The Youth Council’s Seventh Young Director’s Film Festival highlights the creative talents of high school students from across the Tampa Bay Area, providing them with a unique platform to showcase their films. Selected submissions will be featured at the prestigious Tampa Museum of Art and broadcast on the Tampa Bay Arts and Education Network (TBAE)—Tampa’s premier local source for culture, education, and the arts—offering filmmakers an incredible opportunity to reach a wider audience. The Young Directors’ Film Festival is open to all genres of films, including but not limited to documentaries, short films, and animations.

FOR DIRECTORS
-Films must be submitted by Young Directors/Student Filmmakers.
-Films must be produced by teens in grades 9-12 attending public, charter, private or home-school in the Tampa Bay Area, including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Polk, and Manatee counties.
-Multiple students may be involved in the production of one film but only one student may submit the final version of that film.
-Young Directors must be present at the Young Directors Film Festival on Saturday, April 11th to be eligible for awards.

FOR FILMS
-Films will be accepted via FilmFreeway.
-Films must include credits and introduction.
-Total run time of each film must be under 15 minutes, including credits and introduction.
-Adults may perform as talent for films but may not take on any duties in the writing, directing, filming, editing, or production of the films.
-Films that contain excessive violence or obscene content will not be accepted.
-Films must be original works and Young Directors must have the rights to submit their film for consideration.
-Films with copyrighted materials without permission or fair use argument will be disqualified. Find out more about fair use at https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html

GUIDELINES
We prohibit the use of AI as an replacement for creative thought or construction. It should only be used as an aid. Please detail all usages of AI in the making of this production.

RELEASES
-By submitting their films, Young Directors give the Tampa Museum of Art and its sponsors permission to use their films, stills, and other materials. This use includes screening during the Young Directors film festival and other Museum events; reproduction for purposes of promotion and fundraising of the Young Directors Film Festival and similar events by the Museum; inclusion of the work and printed and digital programs and catalogs of entries; and inclusion on the Museum's website.
-Young Directors also agree that accepted films will be screened on the Tampa Bay Arts Network. This will require additional waivers to be completed by students and parents/guardians before films are screened during the Young Directors' Film Festival.
-By signing their name, the Young Director and/or parent/guardian indicates that they hold the necessary rights for the submission and screening of the film. They also grant the Tampa Museum of Art to share in those rights for the purpose listed above.

Overall Rating
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  • CHARLES LINCOLN

    This was our first experience at this film festival. The set-up could not be any more classier. Watching our son's film inside the beautiful / historic Tampa Theatre downtown and then the awards ceremony at the Tampa Bay Museum was a priviledge. My son was so impressed, he is already working on his next film project for next years submission. Great Job Tampa and the Young Directors'Fim Festival!

    April 2026