New South Wales premiere status is required.
Films should have been completed within a five year period leading up to the festival. Films submitted to earlier editions of the festival cannot be resubmitted again in future years unless they have been significantly reworked..
Submissions are by online screener with link to Vimeo or other site or by a downloadable version of the film on FilmFreeway. Password protection for the online screener is the responsibility of the submitter.
NiSFF is not obsessed with technology but rather appreciates creativity and ingenuity in cinematic storytelling regardless of the standard and sophistication of the technology used. Consequently, expensive DCPs are not required and we cannot accept submissions on celluloid. The festival will not screen directly from websites such as Vimeo or You-Tube and do not want Blu Ray discs. Submitters are only ever required to provide a link from where a reasonably high resolution copy of the film ( preferred at least 760p) can be viewed and downloaded. MP4 files are preferred.
Copyright remains vested in the film-maker and the film-maker grants the festival a licence to screen their film during the festival.
The film-maker waives any right to screening fees or royalties from the festival by submitting to the festival.
Films are preferably to be in English but films that are not in English may still be selected if the story is still comprehensible for English speaking audiences and dialogue is not fundamental to the narrative. Films may be subtitled at the discretion and expense of the film-make. Subtitles need to be burned into the film's image not provided as a separate file.
Applicants are to submit to the category that describes their residence (eg regional NSW, Australian or International) and that approximates the running time of their film regardless of the films genre. The organizers will then categorize the film into the various genre categories e.g. live action drama, animation, doco, experimental, unconventional, art films, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, comedy films etc. The films will then be grouped and judged in the festival on the basis of their genre, duration and regional category. Film-makers can nominate the genre of the film on their FilmFreeway project page and the organizers will take that into consideration when determining the genre of the film and may consult with the film-maker in regard to the genre of the film where necessary.
Awards will be given based upon genre and length and region. For example, these will include:
Best NSW Regional Super Short/Phone Film Live Action Drama;
Best NSW Regional Super Short/Phone Film Experimental Film,
Best NSW Regional Super Short/Phone Film Documentary
Best NSW Regional Super Short/Phone Film Comedy,
Best NSW Regional Super Short/Phone Film Animation.
Best NSW Regional Short Short Live Action Drama,
Best NSW Regional Short Short Experimental Film,
Best NSW Regional Short Short Documentary,
Best NSW Regional Short Short Animation,
Best NSW Regional Short Short Comedy.
Best NSW Regional Short Live Action Drama,
Best NSW Regional Short Experimental Film,
Best NSW Regional Short Documentary,
Best NSW Regional Short Animation,
Best NSW Regional Short Comedy.
Best Sci-fi, Best Horror, Best Fantasy, Best Unconventional etc in the various formats.
The same categories will apply separately for Australian and International films in the various genre and running time classifications as those for regional New South Wales (NSW) submissions.
Films judged the best of their genre in the regional NSW, Australian or International categories will be Officially Selected to screen at the festival as finalists and award nominees and a 'Best Short Film Award' will inevitably be awarded from all finalists from all genres and regional locations as the best overall film. All Official Selections are Nominees for an award and for the purpose of listing on NiSFF's IMDb event page. Honourable Mentions will also be awarded but will only be screened at the Festival at the discretion of the Festival.
NEW!!!! ALUMNI SUBMISSION DISCOUNT.
In 2024 NiSFF is introducing a 15% submission discount for films submitted from filmmakers whose work has been Officially Selected for a previous year's NiSFF and an even greater 25% discount for previous year's Award Winners. These films do not need to be recently made films but can be made during the five years leading up to the festival but need to satisfy the NSW Premiere status. If a film maker fits this criteria they should contact the festival by email before submitting their film requesting an 'alumni discount submission code'. This discount will only be available up until the end of the 'Earlybird Submission Deadline'.
No screening fees are paid to filmmakers and film-makers bare their own expenses if they chose to attend the festival.
Newcastle International Short Film Festival welcomes your submission.
