1) Films must have been completed after 1st of January, 2017.
2) Each director can send as many projects as they wish, there is no limit.
3) The duration of the short films must be a maximum of 15 minutes, the length of the Short Scripts must be a maximum of 15 pages, the duration of the trailers must be a maximum of 3 minutes, the duration of the music videos must be a maximum of 10 minutes, and the duration of the 60 Second Horror Short Films must be a maximum of 1 minute.
4) Since this is an international festival, audiovisual material from any country will be accepted.
5) All the short films in a language other than English must be subtitled in English for festival presentation (Music Videos are exempt).
6) The projects must include a poster and a sinopsis in English.
7) We will accept links to online versions of your film. You may enter a password protected link for Vimeo or an unlisted or private link for Youtube when completing the submission form VIA https://filmfreeway.com/darkstoryfestival. Links must remain active and accessible links must be active and accessible at least until February 28, 2021.
8) Short films must be submitted in the corresponding category. The festival reserves the right of admission and disqualification of short films in case of being registered in a section not corresponding to the genre of the short film.
9) Short films containing insults to minorities, which are disrespectful, discriminatory or encourage harassment will be immediately disqualified with no right to a refund of the entry fee.
10) The festival reserves the right of admission and disqualification of short films in case of non-compliance with the rules and bases of the festival.
The awards for Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Direction, Best Script, Best Poster, Best Soundtrack, Best SFX, Best VFX, Best Costume Design, Best Credit Titles, Best MakeUp FX and the Special Mentions will take into account all the participants of the short films submitted , regardless of the section in which they are registered. That is to say, there will be only one winner for each award, with no division of genres.
The awards will be noticed the event day.
The event will be broadcast online via Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/darkstoryfestival
Section Awards Details:
-Best Horror Short Film
All the short films submitted to this section will be eligible -in addition to the award for Best Horror Short Film- for the following awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Direction, Best Script, Best Poster, Best Soundtrack, Best SFX, Best VFX, Best Costume Design, Best Credit Titles, Best MakeUp FX and Special Mentions.
-Best Action Short Film
All the short films submitted to this section will be eligible -in addition to the award for Best Action Short Film- for the following awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Direction, Best Script, Best Poster, Best Soundtrack, Best SFX, Best VFX, Best Costume Design, Best Credit Titles, Best MakeUp FX and Special Mentions.
-Best Thriller Short Film
All the short films submitted to this section will be eligible -in addition to the award for Best Thriller Short Film- for the following awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Direction, Best Script, Best Poster, Best Soundtrack, Best SFX, Best VFX, Best Costume Design, Best Credit Titles, Best MakeUp FX and Special Mentions.
-Best Sci-fi Short Film
All the short films submitted to this section will be eligible -in addition to the award for Best Sci-Fi Short Film- for the following awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Direction, Best Script, Best Poster, Best Soundtrack, Best SFX, Best VFX, Best Costume Design, Best Credit Titles, Best MakeUp FX and Special Mentions.
-Best Fantasy Short Film
All the short films submitted to this section will be eligible -in addition to the award for Best Fantasy Short Film- for the following awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Direction, Best Script, Best Poster, Best Soundtrack, Best SFX, Best VFX, Best Costume Design, Best Credit Titles, Best MakeUp FX and Special Mentions.
-Best Comedy Short Film
All the short films submitted to this section will be eligible -in addition to the award for Best Comedy Short Film- for the following awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Direction, Best Script, Best Poster, Best Soundtrack, Best SFX, Best VFX, Best Costume Design, Best Credit Titles, Best MakeUp FX and Special Mentions.
-Best Drama Short Film
All the short films submitted to this section will be eligible -in addition to the award for Best Drama Short Film- for the following awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Direction, Best Script, Best Poster, Best Soundtrack, Best SFX, Best VFX, Best Costume Design, Best Credit Titles, Best MakeUp FX and Special Mentions.
-Best Animation Short Film
All the short films submitted to this section will be eligible -in addition to the award for Best Animation Short Film- for the following awards: Best Script, Best Poster, Best Soundtrack, Best SFX, Best VFX, Best Costume Design, Best Credit Titles and Special Mentions.
-Best Short Script
Scripts must have a maximum length of 15 pages. The scripts submitted to this section will only be eligible to the award for Best Short Script.
-Best Trailer
The duration of the trailers must be a maximum of 3 minutes. They can be Fake Trailers. All the trailers submitted to this section will only be eligible for the award for Best Trailer and Special Mentions.
-Best Music Video
The duration of the music videos must be a maximum of 10 minutes. The music videos submitted to this section will only be eligible for the award for Best Music Video and Special Mentions.
-Best 60 Seconds Horror film
The duration of the short films must be a maximum of 1 minute. All the short films submitted to this section will be eligible -in addition to the award for Best 60 Second Horror Short Film- for the following awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Direction, Best Script, Best Poster, Best Soundtrack, Best SFX, Best VFX, Best Costume Design, Best Credit Titles, Best MakeUp FX and Special Mentions.
