Rules for Submission
ANNUAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
This is a competition for the best short film about, starring, or made by a person who has a disability. There are separate divisions for documentary and non-documentary films. The best three films from each division will win awards and screen at the Festival.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM DIVISION
Submissions to the documentary film division must be between 5 and 40 minutes long and be about disability, a person who has a disability, or be made by a person who has a disability. Every submission to this division must meet the following criteria:
1. the film must be received by 12:00am Friday, June 6, 2025.
2. The film must have open captions.
3. The film must either be about, star a person who has a disability, or be made by a person who has a disability.
4. The film must not be either demeaning or discriminatory about disability or people who have disabilities.
5. The film must not have been previously submitted to the Cinema Touching Disability Short Film competition.
NON-DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM DIVISION
Submissions to the non-documentary film division must be between 5 and 40 minutes long. They can be a historic drama, narrative, comedy, music video, or animated short film. They must be about disability, a person who has a disability, or be made by a person who has a disability.
All submissions to this category must meet the following criteria:
1. the film must be received by 12:00am Friday, June 6th, 2025.
2. The film must have open captions.
3. The film must either be about disability, star a person who has a disability, or be made by a person who has a disability.
4. The film must not be either demeaning or discriminatory about disability or people who have disabilities.
5. The film must not have been previously submitted to the Cinema Touching Disability short film competition.
OPEN CAPTIONS
Your film must have open captions to enter the Cinema Touching Disability short film competition. Open captions make films accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OPEN CAPTIONS AND SUBTITLES
Open Captions, unlike subtitles, describe important background noises. Subtitles are a transcript of what the characters in a movie say while open captions narrate both dialogue and crucial background noises. Open Captions do this to provide accessibility for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Open captions need to meet several requirements. They must be in a font that is easy to read. Lucida Grande, Arial and Helvetica Neue, and APHONT are recommended fonts because they are very legible. Open captions must also describe important background noises. This can include things such as the sound of a door opening or a conversation in the background. A noise should be described in open captions if it is important to the film.
There also must be a strong contrast between the color of the font and the color of the background. White text on a black background is usually used while some people prefer to use yellow for the color of the font with a black background. The text must also scroll at a pace that can be easily read.
Guidelines for open captions can be found on the website of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) https://www.nad.org/resources/technology/captioning-for-access/what-is-captioning/.
EXTRA SCREENINGS
Cinema Touching Disability may present the 2025 program again with community partners to new audiences. Filmmakers will be notified if and when extra screenings are scheduled.
We also accept submissions of feature films for potential one-off screenings with community partners throughout the year. Please note that feature films will not be screened at the festival on September 20th.
