Life the Universe and Everything (LTUE) is a speculative fiction symposium that promotes novel and screen writing, art, gaming, professional development, world building, film making, live theater, music (including Filk) and all other related creative arts.

LTUE 2026 will be the 44th anniversary of our founding. As part of the symposium, the 15th annual LTUE Film Festival will be held February 13th, 2026 in the Provo, Utah Marriott Hotel. There may be an online offering.

There is no fee for submitting films. Admission to the film festival is also free. There is a fee for attending the symposium. See LTUE.NET for details.

Festival Details
You are invited to submit short and/or feature films, PG-13 or Milder. The primary subject or focus of the festival is science fiction and fantasy.

Short Films
1 to 5 Minute Film Submissions
10 to 30 Minute Film Submissions

Feature Length Submissions
Approximately 70 minutes to 2 hours and 15 minutes. Slightly shorter (less than 70 minutes) or longer submissions (longer than 2:15) may be considered if they are exceptional.

Scripts
You are welcome to submit scripts for short films.

Film screenings will occur at the Symposium, possibly online, and/or at community events before and after the Symposium. Screening events are advertised through the Symposium's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/LTUESymposium/events/

Awards & Prizes

No cash or monetary prizes
Laurels will be awarded for screened films.

Please check your submission status in FilmFreeway to see if your film was accepted (selected). If you do not receive a notification that your film was selected before the event date, it means it was not selected.

Please forgive us if your film is not selected. We receive many hundreds of submissions, and even some of the better (or best) films don't make it because of time constraints. If your film isn't selected during one festival, please consider resubmitting it (or another of your films) for one of our future festivals. We want to see your great work.

Also, Please Note:
Some films may be selected for category recognition purposes but not screened. The term "Selected" does not necessarily mean that your film will be screened.

Rules & Terms

PG-13 or milder.

Submissions that don't meet this criteria will be automatically disqualified.

You are welcome to submit films that support, represent or teach any of the subjects listed in the introductory paragraph. Your submissions can also focus on anything from enjoyment (entertainment) to professional creation of beginning, intermediate or advanced level projects.

The focus is on science fiction and fantasy films (which may include comedy or horror with science fiction and fantasy aspects). Be sure that your films fit the categories in the introduction as they relate to science fiction and fantasy.

See the general descriptions of these genres below. Please note that films that include overt sexuality, excess horror (blood and gore) or extreme violence are not appropriate for our audience which typically include young teenagers.

Films accepted for the LTUE Film Festival screenings will not receive any financial compensation. Laurels will be given for top screened films.

Films are accepted or rejected from the festival based on merit, as determined by festival judges. Films with gratuitous sexuality, gore or violence will be disqualified at the sole discretion of the judges.

By submitting a film to the festival you represent and warrant that you have copyright control of the film, or that you represent an organization with copyright control, and that you are authorized to permit the Festival to screen your film, and provide an archival copy of your film to the LTUE Symposium, and organizations which the Symposium may partner with such as libraries, universities etc. which may screen and lend copies of your film for non-profit and reference purposes. Permission for such purposes is requested but not required in the film submission form.

Genre eligibility reference:

Elements of the fantasy genre may include: mythical settings, a setting of earlier technology (limited to for example previous centuries or ancient civilization), witchcraft or magic, or supernatural powers or phenomena or events, fantastic or magical creatures, or technology or events which are, so far as we generally know ;) imaginary. It's very common for Fantasy to be in a medieval or ancient type of setting.

The science fiction genre may feature similar or even identical imaginative elements of fantasy (the genres can overlap), but science fiction generally involves speculated future or advanced technology or phenomena, or even older technology with imaginative twists. Per Wikipedia, science fiction may include "...imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. It has been called the 'literature of ideas', and often explores the potential consequences of scientific, social, and technological innovations."

Horror films may be suitable for the festival if they feature aspects of fantasy and/or science fiction.
21 Reviews
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  • Rokyn Animation


    A fantastic experience, both as a science and fantasy symposium and a film festival. Thank you so much for this opportunity for the short films "Estela, Where No One Ever Went" and "A Promising Future." Rokyn Animation highly recommends this festival and will proudly carry its laurels.

    February 2026
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  • Guliz Mutlu

    Life, The Universe, & Everything #44
    To the Esteemed Organizers, Participants, and Guardians of the Spirit of LTUE,

    Though I write from a distance, my words are offered with the deepest respect and solemn admiration for the conclave you have built, sustained, and now, in its 44th iteration, celebrated with such magnificent finality.

    We gather not in body, but in shared imagination, to mark the passing of an era—or rather, the graceful transition of a legend. For forty-four years, Life, The Universe, & Everything has stood as more than a symposium; it has been a temporal anomaly, a pocket dimension seeded in the heart of Utah where the future of our dreams and the archaeology of our myths could converse over coffee. It was a living library, not of bound pages, but of boundless possibility, where authors, artists, scientists, and dreamers did not merely discuss the speculative—they inhabited it together.

    Fantasy Film: Adonis
    Director: Guliz Mutlu
    https://youtu.be/FstzieFrSP4

    February 2026
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  • Dave McGrath

    The cast, crew and I are very grateful and honored to have our film selected to your festival.

    March 2025
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  • Patrick Bruskiewich

    Thank you to the 2025 LTUE festival and Mr. Mills and his colleagues for selecting and showing my short animated film 'A Quantum Theory of Gravity and a Tribute to Albert Einstein. ' I look forward to submitting to future LTUE festivals.

    February 2025
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  • Arema Arega

    Thank you for selecting our animation INTENSELY!!!!

    February 2023
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