FESTIVAL DATES for the next edition: March 15-23, 2023 - Hybrid edition - Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Centre (Lincoln Center), Cinema Village, Uptown Dear Mama, Maison Francaise, Columbia University, JCC Harlem, West Harlem neighboring venues - and online.
PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION, THE RULES, and THE TERMS thoroughly before completing your submission.
SRFF does NOT waive entry fees. In some exceptional cases, discount codes are offered.
SRFF believes waiving entry fees hurts the integrity of the competition.
The same rules and entry fees should apply to all applicants so no one film is favored over another. We understand the financial constraint of making films and the costs involved in submitting them to Festivals. However, we also feel that submitting for free does not help anyone as it takes the seriousness out. It is important to research well and submit your film only to the festivals that are a good match and that will best help your career and your film's career move forward.
In some exceptional cases, we offer discount waivers to individual filmmakers from partner organizations. Special student discount waivers (with ID) are offered.
SR Socially Relevant™ Film Festival NY is a film festival that focuses exclusively on socially relevant human interest stories that raise awareness of social problems by offering positive solutions through the powerful medium of cinema. SRFF believes that through raised awareness, knowledge about diverse cultures, and the human condition as a whole, it is possible to create a better world free of violence, hate, and crime.
SR Socially Relevant™ Film Festival New York shines the spotlight on filmmakers who tell compelling, socially relevant™ narratives across a broad range of social issues without resorting to gratuitous violence and violent forms of filmmaking.
SRFF's human interest stories and character-driven films reflect good storytelling as shorts, documentaries, narrative features, web series, children's films, animation, and scripts in competition.
SR films can be commercially viable and can become box office successes when distributed through the proper channels and platforms. We put filmmakers in touch with our distributor industry partners.
SR Films are enlightening, uplifting, entertaining, but most of all artistically appealing.
MISSION & OBJECTIVE
SRFF - Socially Relevant Film Festival New York is a festival that focuses on socially relevant film content and human interest stories covering a broad range of social issues.
SR aims to showcase socially relevant films of high artistic value that educate, enlighten, entertain, and that can be commercially viable. Socially Relevant films can be funny, dramatic, romantic, adventurous, comical, suspenseful, intellectually challenging, historical, psychologically inclined, or tell a story that matters. In short, SR films can be anything BUT boring!
THE MISSION of the Festival is to spotlight filmmakers and their films that tackle the social and environmental issues of the day without relying on gratuitous violence, special effects, loud soundtracks, and sensationalism to draw in an audience. The festival supports its filmmakers beyond the weeklong festival, as it showcases the selection of films in other venues, events throughout the year, and some major film markets and festivals, such as it has done at the Cannes Film Festival.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Founded by Artistic Director Nora Armani, SRFF is based in New York. SRFF launched in Manhattan, the entertainment capital of the world in March 2014 as the festival's inaugural year at the Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village in New York City.
To date, SRFF has screened an international slate of over 620 films from 39 countries since its inception in 2013. The festival offers industry panels on Distribution, Storytelling, Diversity Casting, Marketing, and Film Finance in partnership with the School of Visual Arts Social Documentary Film School, and organizes spotlight panels on such themes as Empowering women, Low Budget Film Production workshop with SAG-AFTRA, Filming in New York with the NY Governor's Office for Film and TV Development. Script readings and more. New categories that are added are Children's Films, Web series, and Animation.
Filmmaker Q&A's follow most of the screenings where filmmakers are present in the case of almost all the feature films and most short films when possible. "Meet the Filmmaker" live broadcasts are held on a regular basis and broadcast live on YouTube and Facebook. The festival is devoted solely to filmmakers who deal with socially relevant film content. The film selections are made following the submission process on FilmFreeway.
The launch of the Socially Relevant film festival coincides with the growing trends related to socially conscientious consumers who seek alternatives to invasive films that rely on gratuitous violence and sensationalism to make box office numbers.
More information can be found at https://www.ratedsrfilms.org
PRODUCTION YEAR and PREMIERE STATUS:
In order to qualify for competition selection, films MUST be at least NEW YORK PREMIERES, preferably the US or North American premieres, or even World Premieres...
For Documentary films, we go three years back (for SRFF 2024 we will go back exceptionally to 2020). The documentary submitted should be made on January 1st four years before the year of the festival, or later, meaning January 1st, 2020, or later.
For narrative features, we go two years back. For SRFF 2024, we will exceptionally go back 3 years, until 2021. The feature film should be made less than three years before the festival year or later, meaning January 1st, 2021, or later.
