A copy of the guidelines can be downloaded from https://themercury.org.au/sasa2025/.
BEFORE SUBMITTING, PLEASE ANSWER THE 2-MINUTE SUBMITTER FORM FOUND AT THE LINK ON OUR WEBSITE.
1. A ‘submission’ to the South Australian Screen Awards (SASA) refers to a short film, feature film, music video web series, commissioned series or a peer nominated individual.
2. All submissions must have been completed after 5 May 2024.
3. All short film, feature film, music video and web and commissioned series submissions must be received at The Mercury via the FilmFreeway platform https://filmfreeway.com/SASA2025 by 5pm, Monday 8 September 2025. Nominations for Individual Awards forms are available from the website https://themercury.org.au/sasa2025/ and are to be emailed complete to sasa@themercury.org.au.
4. Submissions will not be accepted without payment of the entry fee. Peer nominations are fee-free.
5. Submissions that have been previously submitted to SASA are ineligible, even if modified significantly.
6. Works-in-progress, corporate, or promotional works are not eligible for submission.
7. In addition to the FilmFreeway submission, all submitters are required to complete a Submitter Approval Form available here found through The Mercury website https://themercury.org.au/sasa2025/
8. It is the submitter’s responsibility to assess eligibility and provide the correct information. If any information is unfilled, relevant individuals will be considered ineligible for nomination. Applicants may submit more than one project or nomination for Individual Awards.
9. Short Films running over 30 minutes (credits included) will be deemed ineligible. Short Films and Web Series are eligible for all Genre and Craft awards; Feature Films, Commissioned Series and Music Videos are only eligible for their specific category.
10. If a sponsor or judge has direct personal or professional connection or a perceived conflict of interest regarding a submission that is nominated for an award, they will declare this to The Mercury in writing and will be excluded from the judging process of that submission.
11. The applicant must own the copyright of the film. The applicant is usually deemed to be the Producer, or in the Producer’s absence, the Director may enter on their behalf.
12. In all submissions, at least two of the ‘above-the-line’ key creatives (e.g. Writer, Director, or Producer) must have been residents of South Australia on 5 May 2024. Nominated actors may be non-SA residents. For an Individual Award nominee, or a Craft Award recipient to be eligible for nomination, the nominee must have been a resident of South Australia on 5 May 2024.
13. For a submission to be deemed eligible in the Best Narrative, Documentary, Animation, Experimental categories it must be classified as so in the provided submission material.
14. For a submission to qualify for consideration in the Best Student Film category, it must have been produced as part of the curriculum of a high school, film school, or screen related tertiary course. Additionally, at least two of the ‘above-the-line’ key creative roles (e.g. Writer, Director, or Producer) must have been enrolled in the associated educational program during the submission’s development.
15. For a submission to be deemed eligible for the Best Web Series category, the submitted episodes must be a part of a series of narrative episodes (fiction or factual) specifically released on community television, online or via mobile phone. For a submission to be deemed eligible for the Best Commissioned Series category, the submitted episodes must be a part of a series of narrative episodes (fiction or factual) specifically released via Broadcast or online streaming service.
16. For a submission to be deemed eligible for the Best First Nations Film, projects must have Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in at least two of the ‘above-the-line’ key creative roles (e.g. Writer, Director, or Producer).
17. For a person to be eligible for nomination in the Best Emerging First Nations Screen Practitioner category, the individual must be an Australian Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander practitioner and must not be credited in their primary field of expertise on a feature length work or a commercial work for broadcast television of one hour or more.
18. For a person to be eligible for nomination for the Mercury Rising Award, the individual must not be credited in their primary field of expertise on a feature length work or a commercial work for broadcast television of one hour or more.
19. For a person to be eligible for nomination for the Best Emerging Producer Award the individual must primarily work as a Producer and not have a Producer credit on a feature length work or a commercial work for broadcast television of one hour or more.
20. Video files are asked to be either Apple ProRes or H.264 (mp4) format with a bit rate of at least 20mbps and 16:9 ratio in its native frame rate.
21. For each submission entered, a 10-15 second clip must be selected by the submitter for marketing and screening purposes. We ask submitters prepare these in the event of their film being selected.
22. The submitter must include 5 high quality production stills in .jpg or .tiff.
23. If the submission is chosen as a finalist in the Best Screenplay category, the submitter may be required to provide a hard copy of the nominated screenplay to The Mercury.
24. The submitter grants permission for the work, in part or in full, to be screened for promotional purposes including Nominee Screening programs at The Mercury and any associated Broadcast TV Showcase programming at The Mercury’s discretion, subject to World or Australian premiere rights, and must be available to screen by 1 November 2025. It is the submitter’s responsibility to notify The Mercury of any such restrictions at the point of submission via the Submitter Approval Form available here or email direct through sasa@themercury.org.au.
25. The Mercury is granted permission to use a nominee’s name, image and up to 60 seconds of the film for publicity or promotional purposes.
26. The Mercury reserves the right to be the final judge of eligibility regarding any Work and/or the Nominee submitted to the South Australian Screen Awards.
27. At any point, The Mercury reserves the right to disqualify a submission if issues arise regarding unauthorised use of copyrighted material without sufficient licensing, or any similar infringement of intellectual property rights.
28. The Mercury presides over a transparent and impartial judging process comprised of national screen industry professionals. The SASA jury decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. For further information please contact the team at The Mercury sasa@themercury.org.au or call 08 8410 0979.
