We welcome filmmakers from all over the world and short films of all genres and especially first time filmmakers who have a passion for producing films that are well developed and have an interesting story-line. Our awards competition is dedicated to recognizing filmmakers and once a year we have screenings at several cinemas in New Zealand where the best films of the year will be shown to a live audience.

All submitted films will be previewed by a team of experienced judges who then evaluate the films during each season.
All winners of the year will receive the Official Laurels at the end of the season. These winners will be published through our social media and website. A range of the selected films will be screened during the festival in August 2024 at theaters in New Zealand.

Awards & Prizes

Best narrative short
Best New Zealand short
Best debut filmmaker short
Best zero budget short
Best student short
Best documentary short
Best sport documentary short
Best sci-fi short
Best animation short
Best dance short
Best music video short
Best micro-short
Best action short
Best adventure short
Best Sea, River, Ocean short
Best Mountain short
Best comedy
Best satire short
Best film noir short
Best trailer
Best poster

Rules & Terms

– In order to submit a film, you must own the rights or have permission from the owner.
– Any foreign film that is not in English must have English subtitles.
– All fees are non-refundable.
– Not all the submissions are selected for the official competition and it is up to the discretion of our Judges to make the decisions.
– A submission can be disqualified if some content is considered inappropriate, for example pornography or depiction of abuse of people or animals.
– Films can be submitted in multiple categories in order to become a multi-award film.
– By submitting your movie, you authorize us to use, distribute and share the film, poster, trailer, synopsis and movie stills in our social media, online and during the festival.
– Multiple submissions and multiple category submissions are accepted.
– All films must be less than 20 minutes.
- The festival reserves the right to change the event’s date and the date of the deadline for submissions.
- Submissions cannot be withdrawn after the official selection announcement of each round.
- The filmmaker has liability for any claims that may occur in result of screening the film either live or online.
8 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Kehan Miller

    We would put Jo and his team at the top echelon of festivals when it comes to communication and support of filmmakers, particularly 'indie' filmmakers.
    The fact that our short documentary, 'Ink and Gold: An Artist's Journey to Olympic Glory', was honoured with awards was the cherry on top and we are very humbled. Thank you to the jury for selecting our film.
    We look forward to returning to this festival in the years to come with fingers crossed that we get another opportunity to take part. Highly, highly recommend this festival to filmmakers who want to be seen and appreciated for their artistic vision and attempts.

    November 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Hello Kehan, thank you for the very nice words. It was a pleasure watching your film and also dealing with you. All the very best for your future endeavours.

  • Serkan Aktaş

    I was honored to participate in this year's South Pacific Film Festival! - 😃😃😃🙏🙏🙏👏👏👏

    November 2023
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  • Daniel Lynch

    This festival will always have a special place in my heart being the festival that got our first official selection.

    Thanks so much for choosing our weird film!

    October 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Hello Daniel, thank you for your review, we are pleased that our festival will have a special place in your heart. I am puzzled though why you only gave us 3 stars then. Please let us know what we can improve in the future.

  • Chih-Li Chang

    Thank you very much for selecting our project as the winner of Animation Short in the season 4 quarter. We feel warm and are cheered up by this Pacific festival! We will participate in this terrific film festival with new films soon.

    October 2023
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  • Lucas Vossoughi

    Thank you so much for selecting our project as Best Poster, we are truly honored being awarded at such a great festival and place! Unfortunately we couldn’t attend, but communication was super nice and South Pacific is highly recommended.

    October 2023
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