The Love Your Shorts Film Festival celebrates short films in Sanford, Florida (located just twenty minutes north of Orlando).

We screen only short films under 30 minutes in length. Films are divided into different blocks for screening and the audience votes for their favorites.

The winning films from each block advance to a final block for a panel of judges to pick the overall festival winner. Winners of each block earn the festival's award, the "Monroe," an original piece of metal artwork named after Sanford's Lake Monroe.

At the end of each block a brief Q&A session is conducted between the filmmakers and audience members.

During the weekend LYSFF also hosts:
- Education Day, designed for seasoned and amateur filmmakers
- Opening Night Party exclusive to filmmakers and sponsors
- Sunday Filmmakers Brunch
- After Party at one of Sanford's famous watering holes

MISSION STATEMENT
To support, promote and recognize the art of short film and its artists.

The winner of each competition block will receive a cash prize of $400 and our prized accolade called the "Monroe," which is an original piece of metal artwork.

The Best of the Fest winner will receive a Monroe award and a cash prize of $1,500.

We also feature our Screener Awards. Monroe awards (without cash prizes) will be given for Best Directing, Best Screenplay, Best Scene, Best Music, Best Cinematography and Best Male Actor and Best Female Actor.

1. The Love Your Shorts Film Festival welcomes short films in any style up to 30 minutes long. The year of production does not matter.

2. Films are divided into 9 blocks for screening: Opening Night, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Florida Flavor, Sci-Fi/Horror and "E" for Everyone. We curate an International Film block from the submissions to other blocks for a total of 9 blocks presented at the festival.

Audience members at each block vote for their favorite film. The winning films from each block advance to a final block where a panel of judges select the overall festival winner.

3. A film can only be submitted to ONE category (it is unnecessary to submit one film into multiple categories). A filmmaker may submit multiple films, but is responsible for submitting each individually and paying appropriate submission fees for each film.

4. The Florida Flavor category is open to films either made primarily in Florida, or films made anywhere by a filmmaker that is a resident of Florida during the film's production.

5. We curate our International Film block from the forign submissions to other blocks, there is not a specific category to submit to for this block.

6. Entrants must submit their short film(s) via FilmFreeway's online screening system.

7. Officially selected films will be notified on or before January 1st.

8. Festival organizers reserve the right to show officially selected films in any film block not just the genre in which it was submitted.

9. All submission fees must be paid in US funds. All submissions are final, no refunds will be issued.

10. By submitting to the Love Your Shorts Film Festival, submitter gives permission to the festival to allow the film to be shown to attending press, at festival parties and at other festival related events. Submitter also gives permission for the film to be streamed in a virtual festival format. Such a streaming event will not be accessible to the public, it would be for limited key festival supporters, filmmakers or people who have purchased tickets.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The individual or corporation (entrant) submitting the film to the Love Your Shorts Film Festival (LYSFF) hereby warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for screening. Please ensure if you are submitting a film that contains copyrighted material by anyone other than yourself, that you have obtained festival clearance for that material used. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the LYSFF, its organizers, judges, sponsors, and partners, individually and collectively, from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to submitted material. The burden of determining that any material is not protected by copyright, trademark, rights of privacy, publicity or any other proprietary rights rests with the entrant. The entrant shall bear the sole liability for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from such a submission. If your work is accepted into the LYSFF you agree to allow us to use all or a portion of your film (including images, sound and clips) within our promotions and screenings; and you allow us to provide your film to media in promotion of your film and the festival. We may, at our discretion, transfer all or a portion of your submitted work to a compilation for festival screening which may be used for festival promotional purposes. You have read and agree to our general rules and terms and conditions. You agree that failure to adhere to any of the general rules or terms and conditions may result in disqualification for which no refund for entry fee(s) is due.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • I can't say enough about this festival or the wonderful people who run it. One of my absolute favorites, and the filmmaker networking opportunities are great with a filmmaker lounge and Sunday brunch. We will be back!

    February 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks for the nice words Matt, and we will be happy to have you back!

  • Tracy Whipple

    LYS represents everything you could dream of fas a filmmaker for a perfect festival. Sanford is a lovely city and the screenings take place in a beautifully renovated one century-old theater with a big screen. The directors are greeted so warmly and treated like royalty. And the film selection is great. we couldn't recommend it enough.

    February 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks much, meeting you and Gilles was a pleasure, we love getting to make a fuss over filmmakers!

  • Kaylin Allshouse

    Love Your Shorts is a fantastic place for shorts to BE SEEN. As a shorts filmmaker, I felt that extra special treatment that is usually only reserved for feature films, right here in Sanford, FL. The whole crew was extremely welcoming from the minute I stepped out of my car. They knew who I was, what my film was, and were excited to talk to me about it! They do a great job making sure filmmakers are given a place to relax, network, and enjoy themselves in the "filmmakers lounge". The theater is super spacious and the programing is some of the best I've seen. Thanks so much for a great time - I hope I can join in on the fun next year.

    April 2023
  • Our director, Matt Mitchell, attended on behalf of our film, “Baby,” and his experience with the Love Your Shorts Film Festival was top notch. The theater is absolutely beautiful, and the crew running the festival were excellent. The city of Sanford is a very picturesque town, its people engaging and supportive. We definitely want to come back!

    April 2023
  • Ann Hamilton

    Such a wonderful festival! Brian and the entire team absolutely love filmmakers and the art of the short film and go above and beyond to treat all attending filmmakers well! The theatre is beautiful. We had a wonderful time and were honored to be selected for the Best of Fest category by the screening team and doubly honored for my win for Best Female Actor for our film Consider the Sparrow. I highly recommend this festival!

    February 2023