The Sweeping Plains Film Festival is committed to maintaining a respectful, inclusive, and artistically focused environment.
We are a politically neutral and non-religious platform.
While we recognise that storytelling often explores complex and challenging themes, submissions that promote or incite:
- Hate speech
- Discrimination or harassment
- Racism or racial superiority
- Sexism or gender-based harm
- Religious intolerance
- Violence against individuals or groups without clear narrative context
will not be accepted.
Films that engage with sensitive, social, or political subject matter in a thoughtful, narrative-driven, or critical way are welcome. However, the festival does not support works that are overtly propagandist, inflammatory, exploitative, or designed to provoke division.
The Sweeping Plains Film Festival does not accept pornography or works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal.
Films containing explicit sexual acts, including unsimulated sex, graphic sexual activity, or prolonged explicit sexual content, will not be accepted.
Nudity, intimacy, sexual themes, or references to sexual violence may be considered where they are clearly narrative-driven, handled with artistic purpose, and not exploitative or gratuitous.
We reserve the right to determine eligibility at our discretion:
- Films must be under 40 minutes
- Films must be completed after 2022
- Non-English films must include English subtitles
- Multiple entries are allowed
- Submitters must hold all necessary rights, licences, clearances, and permissions for the film and its contents, including music, images, performances, archival material, and any other copyrighted content
No screening or public exhibition is guaranteed at this stage. However, the Sweeping Plains Film Festival reserves the right to screen selected films, clips, or excerpts if/when a screening opportunity becomes available.
If a screening takes place, only selected films may be chosen for exhibition, and those films may be screened either in full or in part at the Festival’s discretion.
The Sweeping Plains Film Festival is not looking for perfection. Judges are not seeking only the most polished, expensive, or technically flawless films. While craft matters, we recognise that some of the most powerful cinema comes from limitation, risk, instinct, and emotional truth.
Films may be judged on:
- Story
- Resonance
- Originality
- Performances
- Direction
- Emotional impact
- Artistic intention
- Technical craft
- Strength of the filmmaker’s voice
- Overall truth and impact
We are not simply looking for films that are likeable, conventional, or easy. We are looking for work that has impact, honesty, and soul. A film may be challenging, raw, uncomfortable, imperfect, or unconventional and still be worthy of recognition.
All awards are determined by the festival, its judges, or its appointed selection panel based on artistic, technical, and storytelling merit.
The Sweeping Plains Film Festival does not operate:
- Audience voting
- People’s choice awards
- Random prize draws
- Raffles
- Lucky door prizes
- Chance-based awards
The festival reserves the right to determine eligibility, category placement, annual consideration, screening selection, and award outcomes at its discretion.
By submitting, you confirm that you hold all necessary rights and permissions for the film and its contents.
The festival may use trailers, clips, stills, posters, and promotional materials from the submission for marketing, publicity, and promotional purposes.
Should the film be selected for screening, the festival is granted permission to exhibit the film during the relevant festival period.
Submission to the Sweeping Plains Film Festival constitutes acceptance of these Rules & Terms.
