Depict Short Film Competition

Depict is a super-short film competition running since 1998 as part of Encounters Film Festival (September, Bristol, UK) – a key destination for new and emerging talent, Encounters spotlights short film as a vital and exciting art form, offer validation at a critical crossroad in artists’ careers, equip new talent with the support needed to take their next steps, and create a space where lifelong collaborations can be made.

Depict is about creative freedom and imagination – it doesn’t matter what your budget is or what genre you’re working in as long as you show originality and are able to connect with audiences.

The competition is open to anyone from anywhere in the world, and entry is absolutely free – but there is ONE simple rule: your film MUST be 90 seconds or less in duration.

Each year, we enlist the expertise of a panel of industry professionals to select the winners. Previous jury members have included cinematographers such as Robbie Ryan BSC, Rachel Morrison A.S.C and Annemarie Lean-Vercoe FRPS, directors Peter Jackson and Roystan Tan and industry practitioners such as Sorcha Bacon (Producer and Try Hard Films founder), Catherine Bray (Channel 4’s Random Acts), Tabitha Jackson (Channel 4, Sundance), Chris Auty (National Film and Television School) and David Sproxton (Aardman Animations). All short-listed entries are also open to the Audience Award.

The short-listed entries are also exhibited online at depict.org where from early September onwards they are open for votes towards an Audience Award.

Take a look at previous winning and shortlisted films at depict.org

Watershed managed the Depict short film competition after its creation by Brief Encounters in 1998 as a storyboarding competition from 1999 until 2022.