***Due to the ongoing effects of Covid-19 and the current challenges the cinema industry is facing we have taken the decision to postpone Ironstar Summer shorts until early 2021. We are now looking at the possibility of running this years event online due to the difficult circumstances the industry currently faces. We hope that we will be in a position to announce this in the coming weeks. The final selection of films will be announced once we have all other information in place. Thank you for your patience and understanding throughout.***

***Update:Notifications will be sent out by Feb 21st. The online event date is not yet confirmed, while we look at the best possibilities.***

The Ironstar summer shorts competition was founded by local independent filmmakers with a passion to get movies made and to have those artistic voices heard. Understanding the difficulty in today’s film environment in showcasing independent cinema, their goal is to establish a presence and awareness of cinematic creativity throughout the local area and beyond.

We are very happy to be partnering with Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) on this endeavour. DCA prides itself on its varied programme, created with its audiences in mind.

Like ourselves DCA want to find films that they believe their audiences will love. The final selection of films will be presented in the high quality and comfortable surroundings: one of DCA’s stunning cinema screens.

We hope this event will provide the local community not only with an opportunity to see what independent short film has to offer but also give both national and international filmmakers a platform to showcase their work how it should be shown. ON THE BIG SCREEN!

created by filmmakers, we are doing everything to make sure that Independent Short format Filmmakers get what they deserve out of our programme. Our mission is to expand audience reach and bring awareness to films that might otherwise never have the opportunity to be showcased.

Ironstar Summer shorts accepts short films up to 20 minutes in length across many genres, so we encourage filmmakers from around the globe to submit their work for a chance to have it shown on the big screen.

Filmmakers can rest assured that all submitted films are watched in their entirety by the Ironstar programmers whose task is to, independently of our partners choose the final selection. We know getting you film watched is a major concern when it comes to choosing which festival to submit to. The Ironstar team will be hard at work promoting every film that gets accepted, to ensure that audiences attend the screening.

All submitted films will be thoroughly reviewed by our Judging team and the selection of finalists be screened at the Summer Shorts Event.
Category winning films will be provided with a "Winners" laurel and will be shown on the
Night of the event.
The Audience Award Winner will receive a prize of £500 transferred via payday/Bank transfer by no later than 30th Oct 2020.

We hope to release further prize information as we get nearer to the closing date.
The more films we receive the bigger the prizes will be for the winning film. Our aim is to provide filmmakers with prizes that will help them in the future.

The 4th annual Ironstar Summer Shorts screening ( formerly Ironstar international short film festival) Will take place at Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) on Sunday August 2nd 2020 ( Actual date TBC)

1. Submission Deadlines
Submissions will be accepted from Sept 1th 2019.
The Super early deadline is Oct 1st 2019, the Early deadline is January 1st 2020, the Regular deadline is the 1st of May 2020 and the Late deadline is June 1st 2020 Notification date is 26th of June 2020.. Early entry is encouraged but in no way guarantees acceptance.

2. Submission Format
Films must be submitted via online screener through the FilmFreeway platform. A Download may be requested for films which are to be screened at the event.

3. Submission Eligibility
- All submissions must have been completed after 1 January 2017

4. Premiere Status
- There is no Premiere policy for short films, they may have screened at other Festivals and/or online.

5. Film Classification
All films screened during Ironstar Summer Shorts receive a blank 15 recommended certificate from DCA.This means we cannot accept anyone under this age during the screening of the Festival. Please take this into account when submitting to Ironstar Summer shorts 2020

6. Submission Fee
All FilmFreeway submissions for Ironstar International Short Film Festival are to be paid by credit card or Paypal.The submission fee is non-refundable.

7. Selection of Films
Submissions are reviewed and selected under the following criteria:
- Quality of narrative and production values
- Independent nature of the production
- Entertainment value

8. Notification
Ironstar endeavours to complete all selection procedures by Wednesday 18th June 2018 and inform all submitting parties, in writing, if their film has been successful or not after that time.

10. Festival Screenings
Selected films MUST be submitted in MP4 format in order to be screened at the Ironstar International Short Film Festival.

Our partner cinema uses pin sharp Digital Cinema projection, making DCP screenings look incredible. Ironstar aspires to provide the best quality projection possible but will not be held liable for any failure in the technical quality of the projection, nor will fees be refunded in any such case.

11. Scheduling
Screenings are scheduled during the Festival at the discretion of Ironstar films and DCA . Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the published schedule, Ironstar reserves the right to make changes at any time for any reason. Ironstar will not be liable for any costs claimed as a result of a change in scheduling.

No film may be withdrawn from the festival programme after its selection.

12. Festival Awards.
Best Scottish Film
Best UK Film
Best International Film
The Ironstar Audience Award ( £500 prize)

All selected films will be considered for a range of further awards that may include:
Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Make Up. Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Actor, One to watch.

Ironstar reserve the right to adapt, change or remove the above awards dependent on submissions for each category.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Great festival! I was delighted that my short animated film 'Fire and Water' was selected for screening here.

    March 2021
  • It was fantastic to be a part of the festival this year, the quality of the films shown at the screenings at the DCA were very good!

    They have a brilliant variety of categories to submit to which made for very interesting and concise viewing at the screenings. I would highly recommend submitting to Ironstar Summer Shorts!

    August 2018
  • Liam O'Hara

    An absolute pleasure to be part of this festival. We got some great feedback from the team and were thrilled to be awarded a 'Highly Commended' laurel too.

    August 2018
  • This was a great festival, accommodating and worth entering. Well done to the Ironstar team

    August 2018
  • Fiona M McAndrew

    Great promising new film festival!

    August 2017