Shorts films follow the same guidelines, though in some cases, with shorts that we really like, we are more flexible both with the New York premiere status and the year of completion but not older than 2020.
AWARDS & PRIZES:
Best NARRATIVE FEATURE PRIZE:
Donated by festival partner Cinema Libre Studio of Los Angeles, In-kind winning awards (a total value of $20-25K) are offered in rewards. At the Jury's discretion, a Jury Special Mention is also awarded to films in the different categories.
Best DOCUMENTARY FILM PRIZE:
Donated by festival partner Cinema Libre Studio of Los Angeles, a leader in the field of distribution and production. This award may not be exchanged for a monetary reward and is only in kind. Check the festival website for past winners and also the award categories that change and develop annually.
At the Jury's discretion, a Jury Special Mention Award is presented in this category.
Best SHORT FILM PRIZE:
Donated by festival partner digital distribution platform IndiePix, 5-6 titles curated by the festival from the slate of short films in the narrative and documentary categories will be released under the heading SR Socially Relevant Film Festival Collection. These will be promoted and streamed for pay-per-view or DVD release on the IndiePix Site. Filmmakers selected will be offered a proper distribution agreement.
SCREENWRITING:
Up to three finalists of the best screenplay competition category submitted to the festival selected by a special jury are offered the InkTip. A similar prize is offered by ISA (International Scriptwriting Association) which implies high visibility for the winning script.
Also for Screenwriters:
InkTip Script Listing: Winners will receive a 4-month InkTip Pro Membership. As an InkTip Pro Member, thousands of filmmakers can find and read your scripts, and you'll be able to pitch directly to production companies every week. With over 3,000 options and 400 movies made, InkTip is the place for independent film
We also have an award offered by Network ISA, which includes a 12-month inclusion on their platform, which is normally a paying service, to the winning script.
Programming of the festival is done by the collective and professionals on the advisory and selection committee, the final program is curated by the team based on these recommendations. We favor submissions that are made on our submissions platform FilmFreeway.
The Jury of the different categories is composed of distinguished and established international and US professionals from all disciplines and the voting takes place confidentially and anonymously.
1. Best Narrative Feature: Winning feature film. 1/2 day consultation with Cinema Libre for deliverables, packaging, and promotion. New awards are negotiated and announced annually.
2. Best Documentary Feature: Winning Documentary Distribution deal with IndiePix. Packaging and Consultation from Cinema Libre for the winning Documentary and discounts for post-production work.
Distribution on Digital Platform IndiePix. Check the festival website for details. www.ratedsrfilms.org
3. Screenwriting contest: Winners will receive a 4-month InkTip Pro Membership. As an InkTip Pro Member, thousands of filmmakers can find and read your scripts, and you'll be able to pitch directly to production companies every week. With over 3,000 options and 400 movies made, InkTip and ISA is the place for independent film. Other scriptwriting prizes include optioning a screenplay for possible production.
4. More awards are announced annually, depending on categories. Awards change, are added to, and reformulated depending on Jury recommendations.
Best Narrative Feature.
Best Documentary Feature
Best Narrative Short
Best Documentary Short
The Vania Exerjian Honor Award.
Additional awards:
The IndiePix Vision Award - A winner selected by IndiePix from the festival slate.
The Women Film Critics Circle Award - selected by WFCC from the narrative short films.
The festival has also given out, and gives (upon merit, and this varies from year to year):
The Ingenuity Award - Given to a film that has achieved a lot with nothing.
The SR Social Justice Award,
The Justice and Peace Award
The Lifetime Inspiration and/or Achievement Award
Pushing the Boundaries Award
Ensemble Film Award
Ingenuity Award
Brave Documentarist Award
Best Actor, Best Actress awards
The awards given out each year are selected from these award categories.
Trophies designed and donated by our partners, and special City Winery SRFF-labeled wines (discontinued until further notice), are offered to the winners. Lost Pattern silk scarves with the festival Logo on it.
The Justice and Peace Award, the Lifetime of Inspiration Award, the Career Recognition Award, Empowering Women and Girls Award in memory of Vania Exerjian, and the Women Film Critics Circle Award in addition to cash prizes and other smaller in-kind awards are presented by the festival and may develop in number and category, or change from one year to another.
SRFF reserves the right to:
* Use clips and images from the selected films for trailers and publicity usage:
and is protected by the filmmakers from any third-party claims.
* Screen the winning films in other SRFF-related events internationally, and recommend the winning films to other international partner film festivals that collaborate with SRFF upon approval by the filmmakers.