The Fronteras Micro-film Festival is no ordinary short film festival! Filmmakers will have the chance to be a critical part of an interactive art installation taking place in 3 different times and venues in 2023.

Since 2020, the Dust Wave film collective has produced award-winning, no-budget short films. In the process, we've learned that shorts are often neglected by film festivals. Shorts are typically screened in two-hour blocks, trapping viewers and forcing a “reset” every few minutes. This format limits audience engagement and festival value for short filmmakers.

The first goal of the Fronteras Micro-Film Festival is to re-imagine the short film festival. We will give filmmakers and audiences an experience that emerges from, and supports, short film. A strong theme and a decentralized viewing experience will make this possible.

The second goal is to provoke public conversation about national borders. We will solicit thirty-second to three-minute-long films, from local and international filmmakers, that address themes of borders, enforcement, and crossings.

We will select twenty-five films for screening as part of a series of interactive installations that speak to the border's artificiality and dire consequences on human life and the natural world. Some installations will invoke unwanted stops in a migrant's journey, including border walls, detention centers, and trailer transport. Others will conjure state surveillance apparatuses of cameras and guard posts. Visitors will be able to navigate the exhibit independently and at their own pace.

There are 3 categories:

Portrait Films must not exceed 60 seconds (1 minute) in length and must be submitted in 9:16 format.

16:9 films must not exceed 180 seconds (3 minutes) in length and must be submitted in 16:9 format.

4:3 films must not exceed 90 seconds (1.5 minutes) in length, must be silent, must be black and white, and must be submitted in 4:3 format.

Submit to our festival!

If selected, we will assign your film to one of the installations (https://fronterasmicrofilm.com/installations) in each of the 3 live events taking place in 2023:

The Cell Theatre at Fusion (https://www.fusionnm.org/campus/) -- June 2-4, 2023
700-708 1st St. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, USA

Currents New Media 2023 (https://currentsnewmedia.org/festivals/currents-new-media-2023/) -- June 16-18, 2023.
3229 Rodeo Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87507, USA

MOOD Studio (https://allthingsmood.com) -- TBD 2023
3001 Monte Vista Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA

As a selected filmmaker, you are entitled to 1 (one) free ticket to the MOOD live event -- the Fusion event is free to the public, and the Currents New Media event charges for tickets separately.

We will also issue laurels to each of the selected films.

Sponsor and Administrator — Fumblers LLC dba Dust Wave (“Sponsor”). 3001 Monte Vista Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA.

Submission Payment — Submission to the festival is $11 USD. In rare circumstances, the submission fee can be waived due to proven financial need — please contact info@fronterasmicrofilm.com with the subject line “Fee Waiver” for more information.

Eligibility — Fronteras Micro-film Festival (the “Festival”) is open to human beings of Earth eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of submission. Void where prohibited. In order to submit the Festival, you must fully comply with the Official Rules and, by entering, you represent and warrant that you agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, whose decisions shall be binding and final in all respects relating to this Festival.

Timing — Festival submission begins March 1, 2023 at 4:00 PM Mountain Standard Time and ends May 2, 2023 at 11:59 PM Mountain Standard Time (“Festival Submission Period"). Administrator is the official timekeeper for the Festival Submission Period. The Festival is governed by these Official Rules and is subject to all applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws.

How to Enter
For all film categories, go to https://filmfreeway.com/Fronterasmicrofilmfestival and upload your film, then submit to the appropriate category. Submission for the Portrait Films category must not exceed 60 seconds (1 minute) in length and must be submitted in 9:16 format. For the 16:9 category, the submission must not exceed 180 seconds (3 minutes) in length and must be submitted in 16:9 format. For the 4:3 category, the submission must not exceed 90 seconds (1.5 minutes) in length, must be silent, must be black and white, and must be submitted in 4:3 format. For all submissions, credit sequences count toward the total length of the film.

Limit of five (5) Submissions per person for the Festival, throughout the entire Festival Submission Period. Entrants may only use one email address to submit the Festival. Use of any automated system to enter is prohibited and will result in disqualification. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible or misdirected entries all of which will be ineligible to be selected by the Festival. In the event of a dispute as to any entrant, the authorized account holder of the email address used to enter will be deemed to be the entrant. The "authorized account holder" is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address.

All entries remain the property of the entrant, but submission grants a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, and unrestricted license to the Sponsor to use in Festival marketing efforts (including but not limited to any and all advertising and marketing efforts, inclusion on digital and social media channels, in-store and other point-of-sale marketing, digital billboards and other out-of-home marketing, and to screen in any live iterations of the Festival) and post the Submission on the internet or use the Submission in any other way in Sponsor's sole discretion and agrees to indemnify and hold Sponsor harmless, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from any claims to the contrary. Sponsor will credit filmmakers if it uses their work in any form.

