The Shawnee Shorts Film Festival celebrates filmmakers from the Midwest region of the United States exploring the short film format. We are looking for short films that exemplify originality, creativity and expressiveness. Our goal is to share the incredible talents of filmmakers, actors, writers and producers who call the beautiful Midwest home.
The festival will take place at the Historic Liberty Theater in beautiful Murphysboro, Illinois on June 1st 2019. Times and schedule to be announced.
Entrants can expect a red carpet experience. Enjoy photographs of you, your cast and crew in front of the ShawneeShorts logo, delicious concessions and the thrill of seeing your work on the "Big Screen."
Meet other film makers from the area and surrounding states. Carbondale, home to Southern Illinois University, is 10 miles away and boasts a great night life.
We look forward to seeing you there!

AWARDS

Best of the Fest
Judges Selection
Audience Favorite

RULES & TERMS
• Principle photography to be shot in the Midwest U.S. -- Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa, Kentucky, and Michigan.
• Producers and/or Directors currently reside in one of the above states
• Please submit all short film(s) to Filmfreeway.com. DVD copies will not be accepted.
• Films should be no shorter than 1 minutes or no longer than 30 minutes including credits.
• NO FEE WAIVERS are available.
• “MATURE SUBJECT MATTER”: Must be noted on FilmFreeway Project Details • We do not accept films containing: Porn, Child Pornography
• No submissions will be accepted after the extended deadline.
• Entry does not guarantee screening at the festival.
• Entries that have been chosen for screening at Shawnee Shorts Film Fest 2017 will be notified. We will not automatically contact you if your film has not been selected for presentation.
• Films must not have a distribution agreement in place at the time of the festival or they will be ineligible for screening. If you receive distribution prior to screening, please contact us.
• The film may not be copyrighted by anyone other than yourself or you must have full written permission to submit and screen this film. The film must have clear copyright of all audio and images presented in the film. Not having clearance could be grounds for non-acceptance to the festival.
• Please ensure if you are submitting a film that contains copyrighted/trademarked material by anyone other than yourself, that you have obtained clearance for that material used. The burden of determining that any
material is not protected by copyright, trademark, rights of privacy, publicity or any other proprietary rights rests with the entrant.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • So beyond bummed that I couldn't make it to this festival. It looked like everyone had a great time and I even managed to connect with some filmmakers who reached out after the fest. I'm extremely honored that my film, KNEE HIGH, won the Audience Choice Award and hope that I'll be able to attend in the future. Communication was great and I felt like I knew what was up from submission to awards. Submit here and support Midwestern film!

    June 2019
  • Michael Pomaro

    This is a wonderful festival put on by people that love and support independent cinema. Everyone I spoke with was warm and communication was top-notch. Please do not hesitate to submit your film to this festival.

    June 2019
  • Jasmine Jones

    This was a very fun festival in a cute small town theater! It was a honor for my film to be included in the festival!

    November 2018
  • Phynix Huhn-Simmons

    It was such an incredible experience! With a festival that's open to such a large region, they bring small town hospitability to everything that walks in! I suggest everyone submit to this festival and DEFINITELY come to it!

    April 2018
  • Kevin Isaacson

    We are disappointed that we were not able to make it to the festival but the communication was timely and very friendly. We will be entering again and hopefully will make it to the next one. It looked like a great time.

    April 2018