The Overlea ArtsFest|CCBC Film Festival

NOTE: This final submission round of the festival is open ONLY to MARYLAND filmmakers and film students aged 16 and older. (We have received our limit on international and national submissions, and cannot accept any additional entries from outside Maryland.) Films submitted to a previous ArtsFest event are not eligible.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
• Student Filmmakers – Current or recent students (within 2 years of graduation) from any accredited college or film school in Maryland. Students still residing in Maryland will be given preference.
• Emerging Filmmakers – Filmmakers who have completed 5 or fewer film projects, have less than 3 years of professional filmmaking experience, have not had theatrical distribution for any previous work, and who currently reside in Maryland
• Established Filmmakers – Filmmakers who exceed the qualifications listed above, and who currently reside in Maryland

ACCEPTED GENRES:
• We accept Narrative Shorts, Documentary Shorts, Animated Shorts, Experimental Shorts, Musical Shorts and AI Generated Shorts. (See application questions for requirements and declarations on AI content.)
• You may enter in multiple film genres, but you must fill out a separate application for each genre category. Each filmmaker may submit a MAXIMUM of 2 FILMS TOTAL.

ACCEPTED FILM LENGTHS:
• Films must be between 1 minute and 30 minutes long.
• We will publicly screen as many accepted films as possible during the festival weekend. Films over 20 minutes long may not be guaranteed a spot in the screening lineup if we receive a large number of them. All accepted films will be promoted on our social media and will be available for viewing on our YouTube account. International films will be screened on our YouTube account, but a few selected international films may be screened at the festival if time allows.

FEES:
• There is no fee to submit your films.
• We are happy to accept a few hours of volunteer service at the film screening event, which takes place in Baltimore, MD on May 8th, 9th and 10th. Please reach out to us by email if you are interested in volunteering. Students will receive official service hours toward their school's requirements.

JUDGING CRITERIA:
• The film curator will determine which films are accepted for competition into the juried show. The jury panel will determine the final winners of the festival based on their scores, and their decisions are final.
• The jury panel is comprised of experienced professionals in their specific creative media fields. They follow an internationally accepted protocol for evaluating artistic excellence in film. Our film judging criteria are accessible below and on our Short Films web page.
• All criteria are important, but we value originality of vision, uniqueness of approach and a good story above all.

Judging Criteria- https://overleaartsfest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Judging-Criteria-for-Short-Films_2025.pdf