Failure to meet any of the submission requirements contained in these Official Rules may result in disqualification of a submission, at Sponsor's sole discretion.

Submission Requirements — The Submission must comply with the following requirements:
The Submission may not feature any person other than entrant unless entrant has obtained all necessary written permissions and releases from such persons prior to submission and such persons are over the age of majority in his/her state of legal residence.

The Submission may not show, contain, mention, depict, refer or otherwise allude to the name, logo or product of any other retailer, manufacturer, brand, product, store, place of business, person, company or character in such a way or manner as to imply an affiliation with, or endorsement of, the Sponsor, its products, brands and/or this Festival.

The Submission must be entrant's own original work (or the entrant must have the rights from the videographer to make the submission), created solely by entrant and must not infringe the copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights of any person or entity, including any music used in the Submission.

The Submission may not contain, mention, refer or otherwise allude to any material that is pornographic, defamatory, libelous, racially offensive, disparaging of sexual orientation or gender identity, or otherwise contain inappropriate content or objectionable material.

The Submission cannot itself be in violation of any law; and (vi) the Submission must otherwise be in compliance with these Official Rules. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any Submission that Sponsor believes, in its sole discretion, does not comply with or is in violation of these Official Rules or that otherwise contains prohibited or inappropriate content.

Representations and Warranties/Indemnification — Each person who submits to this Festival represents and warrants as follows:
Entrant has obtained any and all necessary permissions required to submit the Submission and for Sponsor's right to use the Submission for any purpose, including the consent of any identifiable third person(s) appearing in the Submission, and entrant can and will make written copies of such permissions available to Sponsor upon request.

The Submission is owned by entrant and has not been previously published, distributed or otherwise exploited.

The Submission is wholly original with entrant and, as of the date of submission, the Submission is not the subject of any actual or threatened litigation or claim.

The Submission does not and will not violate or infringe upon the intellectual property rights or other rights of any other person or entity, including, but not limited to, rights of privacy and publicity; and (v) the Submission does not and will not violate any applicable laws, and is not and will not be considered defamatory or libelous. Each entrant hereby agrees to indemnify and hold the Sponsor, Administrator and their subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors harmless from and against any and all third party claims, actions, demands, losses, settlements (whether or not litigation is commences), or proceedings of any kind and from any and all damages, liabilities, costs and expenses existing now or arising in the future relating to or arising out of acceptance, possession, or any breach or alleged breach of any of the warranties, representations or agreements of entrant hereunder.

Winner Determination — After the end of the Festival Submission Period, a panel of qualified judges determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion (collectively, “Festival Judges") will select the best Submissions for each category (the "Finalists") from among all eligible Submissions that were submitted, based on an equal application of the following criteria:

Creativity/Originality (50%)

Relevance to the stated themes of the Festival (25%)

Relevance to the installations (25%)

In the event of any tie at any phase of the judging, the entrant who receives the higher score in the "Creativity" category, as determined by the Festival Judges in their sole discretion, will be selected from among the tied entrants as the potential Finalist. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received during the Festival Submission Period and the quality of the Submissions.

ON OR ABOUT MAY 9, 2023, FINALISTS WILL BE CONTACTED USING THE EMAIL ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER PROVIDED WITH THE SUBMISSION AND WILL BE REQUIRED TO RESPOND WITHIN THREE (3) DAYS OF NOTIFICATION VIA EMAIL AND MAY BE SELECTED SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION AND ELIGIBILITY AND COMPLIANCE WITH THESE TERMS OF THE OFFICIAL RULES.

Winners must follow the initial Finalist selection instructions and any subsequent instructions, or the selection will be revoked in its entirety. Sponsor's decisions as to the administration and operation of the Festival and the determination of the Finalists are final and binding in all matters related to the Festival.

POTENTIAL FINALISTS ARE SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION BY SPONSOR AND/OR ADMINISTRATOR. SPONSOR AND ADMINISTRATOR'S DECISIONS ARE FINAL AND BINDING IN ALL MATTERS RELATED TO THE ADMINISTRATION, OPERATION, SELECTION OF THE POTENTIAL WINNERS AND OTHER MATTERS RELATED TO THE FESTIVAL.

Verification of Potential Winners — Potential winners may be required to complete and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, Release of Liability and Publicity Release (where permitted by law) (collectively, the "Affidavit") by the date specified by Sponsor, or an alternate potential winner may be selected. In the event: (a) potential winner cannot be reached for whatever reason after a reasonable effort has been exerted or the potential winner notification or Affidavit is returned as undeliverable; (b) potential winner declines for any reason; (c) of noncompliance with the above or within any of the aforesaid time periods, (d) potential winner is found to be ineligible to submit to the Festival, (e) potential winner cannot or does not comply with the Official Rules, or (f) potential winner fails to fulfill any Affidavit-related obligations, the potential Finalist shall be disqualified from the Festival and an alternate Finalist may be selected, at Sponsor's sole discretion, from among the other eligible submissions received. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion, to modify the notification and Affidavit procedures in connection with the selection of alternate potential Finalist, if any.

