Celebrating the art and industry of film, the South Georgia Film Festival will be accepting submissions showcasing the beauty of the region and its people.

We are seeking submissions in the following categories:
- High School Aged Students
- College Students (Grad / Undergrad)
- Shorts (Narrative / Doc / Animation)
- Features (Narrative / Documentary)

With specific recognition for films that are
- Georgia Made
- Family Friendly

Preference will be given to filmmakers from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina. Winners in the high school and college categories have the opportunity to receive scholarships to Valdosta State University.

You can learn more about the festival at http://www.SouthGeorgiaFilm.com or see what previous films have won at https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0026797/2021/1/?ref_=ev_eh

Submitted films will be screened on the campus of Valdosta State University March 1, 2, & 3, 2024, in the Student Union Theater, as well as virtually. SGFF are signatories to the Seed & Spark 2020 Film Festival Survival Pledge. Films will be judged by experts in the region. Awards for each category will be given by regional sponsors along with recognition for other notable achievements.

Feature films (narrative & documentary) are anything over 50 minutes in length. Anything under that can qualify for the other categories: Shorts (Narrative/Documentary/Animation), College, and High School.

We encourage you to consider the length of your submission. We strive to play as many of the best films as possible; which can mean that four 5 minute films will play ahead of one 20 minute film of equal quality.

Winners chosen in each category as applicable will receive a trophy and prizes from local sponsors. Scholarship opportunities are available for winners in the High School and College categories. Previous prizes have also included trophies from Harmon's Awards and passes to Wild Adventures theme park.

Films will be recognized by our judges in other various areas of achievement - such as
best use of prompts,
best cinematography,
and best acting

Each film in competition will receive one (1) VIP pass for its filmmakers, giving free access to all events and screenings (subject to availability) at the Festival. Passes are not sent by mail but must be picked up in person by the filmmaker or their prior-arranged designee at the designated Festival site.

Additional deeply, discounted passes will be available for selected filmmakers.

We work very hard to make sure films playing at our festival are recognized on IMDB. Please set-up your own IMDB page and provide us with all the necessary information to supplement that.

HOW WILL FILMS BE SUBMITTED?

All films must be submitted online. No other form of submission will be accepted.
After your film is accepted, you will be asked to supply a digital file of your film promptly. If you do not deliver said file by the designated time, your film could be disqualified from the festival.
If your project included a large group, please designate one (1) person to submit your project ... and only one (preferable the director, producer, or crew most able to attend). Each project accepted to screen will receive one (1) festival pass and a discount for additional passes. If you are submitting a film for your students, please clearly identify that in your film’s submission along with how to contact those filmmakers.

Multiple submissions of the same project will not receive multiple opportunities to participate.

WHAT CATEGORY SHOULD I PARTICIPATE?

All submitted films beyond 50 minutes in length should be submitted to the Feature Film category as either narrative or documentary.

Films short of 50 minutes should choose one of the following categories to compete:
- shorts (narrative, documentary, or animation)
- high school aged students
- college students

High-school-aged students are any filmmaker between the ages of 14-years-old and 19-years-old who completed their project while not currently enrolled in an institution of higher education. If a filmmaker is currently home schooled, they can compete here. If a student completed a project in May as a high school student but is currently attending college, they can submit that project here.

Any student who completed a project while enrolled in an institution of higher education should compete in the College Student category.

Films which target a family audience, particularly those which might qualify for a PG or G rating, will be considered for the Family Friendly recognition.

All others should compete in one of the Shorts categories.

To better recognize our area filmmakers, we are particular to films Southeast Made (ie, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Virginia, or West Virginia). Please alert us if you film was produced in one of those states, or the filmmakers are native to those state.

Films MUST BE APPROPRIATE to screen for a general audience and refrain from content that might warrant a PG-13 rating, such as foul language, excessive violence and sexual situations.

Filmmakers are responsible for all copyright clearances and releases for actors/performers' likenesses.

Winners chosen in each category as applicable will receive a trophy and prizes from local sponsors.

Participants are strongly encouraged to attend. Films will be recognized by our judges in various other areas of achievement - such as best use of prompts, best cinematography, and best acting - regardless of attendance.

DOES IT MATTER WHEN I MADE MY PROJECT?

Films should be completed after last year's submission Regular Deadline. Projects for this year should be completed after Dec. 1, 2022. Some leeway will be give to projects affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

DOES IT MATTER WHEN I SUBMIT MY PROJECT?

