After the successful launch of STARZ PLAY by Cinepax, Pakistan’s favorite entertainment company has decided to enter the art community. There is no shortage of talent in Pakistan. However, people working in the creative world do not get adequate opportunities to get their work out in the mainstream or achieve commercial recognition.

The STARZ PLAY by Cinepax Short Film Competition aims to provide a platform for aspiring film-makers to showcase their talent and share their work with an audience eager to see creative and unique content. The competition will culminate in a final event filled with festivities where short-listed films will be screened in front of a live audience with people from the entertainment industry in attendance. The winner will be decided by a panel of expert judges and will be awarded a contract to produce and direct a STARZ PLAY by Cinepax original web series!

Participation is absolutely free of charge! All you have to do is submit your short-films following the rules and regulations stated and stand a chance to win a once in a lifetime contract to produce and direct the first STARZ PLAY original series from Pakistan!

Awards & Prizes

Contract to produce a STARZ PLAY original web series | Shortlisted films will be screened to the industry's leading executives | Shortlisted films will be streamed on STARZ PLAY by Cinepax on a dedicated carousel

The Winner of the SSFC will have the unique opportunity to produce a STARZ PLAY original web series which will be sponsored by STARZ PLAY.

At the final event the shortlisted films will be showcased at a mega event which will be attended by some of the most renowned names from the Pakistani film and media industry. This provides all contestants a chance to have their work seen and recognized and paves the way for exciting opportunities to meet and network with professionals from the industry.

All entries in the first phase of the competition will be available to stream on the STARZ PLAY app and website on a dedicated carousel. This further allows contestants to reach a wider audience and provides the novelty of having their films hosted on a globally recognized streaming service.

Rules & Terms

➢ Please read all the rules and requirements before submitting your project.

1. To submit a film, you must have created the project yourself, own the rights or have permission from the owner of the content to submit the film to us.

2. ALL WORK TO BE SUBMITTED ONLY AND SOLELY ON FilmFreeway

3. We do not accept any films made before 2010.

4. All videos shall be submitted in following video Specifications

Encoding: H.264/AVC High Profile
Aspect ratio: 16:9 Full Frame
Resolution: 1080p (1920×1080 pixels)
Frame rate: 25
GOP: Closed, keyframe every 2 s
Bitrate: 15.0 Mbps CBR
Color sampling: 4:2:0

Stereo audio: LC-AAC 2.0 @ 192 kbps
Surround: Dolby Digital AC-3 @ 384 kbps
Audio Channel: Assignment 2.0 + 5.1
Sampling rate: 48 kHz
Audio levels: Reference -18 dBFS; Peak <-10 dBFS (EBU R68)

5. All films must be in either English or Urdu.

6. All films shall be submitted with the following metadata
a. Title
b. Production Year
c. Episode Title
d. Season Synopsis: Long/ Short (maximum: 350/250 characters including spaces)
e. Genre
f. Sub-genre
g. Language
h. Actors
i. Director
j. Writer

7. All Films shall be submitted with the following Artwork
a. Poster: 474x678
b. Hero: 1536x615
c. Hero Main: 2000x801

8. SSFC is not responsible for broken or non-functioning films.

9. Films do not have to be screened publicly to be eligible for our Competition, prizes, or awards.

10. SSFC is a competitive event and unless notified otherwise, all films officially selected are eligible for competition. Not all submissions received are selected for SSFC.

11. All films are nominated and voted upon by a jury of film professionals, from an independent point of view and also screened for views on SVOD platform for a view based public vote.

12. All genres and formats are considered eligible for nomination.

13. SSFC reserve the right to refuse to accept any submission deemed by the Competition to be inappropriate. Should you wish to question SSFC about their decision, you can contact us by email on "Starzplay.shortfilms@cinepax.com"

14. You grant us the right to publish your trailer, film poster on our website and Facebook page

15. Submission does not guarantee a screening. If your film is chosen for screening, a high-quality copy may be required.

16. By sending your film you confirm that there are no copyright infringements on your behalf, and we take no responsibility in this matter.

17. Complete documentation for each submitted film is to be made available to the Competition if required.

18. "Short Films" are classified as minimum 7 minutes and maximum 15 in length, excluding credits.

19. Once a film has been selected, it cannot be withdrawn from competition.

20. By submitting you agree to our terms and conditions and give us permission to use your email address for marketing purposes. Your data will never be shared with 3rd parties.

21. By submitting you give us the right to publish your work for the purpose of the competition, onto the STARZPLAY by Cinepax SVOD platform. Your work may remain on the SVOD for up to a year unless otherwise requested by the Owner of the video.

7 Reviews
Overall Rating
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  • shahram jaffri

    It was an awesome experience with SSFC

    March 2020
    Helpful
  • Brendan Hickey

    Its not really a film festival. I would be wary of this one- seemingly its a streaming platform that takes advantage of young filmmakers

    February 2020
    Helpful
  • umar majid

    Worst experience ever. All it ended up being was one of their online product entries. Being a streaming platform for online audience. There was no proper festival of any kind.

    September 2019
    Helpful
  • Thinking while Sleeping Pictures

    It is good festival... looking for next time...thank you !

    August 2019
    Helpful
  • Slumdog Entertainment

    its a beautyfull platform for upcoming filmmakers...

    August 2019
    Helpful