The Midwest Sci Fi Short Film Festival is taking a break in 2023 to work on staffing and our marketing plan. Look for updates to our deadlines and submission guidelines later in 2023.

We feature the best of independent, genre-based short films produced in the Midwestern United States & Canada, as well as the rest of the world. We operate as a hybrid virtual and in-person event based in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, MN.

As always, there is no fee to submit your film to the festival - but not all films qualify for submission. Please read the rules carefully to ensure that your film meets all the criteria for submission. Good luck!

Entry Categories:
MIDWEST USA & CANADA - COMPETITION CATEGORY: Filmmakers (or another key participant) of the Entry must be a legal resident of; OR a significant portion of the Entry must have been produced in one of the following U.S. states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin OR Canadian provinces: Ontario or Manitoba. You MUST include Residency qualifying information in your submission profile or cover letter.

OTHER WORLDS - COMPETITION CATEGORY: Qualifying Films from the rest of the known universe (outside the Midwest, including outside the United States).

Attendance is open to the public and access to our year round events is available at https://midwestsci-fifilmfestival.sparqfest.live

The festival is presented in partnership with Convergence Events, Inc, who relish the opportunity to provide new ways to share their love of genre entertainment. Additional support comes from the Screenwriting program at Metropolitan State University. We're excited to be on this journey together.

Awards & Prizes

An Audience Choice Award will be awarded to one Midwestern USA & Canada entry and one Other Worlds submission from films selected for screening in 2024.

A Best Of Fest juried award winner will be chosen from the Midwestern USA & Canada entries submitted in 2024 (see rules for residency restrictions).

Awards will be announced at our in-person showcase in October.

Rules & Terms

Rules & Terms
All entries must meet Festival Rules for consideration. By entering or submitting a film to the festival, the Filmmaker acknowledges and agrees to all of the following terms:

1. All entries must be original works created & owned by the Filmmaker.

2. All entries must be no longer than 20 minutes in length, including all credits.

3. Films submitted in previous years are not reconsidered - please do NOT resubmit them.

4. Submission Categories/Qualifications:

A. MIDWEST USA & CANADA - COMPETITION CATEGORY: The Director, Producer, or Screenwriter of the Entry must be a legal resident of, OR a significant portion of the Entry must have been produced in one of, the following U.S. states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin OR the following Canadian provinces: Ontario or Manitoba. Submissions MUST include Residency qualifying information in the submission profile or cover letter.

B. OTHER WORLDS - COMPETITION CATEGORY: Qualifying Films from the rest of the known universe (outside the Midwest, including outside the United States).

5. GENRE REQUIREMENTS: The Festival is NOT open to all genres. All Entries submitted MUST fall into one or more of the following genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, or Supernatural films.

Fan-Films, Music Videos, Comedy, Animation, Drama and/or Documentaries set within or related to any of these genres will also be accepted.

6. All films must include English subtitles or captioning.

7. All entries must be submitted via FilmFreeway.

8. Screening Resolution: Min: 1920 x 1080 Max: 4K

9. The festival prohibits glorification of hateful iconography or the use of offensive commentary in relation to identity attributes within the selected films, including but not limited to: race, color, culture, national origin, disability, gender, gender identity, gender presentation, sexual orientation, religion, age, body size, or appearance.

10. We are accepting rolling submissions for several events throughout the year. Our deadlines are as follows:

February Deadline for April16th online event - 11:59pm CST, February 18th, 2022.

April Deadline for June 18th online event - 11:59pm CST, April 15th, 2022.

Final deadline for August 20th online event and October in-person showcase - 11:59pm CST, June 17th, 2022.

Entries will not be accepted after the June 17th, 2022, deadline.

11. Entries must meet the stated Festival Submission Rules or they will be disqualified. It is the Filmmaker's responsibility to make sure that all criteria are met prior to submitting the Entry.

12. There are no entry fees for any submission. Never. Ever.

13. Audience Choice Awards are determined by majority vote of the participating audience during each of the virtual events.

14. By submitting the Entry, the Filmmaker warrants that they own all rights to the Entry and the material contained therein and further grants to the Festival the following non-exclusive, irrevocable license to screen the Entry as part of Convergence Events, Inc or at other events conducted by the Festival in perpetuity and through-out the Universe; to screen (at Festival’s discretion) the entry, via any form or media; limited publishing (less than 2000 words) for promotional purposes of the name, likeness, voice or image of the filmmaker(s), cast, crew, biographies of the same, still images and plot synopsis of the Entry as well as any other information about the Entry and/or its cast and/or crew provided via FilmFreeway.com.

15. Entries submitted are NOT guaranteed to be screened. Screened entries will be chosen at the discretion of the Festival Director. Entries which meet Festival Rules, but are not selected for this year's festival, will be automatically entered for consideration into subsequent year Festivals and may be chosen to screen at the Festival's discretion.

16. The Filmmaker will hold harmless and indemnify the Festival, its assigns, partners, subsidiaries and its sponsors, including but not limited to Convergence Events, Inc its assigns, partners, subsidiaries and its sponsors from any claim of liability resulting from any screening of the Entry by the Festival.