Submission Conditions and Release — By submitting a film or otherwise participating in this Festival you understand and hereby agree to:
Comply with and be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor and Administrator which are binding and final in all matters relating to this Festival;

Defend, indemnify, release and hold harmless the Sponsor, Administrator, and any respective subsidiary or affiliated companies, celebrities, and any other person and organization responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the Festival, and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, the "Released Parties") from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, including but not limited to invasion of privacy (under appropriation, intrusion, public disclosure of private facts, false light in the public eye or other legal theory), defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights, property damage, or death or personal injury arising out of or relating to: (a) the Festival or any information provided by you in connection with the Festival, including but not limited to any Festival-related activity or element thereof, the receipt of marketing messages, participation or inability to participate in the Festival or in any parts thereof, (b) the violation of any third party privacy, personal, publicity or proprietary rights, (c) typographical errors in these Official Rules or any Festival-related promotional materials, (d) any interruptions in or postponement, cancellation, or modification of the Festival, (e) human error, (f) incorrect or inaccurate transcription, receipt or transmission of any part of the submission (including, without limitation, the submission information or any parts thereof), (g) any technical malfunctions or unavailability of the Website, or any telephone network, computer online system, computer timing and/or dating mechanism, computer equipment, software, or Internet service provider, or mail service utilized by any of the Released Parties or by an entrant, (h) interruption or inability to access the Festival, the Website, or any other promotion-related web pages (in either direction), or any Internet online service or cellular service (as applicable) due to hardware or software compatibility problems, (i) any damage to entrant's (or any third person's) computer or wireless device (as applicable) and/or its contents related to or resulting from any part of the Festival, (j) any lost/delayed data transmissions (in either direction), omissions, interruptions, defects, and/or any other errors or malfunctions, (k) any late, lost, stolen, mutilated, misdirected, illegible, delayed, garbled, corrupted, destroyed, incomplete, undeliverable or damaged entries (l) any wrongful, negligent, or unauthorized act or omission on the part of any of the Released Parties, or any of their agents or employees, and/or (m) cancellations, delays, diversions or substitutions or any act or omissions whatsoever by the air carrier(s), or other transportation companies, hotel(s), or any other persons providing any of these services and accommodations to passengers including any results thereof such as changes in services or accommodations necessitated by same,

To waive all of your rights to bring any claim, action, or proceeding against any of the Released Parties in connection with this Festival.

Publicity — Except where prohibited or restricted by law, by entering a Submission constitutes the Entrant's agreement and consent for Sponsor and any of its designees to use and/or publish Entrant's full name, city and state of residence, photographs or other likenesses, pictures, portraits, video, voice, testimonials, biographical information (in whole or in part), and/or statements made by Entrant regarding the Festival or Sponsor, worldwide and in perpetuity for any and all purposes, including, but not limited to, advertising, trade and/or promotion on behalf of Sponsor, in any and all forms of media, now known or hereafter devised, including, but not limited to, print, TV, radio, electronic, cable, or World Wide Web, without further limitation, restriction, compensation, notice, review, or approval.

Limitations of Liability — The Released Parties are not responsible for: (a) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Festival; (b) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (c) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the submission process or the Festival; (d) technical or human error in the administration of the Festival or the processing of registrations; or (e) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant's participation in the Festival. If for any reason an entrant's registration is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, entrant's sole remedy is another submission to the Festival.

Disputes — All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules or the rights and obligations of entrants, Released Parties in connection with the Promotion will be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New Mexico, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of any other laws. The parties each agree to finally settle all disputes only through arbitration; provided, however, the Sponsor shall be entitled to seek injunctive or equitable relief in the state and federal courts in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, and any other court with jurisdiction over the parties.

Entrant's Personal Information — Information collected from entrants is subject to the Festival’s Privacy Policy, which is available at https://fronterasmicrofilm.com/privacy.

Festival Results — Festival selections will be announced at https://fronterasmicrofilm.com.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Terry Ngo

    Thank you so much for the opportunity. We appreciated everyone's enthusiasm, support, professionalism, and kindness.

    June 2023
  • shaho ahmadi

    I am glad that I was present at your festival
    Best wishes for the festival

    June 2023
  • Wheeler Winston Dixon

    Fronteras is an excellent festival - great communication and support. Highly recommended.

    June 2023
  • I enjoyed taking part in an event mainly held by creative young Avant-garde artists. A very different experience for me!

    June 2023