We have a rolling submission deadline. Projects submitted before Aug. 1, 2023 will receive the Very Early submission discount, those before September 9, 2023 will receive the Early submission discount. The Regular Deadline is December 12, 2023 but our Very Late Submission Deadline is Jan. 6, 2023, where fees are greatly increased.

CAN I HAVE A WAIVER?

All high school students in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina should contact us about a waiver for fees. All others eligible for waivers will be contacted directly.

WHAT DO I NEED TO SUBMIT?

Just submit your video link now. If your film is accepted, we will request a digital copy of your film as well as other marketing materials.

Do not submit those additional materials until requested.

Entries selected to the 2023 Festival will be asked to submit an exhibition video of the film in the proper file format (H.264). Failure to comply with technical specifications or by the requested date may result in the removal of the film from Festival competition.
We will ask all filmmakers to provide appropriate files for closed captioning, and we will accept additional files for open captioning screening as well.

Films might be screened in-person or virtually, or both. After films are accepted, SGFF reserves the right to screen them outside of the festival for class demonstrations, or promotion on our local cable access and streaming channel.

CAN I SUBMIT A ROUGH DRAFT?

We will only look at your film one time. If you submit a Rough Draft, that is the version that we review to include in our festival. It is possible that we will not screen your film immediately after you submit it, allowing for updates to the online file.

WHO ARE YOUR SCREENERS?

Our primary screeners are Valdosta State University students in the student organization. They will be the first eyes for the Feature, Shorts, and High School categories. To avoid conflicts of interest, the VSU faculty, SGFF Community Board, and other local professionals will be the initial screeners for the College category.

HOW MANY FILMS CAN I SUBMIT?

You can submit one film per submission fee, but you can submit as many films as you wish as long as you pay the fee.

HOW WILL I KNOW IF I AM ACCEPTED?

We will notify filmmakers through FilmFreeway. We will also post accepted films on our Social Media pages. While we will attempt to alert filmmakers by late January, but we guarantee to alert all filmmakers by February 17 if they are accepted.

WHAT GENRES DO YOU ACCEPT?

You can submit any type of film you can make. Depending on the submissions we receive, we may program more animation or documentary one year and more horror and thriller another year. If you can make it, we would love to see it.

DO YOU TAKE AWAY MY RIGHTS AS A FILMMAKER?

Absolutely not. Filmmakers own all rights to submitted films. Using festival best practices, we will screen films both in-person and online in a ticketed capacity. At this time, we do not pay screening fees of any kind. We strive to promote your film during and after the festival - and point people to your submitted websites & social media sites.

By submitting you agree to allow Valdosta State University to use your film in its entirety both for educational and promotional purposes in our classrooms and on VSU-TV.

The South Georgia Film Festival is a signatory of the Seed & Spark Film Festival Survival Pledge, where we will maintain a films eligibility regardless if it has screened online at another festival, continue its premiere status in relation to other festival regardless if it has played online, and as stated above, waive our normal production deadline for the upcoming festival cycle.

By completing the online entry form, Exhibitor constitutes his/her full and complete acceptance of the terms hereof and that Exhibitor has read and complies with the Terms of Entry.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Adam Mendez

    I couldn't ask for a better first film fest. Professor Jason Brown was incredibly accommodating and an excellent panel moderator. All events moved smoothly and I felt incredibly welcome as a filmmaker. I would absolutely recommend this festival to any filmmakers who are just now entering the festival circuit with their film.

    March 2024
  • Henry Severe

    Such a fun festival! I met so many great people and the curation of the shorts was excellent. The staff was so helpful and kind as well!

    March 2024
  • Bert White

    Great festival! This event was incredibly well-organized and had lots of networking opportunities. They included a nice variety of content, communication was great, and I think it was well worth it.

    March 2024
  • We were glad that our film was selected for this year's festival. Communication before hand was solid and detailed! There were various events organized around the festival. Attendance at our block of films was fairly good. We were sorry that right next door to the room where our block of films was being screened was another, very loud film being screened, which was kind of distracting. That aside, there was an interesting selection of films overall. I think the festival is a great way to give VSU students the experience of organizing a film festival at their university.

    March 2024
  • SGFF is the best Film Festival that I’ve ever beeb selected. It was huge. Much love for all organisers, especially Jason Brown! Glad to win award on this festival

    March 2024