BardFest Film is a celebration of the classics and everything they've inspired since, as examined through the lens of a short film. This festival is for storytellers of all backgrounds and experience levels.

Curation is light. The only rules: your film must be a direct interpretation of a classic piece or derived from/inspired by one, and it must be under 20 minutes. That's it.

Now although the name of this festival is BardFest, we're not just looking for Shakespeare. There are a lot of "classical" writers out there that also continue to inspire and are worthy of being included. So, your film can be based on the works of Shakespeare, or his contemporaries (Ben Jonson, Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, and the like). Or it could draw from the wider canon of classic literature and drama throughout world history, from the Greeks, to the works of Athol Fugard, Harold Pinter, Henrik Ibsen, and Tadashi Suzuki, to classic American playwrights (Wilson, Williams, Odets, Miller, O'Neill, etc) and beyond.

- A retelling of Doctor Faustus for the digital age? You drive a hard bargain.
- A tragic Shakespearian tale of an ambitious, immoral leader who'll stop at nothing for power, yet is ultimately foiled by his own hubris? So familiar, yet so strange...
- An Oedipus riff played entirely for laughs? Bold. Very bold. We're in.
- A Death of a Salesman-inspired short about chasing a dream that's already dead? Attention must be paid.
- Something inspired by Thomas Kyd's revenge tragedies? Vengeance never goes out of style.

Whatever you bring to us, BardFest is a performing arts celebration of the classics from across the centuries and the globe.

Submit your film now! To attend, or not to attend? Not a question.

=====

BardFest Film is the John Heminges to BardFest's William Shakespeare - a film-based Companion event running inside Hollywood's Theatre Festival celebrating the Classics.

BardFest Film will screen one night only: Tuesday, April 27th at The Hobgoblin Playhouse in Hollywood.

Our judges will hand-pick ten standout films from our pool of submissions. Doors open at 6:30. Screening begins at 7pm.

Voting for the Audience Choice award and the announcement of the Judge's Selection award happen live immediately after the screening.

Want the full picture? The live performance lineup and everything else festival-related lives at BardFestLA.com.

Awards & Prizes

Audience Choice
Judges Selection

Rules & Terms

- BardFest is open to entries from the United States and internationally.

- Entries must fit within the greater Holiday genre.

- Our judges will select ten films for screening.

- Multiple entries are accepted.

- Entry fees are non-refundable.

- Films must be under 20 minutes in runtime.

- Non-English language entries must include English subtitles.

- All entries must include submitter contact information, including an email address and, where possible, a phone number.

- No physical submissions. Digital only, please.

- Selected films must be delivered in MP4 or MOV format at 1920x1080 resolution, with audio between stereo and 7.1 surround. Films should be delivered via direct download through FilmFreeway. Files that do not meet these specifications may be excluded from screening.

- The submitter warrants that they own or have obtained all necessary rights, licenses, and clearances (including music, footage, and performance rights) to submit and exhibit the film, and agrees to indemnify BardFest Film against any third-party claims arising from the screening.

- BardFest reserves the right to screen any film or project submitted to the festival.

- BardFest reserves the right to decline or remove any submission that includes content it deems inappropriate, unlawful, or in violation of these guidelines, at its sole discretion.

- By submitting, entrants grant BardFest the right to use film stills, trailers, and promotional excerpts of up to 60 seconds for festival marketing, press, and social media purposes.

- All decisions made by the festival are final.