Spark Micro-Short Film Festival

Spark Micro-Short Film Festival builds cultural awareness and connects hearts with impactful micro-short films.

We select films that expand perspectives and inspire new folks to share their voices and vision in film and video.

Diverse filmmakers play to diverse audiences at our free events which screen up to 1.5 hours of content at venues accessible to anyone and everyone.

OUR PROCESS IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT

We select films seasonally, making new opportunities for filmmakers available long before submissions close.

Officially selected films:

- are eligible for opportunities to screen outside of festival events, at times compensated with a screening fee
- move to our finalist round in which our programmer selects the films that will screen at our festival in 2025 and compete for awards.

We have a multi-round selection with deadlines. Filmmakers are notified of the selection status within a month of the deadline under which they submit.

Please check your junk and spam mail folder if you have not heard from us.
If that produces nothing, please log in to your FilmFreeway account as we have also left a note.

CRUCIAL COMMUNICATION INFO

We notify through FilmFreeway. If your film is selected we message you with instructions by posting notes to your FilmFreeway project page. Please ensure that FilmFreeway.com is on your contact list, or you may miss our notification.

If we don't don't hear from you, we will mark your film as 'incomplete' and reach out again.
If we never hear from you, your film will be disqualified.

*2024/2025 SMSFF Officially Selected films:

1. Advance to our juried finalist round in June to determine which films will screen during our 2024 festival event and award winners.

2. Sometimes, get referrals to other festivals and invitations to have their films, join panel discussions, be guest bloggers, be interviewed, and have options to screen during Spark year-round events - some that may even pay a screening fee.

Only finalist films - screen and compete for awards during our 2025 festival event.

**If your film is over 5 minutes due to credits - enter your runtime as 5 min.

SELECTION PROCESS, JUDGES, AND SPONSORS

Films are selected on a seasonal basis by our programmer, receive a laurel, the option to and advance to our finalist round, which determines what films will screen during our annual festival event series.

Filmmakers are notified on a rolling basis. Official selection does not guarantee participation in Spark Micro-Short Film Festival 2024 events.

Officially selected films advance to our finalist round determining which films screen and compete during our 2025 festival event. Films are selected for finalist status based on impact and how they fit into the allotted time of our program.

IRANIAN FILMMAKERS - HOW TO REQUEST AND OBTAIN A CODE
1. Scan evidence of nationality (photo id - passport, or driver's license) showing your name and address 2. Scan a postmarked and dated bill or another official document showing your current residence place 3. Send both via email to micromania@sparkfilmmakers.org 4. Once we confirm your eligibility, we will send you a code. 5. Once you have received your unique code from us, you may submit via this category and upload your documents to the docs section of your application. I request per submitter per year.

EVALUATION

Submissions are evaluated on a combined basis of impact, uniqueness of vision, and production quality, with a weight placed on impact.

Films are also evaluated compared to other recently submitted films and previous season official selections and award winners.

Filmmakers whose films have not been selected are welcome to request feedback. Please note, our team is very small so it may take a while for us to get back to you.

AWARD JUDGING

Films are selected on a seasonal basis by our programmer, receive a laurel, and advance to our finalist round, which determines what films will screen during our annual festival event series.

Our judging panel reflects all members of a society so brilliant work isn't passed over due to unconscious prejudice or bias. We've shifted to a public judging model that includes official judges from the film industry and film/media academia.

Films are rated on a scale from 1-5 based on impact first and production quality second. Category winners are those who have the highest average score in their category. Best Micro and Best Mini-Micro award winners have the highest average ratings overall.

For a complete list of judges from previous seasons visit: https://sparkfilmmakers.org/film-festivals/micro-short-film-fest/

Because of capacity and lack of funding opportunities, we have eliminated the MicroMania Channel and have decided to move our events to April 2025.

Our listing shows a January event date because FF's system would not allow us to list later.