The Short Film Competition at Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival in Winton is geared to independent filmmakers from Australia. In 2026 we celebrate our Thirteenth year!

We welcome submissions of quality short films that are family friendly. We especially encourage Regional, First Nations and Women filmmakers.

For the past few years we have opened submissions to feature films to highlight our commitment to Independent Australian cinema. If selected, the feature films will be programmed as part of our nine day Festival.

Your film can be fiction or documentary, funny or sad but it has to be memorable. Family friendly films are much easier to program! Get creative!

Films will be reviewed by a jury of film professionals. Some films will be screened alongside feature films throughout the two weeks of the Festival.
Finalist films will be screened on the Closing Night at the historic, 109 year old Royal Open Air Theatre at a special awards ceremony with celebrity judges selecting the Best Film and associated prizes.

Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival features a nine-day program that focuses on promoting screen culture through new Australian cinema in the beautiful and very remote outback. The Festival has become a key exhibitor for Australian films and stories that otherwise would not find an audience. The program features and supports film made in Queensland and will often provide a first run for some films that have struggled with commercial distribution.

Awards & Prizes

Short Film Competition awards are presented at the Closing Night. The Awards will be announced shortly and include:

GRAND JURY PRIZE
STUDENT AWARD (only available to students who take part in the Festival in Winton)
AUDIENCE AWARD

All films screening as Official Selections are eligible for the Audience Award. The award is based solely on audience voting at the film screening. The judging panel’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The prize will be awarded to one nominated producer on the entry form of the short film. If entrants are from a team they must negotiate this between themselves.

Rules & Terms

Short Film Competition Guidelines

The event is a juried short film competition open to independent Australian filmmakers.
Please read and carefully consider the following details and guidelines for the Short Film Competition before submitting your short film.

You are encouraged to take an authentic and incisive approach with no obligation for a positive image – but an honest one.

Submission guidelines
Films may be submitted via the FilmFreeway online screener. The title, submission ID number, screening format, and running time must be clearly labelled. If selected a DCP file needs to be delivered to the Festival organisers as all films are screened in this format. We may be able to author a DCP.

The short film can be any genre and may be a documentary, live-action, animation or a combination of both. You can submit your work that features elements of drama, horror, sci-fi, documentary, musical etc.

Your film should be ten minutes or under

Students are encouraged to work collaboratively, however you may enter individually, in groups, or as a class. Film schools (Universities, TAFEs and private institutions) can enter their students work, or individual students from any of the institutions can enter their own work. Each film may only be submitted once.

The Festival committee reserves the right to determine the eligibility of all projects. All qualified entries must be independently produced and financed. Please do not ask for fee waivers for as a matter of equity all films submitted must fulfil all submission criteria.

Films may be in any language or have no dialogue at all. Foreign-language dialogue must have English subtitles.

The deadline for entries in the 2026 competition must be received by 19 June, 2026. Films uploaded after the designated deadlines have no guarantee of being viewed for Official Selection consideration. If you have any issues, please contact enquiries@visionsplendidfilmfest.com.

Ensure that all content in your film (including footage, music, images, props etc) is your own. If you include any copyrighted content you must be able to provide written permission for its uses. Entries containing any unauthorised content will be disqualified. View our website for more copyright information.

By signing the entry form, the filmmaker(s) give the Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival permission to use all submitted materials, including but not limited to film stills, descriptions, director’s biography in any and all forms of media for the express purpose of festival promotion and publicity. Please note: Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival may petition filmmakers to use clips of one minute or less from Official Selection Films for publicity.