Pensacon proudly presents the fifth annual Pensacon Short Film Festival as one of its official events. As part of this convention, the films screened will celebrate science fiction, horror, fantasy, comic books, pop culture, animation, and documentaries.

Each Official Selection will be given two weekend passes to Pensacon (travel not included) to attend the screening, and filmmakers may participate in a Q&A session about their films immediately following the screening.

Over the past four years, Pensacon has taken pride in screening some of the best short films from all around the world. In addition to the United States, we have had submissions from Australia, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Peru, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and United Kingdom.

Awards & Prizes

Pensacon would like to congratulate the following 2019 winners:

• BEST IN SHOW - "Outpost" directed by Justin Giddings & Ryan Welsh
• JURY SELECTION - "The Phantom Menace" directed by Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon
• AUDIENCE CHOICE - "The Gift of the Red Fern" directed by Robyn McSheehy Hartman
• BEST SCIENCE FICTION FILM - "Margaret and Gary" directed by Fredric Lehne
• BEST FANTASY FILM - "Breaking Up" directed by Greg Vestal
• BEST HORROR FILM - "Deep Dish Apocalypse" directed by David Codeglia
• BEST COMIC BOOK FILM - "The Cape" directed by Andrew Olson
• BEST DOCUMENTARY - "Cap City Video Lounge" directed by Rhea Begazo & Hunter Black
• BEST ANIMATED FILM - "Rebooted" directed by Sagar Arun & Rachel Kral

Trophies for 2019 Best in Show, Jury Selection, and Audience Choice winners provided by GinGee Girls Art.

Rules & Terms

Entry Rules
• Films must have been produced after January 1, 2017.
• Films must have a running time no longer than 20 minutes. Films longer than 20 minutes will be disqualified.
• Categories—science fiction, fantasy, horror, superhero/comic book related, pop culture, animation, and documentary.
• Films may contain “R-rated” content, but no pornography.
• It is permissible to enter films that have screened at other film festivals, but not commercially distributed.
• Films cannot have been previously screened at Pensacon.
• Filmmakers must retain the rights to characters, stories, and music. Fan films (i.e. fan-made versions of established properties) are not allowed and WILL BE DISQUALIFIED WITHOUT REIMBURSEMENT OF ENTRY FEE.
• Unfortunately, Pensacon Short Film Festival is UNABLE TO OFFER FEE WAIVERS.
• Entry fees are paid for the purpose of being judged for participation in the Pensacon Short Film Festival and will not be refunded in the case of films not accepted, withdrawn, or disqualified from selection.

Selection Process
• Official Selections will be determined by Pensacon staff based on a number of factors, including but not limited to genre, content, quality of filmmaking, time allotment, and copyright ownership. All decisions are final.
• Pensacon staff and their families are ineligible to enter.
• All Official Selections will be announced via email to the filmmakers and on the Pensacon website and social media on December 15, 2019.
• Entry fees will be charged to all submissions, but do not guarantee acceptance into the film festival. Entry fees will not be reimbursed for films not selected, withdrawn, or disqualified.
• Pensacon reserves the right to change the category for submissions as deemed appropriate.

Additional Info
• It is recommended to upload the best quality of your film upon submission. However, an updated screener copy will be accepted until December 28, 2019. Resolution should be 1920x1080 with an audio bit depth of 16 bits.
• We recommend making the video file available to download, either through FilmFreeway, Vimeo, or YouTube (with password is fine). Otherwise, you will need to provide means for us to download the film such as through Dropbox or OneDrive no later than December 28, 2019.
• Publicity material such as stills and a movie poster are optional, but must be submitted no later than December 28, 2019.
• Non-English language films must be subtitled in English.
• All Official Selections of the Pensacon Short Film Festival will be shown as an official event of Pensacon during the weekend of February 28 - March 1, 2020.
• Each Official Selection will be provided with two free weekend passes to Pensacon (travel not included) to attend the screening, and filmmakers may be invited to participate in a Q&A session about their films immediately following the screening.
• Admission to the screening will be free to anyone with a Pensacon weekend pass or day pass on the date of the screening.
• Due to the possible content of the films, anyone under the age of 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
10 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Andrew Olson

    Quite bluntly, Pensacon was pretty mind blowing. Before we arrived I had no idea just how huge it was, and they made the film festival an integral part of everything. How Steve and his team kept everything running smoothly across all the different theaters day after day is a tribute to both great planning, and diligent hard work.

    Every single person from the show we talked to was both friendly and professional, from the first email to the final goodbyes, and the Film Fest itself showcased a great array of content from all over the world. It was really an honor to be included and a fantastic experience from start to finish.

    March 2019
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  • Reginald Buchanan

    The Pensacola Film Festival was outstanding. Thank you Steve for handling the difficult operation of bringing all of us writers and filmmakers together. Your staff was just as good. I enjoyed every minute of this festival. Everyone was so friendly and kind. I really hated for it to end. But... I made many new friends because of the Pensacola Film Festival😊

    March 2019
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  • Robyn Hartman

    Steve Wise and his team did a great job. As a first time filmmaker I had a lot of questions and he was very patient. Everyone was friendly and welcoming and it was great to watch the other films, which were top rate.

    March 2019
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  • DaCosta Bayley

    A massive THANK YOU for the 'Best in Show' for Sunny and Gerd in Spring Cleaning!!! The team and I very much appreciate the award. It's displayed proudly in my studio.

    April 2018
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  • AJ Caruso

    Excellent festival! Very well attended. Many times festivals end up with a very low viewer audience. This was not the case with Pensacon. Hardly an empty seat despite the long block of films screening. Good exposure for films and a Q&A afterwards for all attending film makers.

    March 2018
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