The Spiritus Short Film Prize is an initiative of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture at Charles Sturt University as part of its commitment to promote the lively interaction between the arts, sciences and culture; one of the Four Pillars of the Centre’s work and mission. The Centre believes that there is wisdom to be found in such an interaction which can contribute to a vision of hope and the common good for Australia.

The Judges of the Spiritus Australia Short Film Prize make awards to films and to filmmakers according to the following criteria: high artistic quality, wisdom for the common good, human and planetary flourishing, universal impact and inventive expression. See Rules and Terms for full description of each criteria.

Awards & Prizes

The are 6 prize categories:
1. Regional Australia Prize for entries outside a capital City - $500
2. School category (for school students entrans only in Australia) for equipment for school to value of $1000
3. Spiritus Short Film Prize - Winner $2000
4. Spiritus Short Film Prize - Highly Commended $750
5. Spiritus Short Film Prize – Commended $500
6. Spiritus Short Film Prize – People’s Choice $250 (Awarded on the night)
Film makers can submit their film to more than one category and can receive more than one prize. The judges award prizes for categories 1 – 5. They do not have to award all prizes.

The judges nominate eight films for The People’s Choice Award. These can be from any category and may already be a prize winner in a category. The winner for The People’s Choice award is decided by the attendees to the touring festival at CSU campuses (date and times TBC October/November 2023) and the award night in Canberra. Attendees will be given a form to vote.

The Spiritus Short Film Prize Night will be held during the Canberra Short Film Festival 2023 at 3pm Sunday 12 November at the Dendy Cinemas. This is a ticketed event.

Rules & Terms

Conditions
1. All films for all categories will not exceed 12 minutes in length (including credits).
2. Submissions need to be received by 11:59pm on 31 August 2023.
3. All film entries for all categories need to follow the criteria set out below.
4. Entrants to the prize must enter their film in the category or categories that they rightfully fit in to. Entrants must provide supporting evidence of age and address.
5. THE PRODUCER and any AUTHORISED PERSON entering this film has obtained from each contributor the authorisation to use of image, sound, performance and the reproduction of said image, sound, performance.
6. The PRODUCER/S and any AUTHORISED PERSON is the owner, has authorisation or license from the owner of the copyright in the sound recordings comprising the soundtrack to the film.
7. Where clearances for the use of talent, images or music are necessary, those forms must accompany the film. Films that do not have copyright approval will not be accepted.
8. By entering this festival, entrants reserve the right for Spiritus to screen excerpts from their film/s for promotion of the festival of the current year.
9. Films are submitted in the following format:
a. Standard Resolution:1920 wide x 1080 high pixels.
b. Aspect Ratio: 16:9
c. Audio: Stereo, sample rate 48khz (128 kbps).
d. Codec: Most file formats are accepted for submission, but H264-MPEG-4 or Apple
Pro Res 422 files are very common.
e. File Size: Initial upload size is limited to 10GB.
10. All commercial and broadcast copyright to the film will belong to the film-maker.
11. By entering this competition, all Finalists give the ACC&C permission to show their film in the ACC&C's online triannual publication Engage 14 and the Award night in Canberra (November 2023).
12. All films will be viewed by a judging panel appointed by the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. All judging decisions are final and no discussions will be entered into thereafter.

Criteria

The Judges of the Spiritus Short Film Prize make awards to films and to filmmakers according to the following criteria:

High artistic quality: The Judges take into account the artistic talent and technical skill manifested by the director and the film-makers. Films which receive awards should be of high artistic quality.

Wisdom for the common good: The Judges encourage films which lend expression to a human viewpoint or stimulate debate, raise audience consciousness of the transcendent dimensions of life and/or portray spiritual values in keeping with the mission of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture expressed in the theme: wisdom for the common good.

Human and Planetary flourishing: The Judges encourage films which dramatise human values and contributes to human well-being concerning:
- respect for human dignity and human rights;
- solidarity with all kind of minorities, disadvantaged and oppressed people;
- support for processes for liberation, justice, peace and reconciliation;
- preserving creation and the environment.

Universal impact: Films which receive awards will be judged as reflecting their local culture and help audiences to respect the language and the images of that culture and at the same time seek a universal impact beyond their national or local context.

Inventive expression: Regarding all the criteria listed above, the Judges take into consideration that a film deserves to receive an award if its intention, choice of issues and story-telling have found an adequate, convincing and some inventive expression.