The Surrey Short Film Festival (SSFF) is a weekend-long celebration of national and international short film and will be held from 6th – 8th October 2023. This hybrid event will take place at the award-winning Nova Cinema in Woking, Surrey and will offer online access to global audiences with a selection of themed short film showcases, panel discussions, industry talks and masterclasses.

Born out of the Cameo Launch Short Film Cinema platform, this festival is the culmination of year-round activities that promote outstanding short film to online and theatrical audiences.

Our Mission:
The mission of SSFF is to create a focal point for short film from around the world that reaches the highest levels of excellence, while also supporting emerging grassroots filmmakers and young people exploring their first steps into a career in cinema.

Our Audience:
With so many energised and enthusiastic film students across the county of Surrey area, as well as the county’s long association with art and culture, SSFF is the perfect forum for filmmakers to display their best work to a lively and engaged audience.

What We Will Show:
SSFF will bring together narrative shorts, documentary shorts and animated shorts in showcases that highlight female filmmakers, LGBTQ+ short film creators, UK film, stories from the African and Asian diaspora and a selection of the best short films presented on Cameo Launch over the last year. While we will be taking submission is various genre categories, we will be presenting the selected short films in the following cross-genre showcases

- Take the Shot:
A showcase of student short films, submitted from colleges and universities in the county of Surrey. The audience also has the option of voting for their favourite short film, helping student filmmakers obtain their first cinematic accolade.

- Our World of Wonder
A line-up of family oriented short films suitable for all ages. These films will reflect the wonder and limitlessness of childhood by embracing all genres.

- Film Femme
This showcase highlights female filmmakers and female-led stories, using different mediums to reflect a plethora of experiences and perceptions.

- Lights, Camera, Prescription
Selected and presented by the Fresh Heart Project, this showcase features short films with a health focus. The subject matter features the complex stories of confronting health challenges and the intersection of wider social issues.

- Walk With Pride
This showcase will feature short films by LGBTQ+ creators and celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. Utilising the full promise of the medium, this showcase will show the conflicts and liberation in tackling the issues confronting this community and society as a whole.

- Enter the Pitch
The Pitch Film Fund is one of the biggest funders of short film in the UK and they will be presenting a selection of short films that they have commissioned and produced. From drama to horror to fantasy and beyond, these are short films made for the cinema.

- Thine is the Kingdom
This is a showcase of the finest short films produced in the UK by UK short film creators. These films feature stories from communities across the country, diving into the unique challenges that confront the multitude of cultures and perspectives that make up the United Kingdom.

- Tales of the Diaspora
Descendents of immigrants from across the UK commonwealth share their stories of finding their place as citizens of a country that was once their coloniser. Experience stories showing how these descendents of imperial subjects find a sense of ownership, brother/sisterhood and belonging living in the remnants of empire.

- Launchpad
Cameo Launch presents a collection of some of its best reviewed short films of the past year. Collating short films across genres and mediums, this showcase takes the audience on a wild ride of world class storytelling. The audience also has the opportunity to vote on their favourite film, allowing the filmmakers to win an audience award.

Industry Sessions:
Our industry sessions will connect film students and young filmmakers with businesses and organisations that will help them to develop a career path that utilises their filmmaking and creative skills. Filmmakers will also have access to organisations that teach them how to pitch for film funding and strategize for festival campaigns.

Family Activities:
There is also fun for the family as kids between 9-12 can take filmmaking taster classes where they will learn the basics and get to make their very own short film. Combined with the opportunity to see the 'Our World of Wonder' short film showcase, SSFF will give families a connection through cinema unlike any other.

Awards & Prizes

The short films featured in the SSFF competitive official selection have the opportunity to compete for the following awards:

Audience Awards:
- Student Short Film Award
- Cameo Launch Audience Award

Jury Awards:
- Performance Award
- Supporting Performance
- Editing Award
- Cinematography Award
- Screenplay Award
- Director Award
- UK Short Film Award
- International Short Film Award
- Best in Festival Award

Award winning entrants will have the opportunity to sell distribution rights to their films in order to include them in a Cameo Launch Short Film awards compilation.

Rules & Terms

Entrant Age:
Any individual submitting a short film for any category must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Length:
Films can be up to 40 minutes long (although films of 15 minutes or less are preferred).

Film Age:
Submitted films must have been completed no more than 18 months prior to the opening date of this festival.

Country of Origin:
Submitted films may originate from any country in the world.

Language:
All submitted films must either be in the English language or contain English language subtitles.

Distribution Status:
Submitted films may have distribution in place, in which case submissions must be made by the distribution rights holder or with the distribution rights holder's consent. We reserve the right to ask for proof of such consent at any time.

Rights:
Any films submitted must have all rights cleared including the use of any licensed footage or music. By submitting your film, you are declaring that you possess such rights and SSFF will not bear responsibility for the violations of any copyright agreements, should these rights not be cleared prior to submission.

What We Are Looking For:
This is a platform for animated, narrative and documentary filmmaking and includes all genres with the exception of promotional videos, music videos, experimental films that do not contain a clear narrative and trailers for films not appearing in our line-up.

We absolutely exclude any racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, religiously or culturally prejudicial, pornographic or obscene content.

Premiere Status:
SSFF has no requirement that your film have premiere status, however we aim to work with filmmakers/distributors who seek to premiere their films at our festival, so please inform us if you intend to submit your film on this basis.

Refund Policy:
The fees charged for submissions are for your film to be considered. This does not guarantee that your film will be accepted or presented during our festival. As such, we do not operate a refund policy internally, so please be 100% certain you wish to submit your film before doing so. As submissions are made via FilmFreeway, their refund policies in relation to payments made through their platform constitute the ultimate rule on this matter.

Exhibition:

SSFF is a hybrid festival and all accepted submissions will be presented theatrically and online. As such, we will require all accepted films to be provided in a properly formatted DCP file in a resolution of 2K or higher. A copy of the film in .mov or.mp4 formats will also be required in 1920x1080 or higher in order to present the film in the festival’s online platform.

While the in-person exhibition will last for the duration of the weekend of the festival, the screenings will continue until 11:59pm Sunday 29th October 2023.

If your film is accepted, SSFF will require the video files containing the film and trailer to be sent via download link (Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, etc.). Relevant agreements with specified details will be provided ahead of time for filmmaker/rights holder perusal before agreeing to have their film shown at our festival and hosted on the Cameo Launch website.

SSFF will require an EPK and accompanying materials such as a poster in jpeg or png format (portrait and landscape - recommended image size 1994 x 2880 px), cast & crew list, synopsis, any available promotion and production stills.

SSFF via parent platform Cameo Launch, may include the film or associated imagery in its promotions, including promotional videos, online newsletters and social media.

For further information please contact us directly on hello@cameolaunch.com.