Reel Teal Film Festival is a student-run film festival presented by members of the Flicker Film Society at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Reel Teal aims to present innovative films from filmmakers, students, and enthusiasts, and to promote a community that fosters competition and cinematic diversity. Complete with a teal carpet, photographers, and Q&A with filmmakers, Reel Teal encompasses all your film festival and award show needs!

Every year we bring the best local productions alongside the best international selections to offer a "teal" carpet night of short films. We create an environment that is equally satisfying to the big production filmmaker as it is to the everyman college student.

With Reel Teal, we want to stress the duality of amateur and professional, artistic and entertaining. As always, we’re more than proud to have our event in Wilmington, North Carolina, home to one of the largest film communities east of Hollywood.

Awards include Audience Choice, Best Narrative, Best Animation, Best Experimental, Best Documentary, and Best Music Video. All winners will be announced the day after the festival on our Instagram.

GENERAL RULES

Information Concerning Reel Teal Film Festival

Notice: You may submit a maximum of one film to this festival. In the case that someone does submit more than one film, we will disqualify them from the festival and they will not be allowed to submit any more films without disqualification. If you want to change your submission, please withdraw your original submission and submit your new submission.

Section 1: Format Requirements

When submitting, you must have a screener available on FilmFreeway, Vimeo, or another video streaming service.

If your film is selected for the festival, we will be in contact with you to receive the full quality file via an online file sharing service, or through a physical disc-based copy.

Section 2: Content Requirements

All submitted films must be under 15 minutes total runtime.

There is no required MPAA rating or specific content restriction; however, Reel Teal Film Festival encourages and promotes Filmmakers who do not use superfluous violence, nudity, language, or other cultural taboos as a substitution for real, thought-provoking content.

All Films that use a language other than English for more than ⅓ of total running time are required to either have A. English subtitles during the parts the foreign language is used or B. an English dub over the foreign language.

It is not Reel Teal Film Festival’s responsibility to screen for potential copyright infringements or deny acceptance based on the possibility of such an infringement. If the Filmmaker responsible for the infringement is caught due to the materials exhibition during the Festival, or an infringement is noticed by a festival attendee, no legal recourse can be taken against Reel Teal for whatever reason.

Section 3: All Other

Reel Teal Film Festival has two submission deadlines— the regular deadline, which is 12/01/23, and the extended local film deadline, which is 01/07/24 and only open to North Carolina-based filmmakers. Reel Teal Film Festival will send out emails to the filmmakers whose films were selected by February 1st, 2024. If you have not received an email by that date (sent to whichever address the entrant chooses in the entry form), check your spam filter. If you have not received any notification by February 1st, then unfortunately your film was not selected.

For those who do receive an email, please reply ASAP in order to confirm.

As a part of the festival, there will be a special Filmmaker Q&A section where audience members will engage with filmmakers with various questions. If your film is selected please send a representative up during this portion to answer on behalf of the film - this could be you, a DP, producer, writer, etc. If you, or a representative, cannot attend the festival, it will not be held against you, however, please let us know if you do plan on attending so we can make name badges accordingly.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • LCAD Character Animation

    Thank you to everyone over at the Reel Teal festival for a wonderful showcase experience! The submission process was smooth, and communication was always clear. If all festivals required an official color, Teal is at the top of the list!
    ~LCAD Character Animation

    March 2024
  • Lucy Collins

    Such a great experience! So happy to have been included!

    March 2021
  • Great festival, great communication. I'm very happy that my shortfilm Unheimlich was chosen. Thank you very much!!

    March 2021
  • What a great festival. Very small but a lot of effort was put in to make it really wonderful. I'm super excited that I got to premiere my film there and plan to submit in the future.

    February 2020
  • Max Shoham

    What an outstanding Festival to bring Student Filmmakers together! I am deeply honoured to have one of my films chosen, and can't wait to submit again next year.

    February 2018