Our Short Film Competition buzzes and hums under the umbrella of the larger Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival. But we bring a lot of excitement to the Festival season on our own! Our annual competition event unites local and international filmmakers with professionals and with in-house audiences. All the eyes a filmmaker could ask for under one roof. We are about shining the spotlight on those who present a unique vision and create a conversation through their films.

While the competition allows for incentivised filmmaking, our goal is not to deem “Better” and “Best.” Rather we want to financially encourage filmmakers to pursue their projects. Our passion for connectivity and conversation are what make us less like your traditional competition and more like a filmmaking retreat. We want to set the stage for you. We eliminate the barriers between filmmaker and audience to allow for an active showcase built on dialogue. A real audience, with real reactions, and real questions. But just because the bar closes doesn’t mean the party ends! Once the competition concludes and we all shake hands and say our goodbyes, the journey continues forward. We celebrate our filmmakers via the Festival’s official website, social media, and YouTube channel.

Awards & Prizes

Grand Prize: $1,000
Second Prize: $500
Third Prize: $250

The Grand, Second and Third prizes will be given to the films selected by a panel of respected filmmakers and scholars in Pittsburgh.

Rules & Terms

Guidelines

1. Film must have been made between 2015-2017
2. Film must be approximately 5-15 minutes in length.
3. Film must include but is not strictly limited to the Faces of Identity theme. The theme is open for creative interpretation.
4. If in a language other than English, and/or if audio is in any way muffled, subtitles are required.
5. Each director can submit a maximum of 2 short films.
6. Film must not have been submitted to CMU International Film Festival Short Film Competition before.
7. If the film has been submitted to other festivals and/or received any awards, please list them with submission.
8. Film must be submitted prior to March 1, 2017. Failure to submit prior to the due date may result in rejection from admittance.
9. Format:
I. MP4 or .MOV format
II. Use H.264 codec
III. Code Rate 5M per second
IV. Video Size 720p (1280 x 720)
10. Submission Process:
I. To Submit your film, please either email your work to cmuiffshortfilms@gmail.com directly or via GoogleDrive.
II. Submission title must follow “Film Title _ Director’s FullName”
III. Each film submission must include a submission form.
IV. All submissions must be accompanied by a $30 film submission fee. The fee remains $30 whether the director chooses to submit one or two films.

If you have any questions, please send an email to cmuiffshortfilms@gmail.com