"Such a wonderful festival, brilliantly run by a wonderful team"
"The quickest, most in-depth response I’ve received from a festival."
"The communication and feedback provided are second-to-none."
Better than a film festival and script competition combined, Sunday Shorts provides feedback on submissions, hosts film and script events every month, and culminates with a Film Festival of screenings, networking and awards.
COVID-19 UPDATE: we expecting to run our monthly events from April 4th, at our new venue in Lisbon, Portugal's historical capital, fast becoming the creative and start-up hub of Europe. However, we are continuing to offer free live streams of the programs on Facebook, and host script readings on Zoom.
ONLY IN 2020: A new category for short films that could only have been made in 2020, Intended for future themed programs, such as Lockdown, but also eligible for Official Selection and subsequent awards. Includes all genres and styles as long as the subject is relevant to the year 2020.
☻ Script Judging - All short scripts are read to the end by the programmer and receive short feedback as standard, and short-listed scripts are read by the festival director. We're looking for scripts with the most potential, that have utilised the screenplay medium.
☻ Film Judging - All submissions are watched in their entirety by the programmer and/or the festival director and receive short feedback as standard. We aim to curate diverse programs of different styles and lengths, and are especially interested in cross-genre films, but story always comes first.
☻ Q&As - We emphasise the importance of sharing our experiences, and strive to present a Q&A along with every official selection. Filmmakers are encouraged to attend their screening, but also have the opportunity to pre-record a Q&A video.
☻ Semi-Finalists - We award Semi-Finalist status to only a handful of projects that we really liked, but are unable to include in the current program. Semi-Finalists also receive a laurel, are promoted on social media, and are considered for future programs.
MONTHLY AWARDS:
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER
BEST SHORT SCRIPT
RUNNER-UP BEST SHORT SCRIPT
ANNUAL AWARDS:
BEST FILM - £500 ($650) CASH PRIZE
BEST LOW BUDGET - £100 CASH PRIZE
BEST PRODUCTION
BEST MICRO-SHORT
BEST DRAMA
BEST COMEDY
BEST DOCUMENTARY
BEST ANIMATION
BEST THRILLER / HORROR
BEST EXPERIMENTAL / MUSIC VIDEO
Official Selections - The jury select 7 films per month to compete for the monthly Audience Award, which are also nominated for our annual awards event. Stills and posters are shared across social media, and trailers are played at prior events.
Audience Award Winner - As voted for in-person by all attendees at the end of each monthly event. Only Audience Award Winners are nominated for Best Film.
Script Competition - Selected by the programmer and the festival director exclusively from FilmFreeway submissions. Winners and Finalists will have their scripts read and discussed in a live online script workshop with guest directors, actors and writers. The scripts are also displayed on our website, with the aim of connecting buyers, financiers and collaborators directly with the writers.
Sunday Shorts Annual Film Awards - Once per year in London, a weekend of screenings and events culminates with an awards ceremony. Each category is judged by an industry guest invited to present the award in person. All Award Winners receive a physical award, a unique laurel and a goodybag of prizes from us and our partners.