'Brevity is the sister of genius’ - Anton Chekov

MicroMania Film festivals created to celebrate the skill and artistry of films up to 5 minutes long (not including credits*).

MicroMania Film Fest officially selected films screen July 25 - August 1 and have the option of inclusion across our streaming channels with 80K+ views and rising.

We will be taking MicroMania Film Festival online via Seed & Spark's streaming platform to take advantage of their online system, partnerships and incredible audience reach in order to take this fest to the next level.

&

We're planning an encore screening October 8th, 2020 at the Transit Drive-In (Lockport, NY) Featuring up to 2 hours of MMFF2020 top rated short films.

SELECTION PROCESS:
Films are screened and rated by a panel of industry (producers, podcasters, critics and academics) - see below.

**
FESTIVAL CHANGES due to Seed & Spark onboarding
Official, juror-selected films will screen online July 18th-25th.
These dates may shift a bit as we work to onboard with S&S.

AWARD PROCESS CHANGES

Seed & Spark's platform features are still developing. At this point they have no mechanism for online voting or for us to select winners based on audience voting or viewership, as initially planned. For the moment, awards have been shifted to jury selection.

To make up for this and cover the costs of onboarding to S&S's platform we will be launching a crowdfunding campaign and including a goal of additional funds for awards including a new 'Best Micro-Short Film 2020' award.

All officially selected films including receive a laurel and screen during our July 25-August 1st event. The top 5 highest rated films in each category compete for
'Best Micro-x' film in their category as well as, (hopefully) 'Best Micro-Short Film 2020" with a cash award. The 5 next highest rated films within each category receive the designation of Semi-Finalist.

A selection of Festival Finalist and Semi-Finalist films will be invited to be screened during an encore Drive-In movie presentation scheduled for October 8, 2020 in Buffalo, NY.

2020 JUDGES:
Our submission judges include a growing list of popular podcasters, bloggers, film critics, Media Studies and Communications professors and film festival, film and arts professionals. Award judges may also be comprised of Donor Jurors - acquired through our crowdfunding campaign.

Carl Lee (Professor of Media Studies)
Nick Bigtower (Bigtower Pictures)
Killer Horror Critic
MJ Micheaux Film Club
Christa Avampato (blogger - Curating a Creative Life)
Black Girls Film Club
Tweed (Artistic Director Native Spirit Film Festival)
Richard Smith (Unexplained Podcast)
Kazuya Ashizawa (Filmmaker, MMFF 2019 Best Micro-Documentary winner)
Nick Brannigan (Real World Films)
MiMi Q. Atkins (Mystic Road Films)
Tilke Hill (Actor, Producer/Director and Festival Director - Buffalo International Film Festival 2017-2019)
Joanna White-Oldham (Writer/Director/Owner JWO Media)
Aaron Leventman (Actor, Playwright, Instructor)
Ed Cardoni (Director, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center)
Neil Weschler(Playwright/ Filmmaker/ Mixed Media Artist)

Some Love For Our Inaugural Festival in November.

‘Wonderful labour of love by the founders, and it shows! Lots of care was put into the format and running order. They are committed to trying to give micro-shorts opportunities and platforms. Clear communication and we had a great time at the screening itself. For a festival in its first year to be so confidently and carefully put together was a wonderful surprise and we're very excited to go back in the future.’ -Joseph Beebe, Official Selection MicroMania Film Festival 2019.

‘MicroMania was a unique and engaging experience. There was a wide variety of stories and I was impressed with the creativity and power packed into the “5 minute and under” requirement.’ - Danielle T., Festival Attendee.

‘I wasn’t expecting much. It was really good.’ - Anonymous Boomer, Festival Attendee.

SUBMISSION PERKS:

MicroMania Film Festival offers more than just a one-off event. We want your work seen and appreciated over and over. Our channels accomplish what few of us can do promoting on our own - attract random views and new audiences. We're already at 80K views in just under 2 months of launch.

MicroMania is dedicated to sharing your powerful minute stories with as many people as possible. We work with local non-profit organizations to show donation- based encore presentations of the festival for those who are financially disadvantaged. You may opt out of this if it does not align with your film’s trajectory.

**If your film is over 5 minutes due to credits, you may submit a version without them. If your film makes it to official selection the festival will screen the credited version.

SPONSORS & PRIZES:

IndieVice (indievice.com) - 5 IndieVice Pro packages will be awarded to the highest rated: Narrative film (Comedy, Drama, Horror), non-fiction film (Documentary, Experimental), Animated film and Freestyle film (freestyle, music video)

Awards & Prizes

Juror Choice award winning films receive a laurel, a cash prize and compete for 'Best Micro-x' in category and compete for 'Best Micro-Short 2020' award:

Because of a low submission and acceptance count, Music Video has been folded into Freestyle. Episodic submissions have been moved into the closest matching genre.

Awards:

Best Micro-Short Film 2020
Best Micro-Drama 2020
Best Micro-Comedy 2020
Best Micro-Horror 2020
Best Micro-Animation 2020
Micro-Documentary 2020
Micro-Freestyle 2020 (includes music video)
Micro-Experimental 2020

Audience Choice awards (pending Seed & Spark system feature availability)

We're happy to furnish a detailed accounting before or after the event, upon request.

