HiveFest (formerly WATIF International Film Festival) is an indie-focused film festival hosted at the historic Ziegfeld Theater in South Ogden Utah, we aim to highlight the amazing community of filmmakers in Utah. However, submissions are not only limited to Utah residents. We aim to show as many unique short films as possible within our festival. Be apart of the BUZZ in Ogden and submit for short film today!

All proceeds from the festival in fees and tickets go directly to fund student filmmakers in Utah for years to come!

All films submitted will be adjudicated by a panel of diverse screeners. All films selected to screen will receive HiveFest official selection laurels.

All selected films will be considered for:

🏆 AWARDS OVERVIEW
The Honeycomb Award – Best Overall
The Hive Award – Audience (2)
The Queen Bee Award – Directing
The Worker Bee Award – Design
The Bee-hind the Camera Award – Cinematography
The Buzz Award – Sound
The Honey Award – Editing
The Stinger Award – Writing

All films must be submitted or retrievable in a 1080p or 4K resolution and be sure that all links to videos are downloadable as this is how we will retrieve your film. It is preferred to use a downloadable Vimeo link or, for those who uploaded directly through FilmFreeway, to give HiveFest permission to download your film from the platform. We do not accept mailed in media drives with copies of your film on it.

All films not in English must be subtitled in English.

We do not accept films longer than 16 minutes.

All submission fees are non-refundable.

By submitting to HiveFest you agree to let the festival, if selected, screen your work at our venue on the event date. The festival will not sanction unauthorized usage of films however, we are not responsible for ensuring the prevention of unauthorized recording.

By submitting to the HiveFest you allow representatives of the festival to use any photos taken of the event in future festival branding. All use of films in festival branding will be negotiated with the filmmaker.

HiveFest is not responsible for insuring the use of copyright free material. All burden falls on the filmmaker to abide by copyright laws and ensure that the submitter is the owner of all materials submitted.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • David Guerrero

    This was a great Festival, it was fun and it had a great variety of shorts.

    September 2024
  • Mitchell Fisher

    Awesome festival! Everyone was so kind, the venu was professional, and the experience was an absolute pleasure. Looking forward to being a part of this festival again!

    April 2024
  • Dustin Bessire

    For a first year festival, this thing went so smoothly! Our already budding film scene is further enriched by the presence of this festival. I was honored to receive an audience choice award and all of the organizers were wonderful. There was a great opportunity to talk with other creatives afterwards, the theatre was perfect, and all proceeds went back to supporting new filmmakers. Thanks, WATIF!

    April 2024