A film festival for youth aged 15-30 all over Vancouver Island. Films of all genres are encouraged! The theme for the films will be released on December 1st, 2021 and participants will have until December 31st, 2021 to submit their finished product relating to the theme. Awards will be presented on January 29, 2022, via live stream.

There are two age categories for films: 15-18 years and 19-30 years. Winning films will be awarded prizes, including cash prizes and other film related prizes.

Vancouver Island Youth Film Festival RULES

Vancouver Island Youth Film Festival (VIYFF) is a youth film competition available to persons between the ages of 15 – 30 and residing in British Columbia, Canada. At 12am on Wednesday, December 1, 2020, we will announce a THEME for this year’s competition on the Festival Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/VancouverIslandYouthFilmFest/ .

Filmmakers have until Friday, December 31st, 2021 to write and produce, and submit a short film from 2 - 5 minutes in length that incorporates the given theme.

The film submission deadline is Friday, December 31st, 2021. Once the competition begins, there will be a submission page posted on the website (web address will be posted on Facebook page) where teams can submit films online. Please remember that ANY film submitted after Friday, December 31st, 2021 will be disqualified. It is the responsibility of the entrants to ensure that they allot enough time for the upload of their submission.

Participant Rules
There are two film categories: Youth Category (15-18 years) and Young Adult (19-30 years).
• A team's category is determined by the oldest member of each group.
All participants must currently live in British Columbia.

Films must be produced, directed, planned, and technically executed entirely by youth.

The involvement of older adults is limited to non-creative roles (i.e. technical advice, funding, etc.) except for actors so long as they are not performing in lead roles.

Actors who are between ages 15 and 30 must be indicated clearly on the registration form.

Film Rules
All entries must range from 2 minutes (minimum) to 5 minutes (maximum) in length, including credits.

Productions and all parts of the film must be completed within the 1 month time frame and incorporate the theme announced on the website at the start of the competition.

Graphic content, anything promoting hate, including the use of firearms, is not acceptable and the use of strong language should be avoided.

All copies of films will be kept by Vancouver Island Youth Film Festival. By entering this festival, you are granting Vancouver Island Youth Film Festival non-exclusive rights to retain an archive copy of your production for the purposes of exhibition, promotion, and education. All entries may be used on a compilation video for promotional purposes.

All submitted films must be exported and labeled according to the VIYFF regulations:
Export = 1080p (H.264 codec) preferred, less than 3GB
Label = Category--Film Title example: Young Adult – “This is my Film” – VIYFF

If the primary language of a film is not in English, then it must have hard-coded English subtitles.

Films must be compliant with all copyright laws. If music or additional film material used in your film is not original, then permission from the source must be obtained. The responsibility for this rests entirely with the filmmaker. Failure to obtain clearance could result in your film being withdrawn from the Festival.
The Vancouver Island Youth Film Festival is not responsible to resolve technical issues with submitted films. The Vancouver Island Youth Film Festival is not responsible for fixing any badly transferred data.

Selection, Judging, and Awards
The Selection and Judging Committees are tasked with choosing the best films based on a variety of criteria including compliance with Vancouver Island Youth Film Festival rules and regulations, production quality, and originality. You will be notified if your film has been shortlisted to be screened and nominated for an award.

The Judging Committee will select films to award. Some example awards may include but are not limited to:
• Best Overall
• Best Editing
• Best Cinematography
• Best Special Effects
• Best Performance
• Best Film
• Best Writing

Decisions of the Judging Committee are final; there is no appeal process.
These rules are subject to change until December 1, 2021.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Very grateful for the opportunity to have been apart of such a promising and fantastic festival. I am glad islander youth are getting a chance to represent their projects!

    April 2021
  • The Vancouver Island Youth Film Fest was organized professionally. We appreciated the regular updates and coordination. The awards night ceremony had tons of effort put in and felt meaningful to us filmmakers. Great experience, I recommend other young people to enter!

    March 2021