Rules & Terms

Rules & Terms
MicroMania Film Festival is open to micro-short content from all countries.
All foreign language films must be subtitled in English. Subtitles are not necessary for music videos.

The use of copyright protected music or obviously branded props or costuming is not allowed unless you can produce written permission or proof of a usage agreement. This is a legal liability for you and the festival itself. We are happy to give entrants the opportunity to swap out music or cover logos if time permits.

No pornography or film trailers will be accepted. NO HATE.

MicroMania Film Festival reserves the right to remove any category for which a minimum of 8 films have not been selected due to low overall ratings as determined by MMFF submission judges. Accepted films within a category that has been eliminated will be shifted to 'Micro-Freestyle'

ENTRY FEE
Entry fees pay for operational costs (website, marketing, venue, promotional costs)
.
Entry fees are non-refundable and required for each distinct category submission.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
All entrants agree with the terms and conditions below to be featured as 'Officially Selected' and to qualify as a finalist/winner.

Delivery of 'Officially Selected' films will be accepted by digital means only.
All films must be delivered in high resolution with credits to specifications requested in acceptance email notification.

MicroMania Film Festival reserves the right to remove an accepted film from its programming schedule due to low resolution, poor quality or lack of timely response on the part of accepted filmmakers.

PROMOTIONAL RIGHTS
MicroMania Film Festival is hereby granted the right to utilize still images and submission descriptions, provided by accepted filmmakers for exhibition at the Festival and for promotional purposes leading up to the event and any encore events (opt in basis).

MicroMania Film Festival is hereby granted the right to stream officially selected films in its online streaming component for up to a period of one month.

Filmmakers that opt in to MicroMania Channel inclusion - grant the right for MicroMania Film Fest to stream their films until a request for removal has been removed.

ENTRY LIABILITY
The filmmaker holds the MicroMania Film Festival, its management, juries, subsidiaries, agents, sponsors, affiliates, and etc. harmless from any and all claims of liability resulting from entry. The filmmaker certifies to have full rights. Producer will indemnify the organizers of the Festival against all claims, demands, costs, damages, expenses (including legal fees), proceedings and losses resulting from the screening of the film at the Festival or from claims by any third parties.

CASH AWARDS:

Category award winners will be notified by August 15st, 2019 where available (see above)

Winners must respond by August 31th to claim their cash award and/or IndieVice prize. Cash award delivery requires a Paypal, Venmo or Xoom account.

6 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • John G

    I occasionally enter film festivals that I am unable to go to, so my ability to review them is based on their communications with me and their social media presence. I was unfortunately not able to attend this film festival this year (would have been an expensive trip), but I was thrilled with the excellent and enthusiastic communication I received and how active they are on social media. I felt valued as someone with a film that had been selected and it really made me wish I could have been there. They are a brand new festival, but I can see big crowds coming for them in that future if they continue their excellent level of service. I really appreciated the level of effort put towards me as a filmmaker who couldn’t make it and I’d bet anything they rolled out the red carpet for filmmakers in attendance. Definitely recommend.

    December 2019
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Thank you, John!!! We would certainly have rolled out the red carpet for you. I hope very much to see more of your work in the future and maybe even meet you at some point.

    Keep up the amazing work! Lukia C.

  • Oliver Richards

    For it's first year, MicroMania was incredibly well organised. Communication was excellent and they proved themselves to be serious and commited. MicroMania's professional approach has the potential to attract film makers from all over the world and grow as a leading short film festival. Great job.

    November 2019
    Helpful
  • Roshni "Rush" Bhatia

    I'm so glad to have had Shadow at the Door be a part of MicroMania Film Festival. Great communication!!

    November 2019
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Thank you Roshini! We hope that you'll submit more beautiful work in the future. Stay tuned. We're working on a bunch of great ideas that'll bring even more value to our 2020 submitters and beyond!

  • ANGEL ROSA

    What an honor and great pleasure to have been a part of this festival!! Due to a scheduling conflict, I did not have the opportunity to attend the event in support of my short film, "Samuel's Got A Sweet Tooth". Though the energy and effort was apparent in every aspect of this festival. Lukia and company were kind, communicative, and obviously extremely passionate about this creative medium. Again, super kudos and congratulations to all!!!

    November 2019
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Thank you, Angel. That's very kind - and much appreciated!

    We really hope you keep making beautiful micros (and longer work too) and that you always consider submitting to MicroMania Film Festival.

    We're working on a bunch of ideas for next season that aim at bringing more attention the micro-short flm form - and it's creators.

  • Josef Beeby

    Wonderful labour of love by the founders, and it shows! Lots of care was put into the format and running order. They are committed to trying to give micro-shorts opportunities and platforms. Clear communication and we had a great time at the screening itself. For a festival in its first year to be so confidently and carefully put together was a wonderful surprise and we're very excited to go back in the future.

    November 2019
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Thank you Joseph! It was such a pleasure to have you and Grace in attendance to talk about your lovey, inventive film! We can't wait to see more!