Now entering its sixth year, the Grand Motoring Film Festival has established itself as a premiere event in the motoring community, celebrating the intersection of the automotive and cinematic arts. This year’s festival, held to coincide with the internationally acclaimed Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance, will expand to include film screenings, panel discussions, vehicle displays and an awards program to honor the year's top motoring films.

Bringing automotive aficionados and film enthusiasts together to showcase and recognize the most outstanding work created by independent filmmakers, journalists, students, production companies and advertising agencies, the Grand Motoring Film Festival is uniquely positioned to become North America’s premier motoring film festival.

And you are invited to ride along.

Grand Motoring Film Festival is actively seeking out bold new cinematic explorations of the automotive arts, regardless of length or format, for our annual Film Festival and Hangar Night events. Priority will be given to films that have yet to premiere and would debut during the festival. Consideration for the Feature Presentation will be weighed based on availability of the featured vehicle, filmmaker or subject.

Grand Motoring Film Festival finalists and winners will represent the best documentaries, web videos, brand films, TV shows and more, and entries across the landscape of automotive cinema are invited to submit. If your film shares our love of horsepower, make plans to join us November 3 on Hilton Head Island!

Films and videos will be reviewed by an esteemed group of judges representing film and television, automotive, and media industries with awards to be given out on November 3, 2022. Among judges announced so far, you’ll find luminaries like former editor and publisher of Autoweek Dutch Mandell, Pixar Animation Studios Creative Director of Franchise Jay Ward, “Death Race 2000” star Simone Griffeth and Silodrome.com founder and senior editor Ben Branch.

The sixth annual Grand Motoring Film Festival will be held November 3 at Hilton Head Island’s world-class Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, with a VIP welcome reception, awards program, and featured film screening. The next day, November 4, will see additional screenings and Q&A sessions with filmmakers as well; stay tuned for details.

Categories:
Documentary (Short & Feature)
Narrative / Drama (Short & Feature)
Brand / Image Film
Journalism & Factual Entertainment
Student Film
Best in Show (Will be selected from finalists)

Additional Special Awards - TBA

Awards & Prizes

To Be Announced

Rules & Terms

Filmmakers must apply electronically via FilmFreeway.

By submitting to the Grand Motoring Film Festival (GMFF), you agree to the following requirements by the date(s) designated by the Festival:
• All submissions must have been completed after January 1, 2019 unless a waiver is granted.

• All clearances must be provided for screenings and exhibition.
• Only the Producer, Director, Screenwriter or someone closely connected to the film may complete the application.
• Only complete entries will be accepted. This includes the non-refundable entry fee paid to the order of GMFF, a signed and completed entry form and an online screener.
• Filmmakers whose films are accepted for competition will be notified by email by approximately September 19, 2022. All the privileges due filmmakers will be specified in this correspondence.
• GMFF promotes the schedule of screenings via media including newspapers, emails, television and radio. GMFF encourages filmmakers to help promote their films by promoting their screening(s) to industry professionals, distributors, the press and the general public.
• The individual or corporation submitting the film hereby warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for screenings, and understands and accepts these requirements and regulations. The individual or corporation submitting this film additionally grants the Grand Motoring Film Festival the right to one or more public screenings of the entry during the dates of November 2-6, 2022 and March 2-6, 2023.
• Student films must have been completed after January 1, 2019 and proof of enrollment is required.
• All filmmaker finalists will receive two VIP passes, giving free access to all events and screenings (subject to availability) during the Festival. These passes are non-transferable and must be worn at all times in clear view. Passes are not sent by mail, but must be picked up in person on site.
• All films submitted that are 5 minutes or longer must include EPK materials including a trailer, poster artwork, synopsis, filmmaker bios, cast and crew list, production stills, screen grabs, titles and/or information from the film for promotional purposes to use online, broadcast, and in any print media or campaigns connected with the event.

The management of the Grand Motoring Film Festival reserves the right to decide all questions regarding rules and regulations. Submission of a film constitutes that the filmmaker accepts the rules and regulations set forth herein. GMFF reserves the right to update our terms and conditions.

General Information:
• Feature-length qualifies as films that are 40 minutes or longer.

• Short film qualifies as films that are 39 minutes or less.

• There is no limit to the number of entries you may submit. A separate entry and entry fee must accompany each work.
• The GMFF reserves the right not to choose a winner from any of the competing categories listed in the description and to make adjustments to the categories or reassign films to different categories that may be better suited.
• All films must be in English or have English subtitles. Non-subtitled or dubbed foreign language films will not be considered.