The After Hours Film Society invites all students to participate in "Anim8," our 22nd annual student film festival. In order to make this year’s fest exceptionally challenging, we are asking entrants to create an animated or experimental film with a running time of 8 minutes or less for our consideration. All submissions will be judged by film professionals and educators who have a knowledge of and respect for creativity, originality, ambition and determination. Winning entries will be screened and generous cash prizes will be awarded at the After Hours Student Film Festival tentatively scheduled for October 2025 Again the entry deadline is Saturday, June 14, 2025.

Featured image courtesy of Pablo Rio from his film, "Conej Steps Out"

Awards & Prizes

The After Hours Film Society will award up to $3,000.00 in cash prizes to students with consideration given to genre and level. Prizes will be awarded at the discretion of our judges. All decisions will be final.

Rules & Terms

GUIDELINES

1. Film entrant must be a STUDENT of any age.

2. All films must be submitted in the English language. If produced in languages other than English, they must be subtitled or dubbed.

3. Eligible entries may not exceed 8 minutes in length.

4. Only Animated and/or Experimental films will be considered.

5. Films must have been completed between January 2022 and June 2025 while the filmmaker was a full or part-time student of amateur status. No paid commercial, theatrical or TV releases will be accepted.

6. Entry deadline: June 14, 2025. Late deadline July 12, 2025.)

7. Winners will be selected by a panel of film educators and professionals.

8. By entering this festival, students consent to the inclusion of their project in the Anim8 Student Film Festival, an online program available for viewing for as long as festival organizers deem necessary. Filmmakers who choose to withdraw their films from the festival will forfeit their awards and any prizes associated with them.

9. Winners agree to allow the After Hours Film Society to use assets from their entries, including stills, video clips, and trailers, for promotional materials such as highlight reels, trailers, flyers, and social media posts to generate interest in the festival.

10. Best of Show, Awards of Excellence, Merit Awards, and Finalists will be screened in a special After Hours program as long as a download link is provided (see Item 11). The After Hours Film Society has the right to show a portion of a film rather than the entire entry if time becomes an issue.

11. In order to preserve the integrity of the program, winning students must respond to download requests, if applicable. Films may also be submitted through Google Drive (with all restrictions removed for one week) or uploaded to WeTransfer.com and sent to info@afterhoursfilmsociety.com.

12. The determination of the winners is final.

RULES

1. Entry Fees are $10 per submission and are non-refundable.

2. Entry Deadline is June 14, 2025. (Late deadline July 12, 2025.)

4 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Dunja Đorđević

    Wonderful festival and kind people who work behind the scenes! Thank you!

    December 2021
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  • Pia Mingyue Sun

    Really amazing experience and great honor that my first animation could be selected and als award.

    December 2021
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  • Alison Vega

    It was such an honor to have my film “Switcho” selected as an award winner at the 2021 Anim8 Student Film Festival. The virtual festival showcased an impressive array of student films that touched on a wide variety of topics. Everyone behind the scenes did a fantastic job. Many thanks to Deborah and the team of organizers and judges at the After Hours Film Society.

    December 2021
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  • Jing Sun

    It has been the second time Anim8 Student Film Festival included my film!!! This time it's excellent award! I do appropriate we could have this special platform for Student filmmakers!!! It's very important for beginners like us! It's my glad my film could be a part this film festival at early stage of my career! Thank you so much + Congrats to all the filmmakers included (*^▽^)/★*☆

    October 2019
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