as part of the 26th Annual Austin Film Festival. Selection for screening will be determined no later than one month prior to the festival.

Films should be 12 minutes or less.

This competition is open to all filmmakers ages 13 – 18. Filmmakers must also be in middle school or high school during time of production to be eligible. Proof of enrollment required. Graduating high school before the start of Austin Film Festival does not disqualify any filmmaker.

Films will be judged based on narrative strength, strong characters, and filmmaking skill.

Selected films will receive two (2) Weekend Badges to the 2019 Austin Film Festival. These badges are intended for an accredited writer of the film and his/her legal guardian*.

AFF’s appointed jury will award one film the Young Filmmakers Program Jury Award. Only one (1) award will be given. The winner will be notified prior to the festival. In addition to receiving two (2) Weekend badges to the 2019 AFF (for the filmmaker and a legal guardian*), the winning film will receive two (2) tickets to the AFF Awards Luncheon (Oct. 26, 2019) and a reimbursement (up to $500) of one round-trip airfare to Austin to attend the festival. AFF will also put the winner up in one room for two nights’ stay at an AFF host hotel during the festival.

*No one under 21 will be allowed into AFF parties.

Questions about the competition? Please call 1.800.310.3378 or email yfpdirector@austinfilmfestival.com