The Hilliard Short Film Festival is a celebration of short films made by local filmmakers! Presented by the Hilliard Arts Council, the HSFF collects the best and brightest short films from central Ohio and beyond. Divisions include an over 18/Adult category and a Student/Under-18 category to allow young and aspiring filmmakers to show their talents. An animation category has also been added for 2024.
Submitted films must have an equivalent rating of PG-13 or below to be accepted and be twelve (12) minutes long (including credits) or less. Films with excessive violence, excessive adult language or nudity will be disqualified. All selections are at the discretion of the appointed judges.
Screenings will be held at the Hilliard Civic and Cultural Arts Center, 5235 Center Street
Hilliard, OH 43026, on June 1st, 2024. Submitters of screened films shall receive one (1) complimentary ticket to the event available at the event venue.
Submissions may also be made in person.
More info to come!

Awards & Prizes

Winners will be formally announced and prizes awarded at the close of the Festival.
Additional prizes and/or certificates may or may not be presented at the discretion of the organizers and based on availability.
2024 Awards included for both divisions (Student and Adult).
First Place Award: $100.00
Second Place Award: $50.00
Third Place Award: $25.00
Audience Choice Award
Best Animation
Spirit of Hilliard Award (Student Division)

Rules & Terms

All submitters to the 2024 Hilliard Short Film Festival grant permission to allow images and segments of their films to be used for advertising purposes including but not limited to print, video and social media campaigns. Films will not be shared by the festival with outside parties. Filmmakers must have all rights to all media in their films.
Submission fees are non-refundable. All submission proceeds are collected and used solely and at the discretion of the Hilliard Arts Council.
Filmmakers/Submitters hold the Hilliard Arts Council, the Hilliard Short Film Festival and all sponsors, stakeholders and volunteers harmless from any claims of liability from the screening of submitted films.
Submitted films must have an equivalent rating of PG-13 or less to be accepted. Films with excessive violence, excessive adult language or nudity will be disqualified. All selections are at the discretion of the appointed judges. Films must be no longer than twelve (12) minutes including any and all credits. Submitters under the age of 18 must have permission from a parent or legal guardian. Students must be able to provide proof of enrollment if requested, which may include transcripts, student emails or signed affidavits. from teachers, instructors or professors.
Selected films will screen on June 1st, 2024 at the Hilliard Civic and Cultural Arts Center in Hilliard, Ohio. Selection to the festival does not guarantee screening; films will screen as time and venue allow. All selections within turn-in deadlines are eligible for awards and prizes at the discretion of the festival. Employees and Volunteers of the Hilliard Arts Council are not eligible for awards but may participate upon paying entry fee. All screenings, dates, venues and awards are at the sole discretion of the festival and may be changed without immediate notice. All attempts will be made to notify entrants of changes made to venues or screening times.
**Submissions may be mailed in prior to the turn-in deadline and include a non-refundable check for $25.00. All media submitted including hard drives, flash/thumb drives, DVDs, etc, are non-refundable and non-returnable.
Submissions may be mailed to:
Hilliard Civic & Cultural Arts Center
5235 Center Street
Hilliard, OH 43026
4 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Matthew Sams

    Great festival! Friendly attentive staff and a great crowd! I highly recommend.

    July 2023
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  • J.W. Cox

    Awesome little fest. Wish I could've attended that night. Friends who did attend said it was a lot of fun!

    May 2023
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  • Brandy Seymour

    I have entered many festivals all over the word with many of my short films. This one was great in communicating directly with me the desire for entries. I entered almost all of my films and three were selected to play and one did win a 3rd place award. I thought the judging was fair and balanced which is not always the case in my local market. There is a lot of ego politics to overcome. I thought the panel discussion directly after the student division was a great thing to have. However, I was disappointed that I didn’t see more student works. This may be because in the local community there aren’t a lot of resources for teens or children’s filmmaking. I think this event locally has the potential to really be something that develops the younger up and coming community. Perhaps this festival could focus more on prep for student filmmaking. Maybe the Hilliard Arts Council could build on the idea that there is maybe a children’s film competition annually that takes place over a few weekends with a deadline and have it coincide with the rest of the festival. I think one of the mother’s in the audience had a great idea and it is a real opportunity for the Hilliard Arts Council to grab hold of it and reach out to local schools in the area to advertise for it annually. There is always room for new budding filmmakers. We as a community just need to create that space. Here is a real opportunity to do it. This space has the bones to create the platform for it with it’s children’s division Segway Q&A panel Segway into the adult division. The networking was not so great, but I think that has a lot to do with the politics of the Columbus adult film community as a whole. If that gap could be bridged and it could be packaged as a way for new filmmakers to learn and rise and for older seasoned filmmakers to maybe give back to the community by allowing these younger people to work on some of their projects in an internship capacity or just simply creating competitive teams for allowing new filmmakers to grow into where they are going.

    May 2023
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  • Shane Pergrem

    While we were not able to attend, the communication was excellent, I like that it’s close to home for us & we had several other filmmaker friends in the fest as well so it’s always exciting to see familiar work at festivals too. They curated an excellent line up as we watched a few of the films that were available online. Looking forward to submitting next year and attending as well.

    May 2023
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