Our annual student film festival is organized and hosted by 100 Strong Productions, a division of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC). The festival will include film blocks, networking, and an awards ceremony.

100 Strong Productions Film Festival will consider films of all genres under the length of 15 minutes to be included in the festival. North Carolina student filmmakers in middle school, high school, and undergraduate programs are welcome to submit films.

PROMPT
Stories that uplift North Carolina.
(Stories that focus on North Carolina counties and local governments will be especially considered to be a part of the festival and for awards.)

What does this prompt mean? Here are some examples:

🎥 Ask to spend a day with a county employee (e.g., county Finance Department, Parks & Recreation Department, EMS Department, and more)
🎥 Interview a county commissioner or local government leader.
🎥 Attend a local Board of County Commissioners meeting.
🎥 Attend a local government event. Check for event listings on county websites. For example, in Wake County, there are organized nature hikes, county library events and a variety of board meetings listed on the website calendar.
🎥 Check out the NCACC County Lines video series for more county government video inspiration: https://www.100strongproductions.com/county-lines You can also run any ideas by the100 Strong Productions team by sending an email to 100strong@ncacc.org

REMINDER: Please be respectful when attending local government meetings and events and be sure to ask the meeting / event coordinator for permission to record for the purposes of the film. We can't wait to see your film!

This festival is a great opportunity for students to share their passion for filmmaking, history, and journalism with North Carolina filmmakers and leaders. All films programmed in the festival will be eligible for several awards, and winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on April 25, 2026.

Awards & Prizes

All films programmed in the festival will be eligible for several awards, and winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on April 25, 2026. The award winners will be selected by a team of judges including filmmakers and North Carolina leaders. The winning films will be awarded a prize package. This prize package may include filmmaking opportunities, film equipment, etc.

🏆100 Strong Award🏆
🏆Uplifting Counties Award🏆
🏆Local Impact Award🏆
🏆Future Filmmaker Award🏆
🏆Audience Choice Award🏆

Rules & Terms

ELIGIBILITY & OVERVIEW
-Any genre will be considered as long as the film follows our prompt (Stories that uplift North Carolina), including but not limited to, short narrative films, animation, documentaries, music videos, news programs, and experimental films.
-Films can be 1-15 minutes in length.
-Films must be created in North Carolina.
-Films must be created by middle school, high school, or undergraduate college students in North Carolina. Filmmaking crews must be made up entirely of students.
- We are especially looking for stories that uplift counties & North Carolina local governments.

SUBMISSION RULES
By submitting your film, you give 100 Strong Productions permission to screen your film, if accepted, at the festival and at additional NCACC events. By submitting your film, you agree that you own all aspects of your film. Films including copyrighted or trademarked materials, including but not limited to imagery, music, and locations are not permitted to submit.

To submit a film, applicants must submit their film through FilmFreeway. Films must include English subtitles if the original language is not English. Films up to 15 minutes will be watched in entirety by the festival programming team. By submitting a film, selected filmmakers consent to the 100 Strong Productions Student Film Festival allowing permission to share clips and images from the film on social media and other marketing materials for advertisement purposes.

Submission Timeline:
-September 15, 2025 🎥 EARLYBIRD DEADLINE ($8)
-November 15, 2025 🎥 REGULAR 1 DEADLINE ($10)
-January 15, 2026 🎥 REGULAR 2 DEADLINE ($15)
-February 15, 2026 🎥 FINAL DEADLINE ($18)
-March 9, 2026 🎥 LAST MINUTE DEADLINE ($20)


SELECTION PROCESS
100 Strong Productions reserves the right to disqualify or reject any submission that it determines, in its sole discretion, would not be in its best interest to include in the student film festival, including, but not limited to, any film that is not in compliance, in whole or in part, with the submission guidelines, theme or prompt of the festival. The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners is a non-partisan organization and film submissions should also be non-partisan in nature. Film content should be appropriate for all audiences.

Filmmakers will be notified through email about the results of submissions by April 2, 2026.

Filmmaking teams that have a selected film are encouraged to attend the festival on Saturday, April 25, 2026.

ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS
Fees are non-refundable. By submitting, I am consenting to the rules and regulations as a student who is 18 years or older. If younger than 18, a guardian or teacher must submit the student’s film through FilmFreeway and email 100strongproductions@ncacc.org to consent to these rules and regulations.

“By submitting a film, I am giving consent on behalf of the filmmaking team, including but not limited to, the producer, editor, and cinematographer. By submitting a film, I consent that I own all aspects of my film. I agree and understand all rules and regulations and give 100 Strong Productions Student Film Festival permission to show my film at the festival, in advertisements for the film festival, and to be shown at additional North Carolina Association of County Commissioners Events if my film is selected."
1 Review
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  • Aaron Chan

    Loved the experience so much! The organizers were very responsive, the prize package was so thoughtful and useful, and it was great to meet so many people and students interested in telling great stories for a good purpose. Definitely want to come next year!

    June 2025
    Helpful