Filmmakers have a gift for reaching people in ways others do not. If you've made a short film calling attention to a social or political issue relevant to the controversial times in which we live, Audience Awards offers you an invaluable platform for exposure for your film. We seek social/political films for our festival.

How this festival works: We are an online community supporting filmmakers and their films. If accepted into this festival, you will upload your film to theaudienceawards.com where the public will be able to screen, comment and vote for your film during the online portion of the festival.

****In the event that your film is accepted to this festival, you will receive an email that explains how to submit your film. You will then need to upload your film before the festival start date here:

https://theaudienceawards.com/the-audience-awards/2019socialpoliticalshortsfilmfestival

HOW THE FINALISTS ARE DETERMINED: From the first round of live audience and jury voting on The Audience Awards platform, the top 3 films with the most votes and the top 4 jury-selected films advance to the prestigious finals round. The finalist films are judged by an esteemed panel of industry jurors. The top 5 final jury winners from the finals round are deemed the finalists.

A note on audience voting: If you want your friends and family to vote for your film, share away. Audience voting greatly increases your views & exposure for your film and career, but social sharing is not necessary to win. The jury ultimately chooses the finalists and winners of the festival.

ABOUT AUDIENCE AWARDS: Audience Awards provides filmmakers the opportunity to change the world through stories, win prizes and build an audience. Films are judged by the audience as well as industry professionals. Previous jurors represent Vice, YouTube, Variety, Sundance and the list goes on. We are committed to providing a stage for diverse, emerging talent and their creative work. Our platform is dedicated to celebrating the power of storytelling and building an audience. Created by filmmakers, for filmmakers, Audience Awards offers an invaluable platform for exposure. Learn More: https://theaudienceawards.com/filmmakers

RESOURCE LINKS
Audience Awards for filmmakers: https://theaudienceawards.com/filmmakers
About Audience Awards: https://theaudienceawards.com/about
AudNews: http://audnews.com/audience-awards-animation-short-film-winners/

Awards & Prizes

1st Place Jury Award: FUJI Finepix S8600 camera + Digital Distribution deal
2nd Place Jury Award: Celestron 10x25 Binoculars + Digital Distribution deal
3rd Place Jury Award: LowePro Dublin30 Pouch + Digital Distribution deal
4th & 5th Place Jury Award: + Digital Distribution deal

Rules & Terms

***In the event that your film is accepted, you will receive an email that explains how to submit your film to this online film festival. You must upload your film before the online festival start date. Your film will be publicly viewed, so make sure it’s the right time for your film to gain an online audience! If it's too early for the public to watch your film online, we invite you to come back next year and submit.***

All submissions must be 45 minutes or under in length.

Films may have been exhibited or previously distributed.

No purchase necessary to enter or claim a prize. A purchase does not increase your chances of winning. Odds of winning will depend on the total number of entries received. Entry via the Audience Awards account and connection is required. You must have the authority to submit the film for our consideration.

Anyone may submit to this festival, but videos will be judged for admittance into the festival before audience and jury voting opens. Preliminary judging will be based on the quality of content and adherence to the assignment. Films will be judged by a score of 1-3. films that score a 1 will not be allowed to compete in the festival. The film must not (i) infringe any rights of publicity or privacy, moral rights or IP rights, including any music-related rights, (ii) be defamatory or indecent, and (iii) violate any applicable laws. You must have obtained and been able to prove that you have all the necessary rights to the music in your film. Creative commons licenses will not be accepted and do not prove that you have the rights to the music on your film.