Hosted at Lawrence's scenic Fox River campus, student film scholars, filmmakers, and screenwriters from across the ACM network gather to share their work with the burgeoning ACM film community, and the general public. The weekend is packed with paper presentations, film screenings, screenplay readings, and talks given by film artists and professionals.

Awards for Papers

Best Paper
Best Paper Honorable Mention
Best Paper Honorable Mention
Audience Choice Award

Awards for Screenplays

Best Screenplay
Best Screenplay Honorable Mention
Best Screenplay Honorable Mention

The top five screenplays will receive comprehensive written feedback from the panel of esteemed judges and a phone call to discuss the work directly from at least one of the judges. The top two screenplays will be featured in a staged reading at the ACM Film Festival and Conference

Awards for Films

Best of the Midwest
Best of the Midwest -Honorable Mention
Best of the Midwest-Honorable Mention
Social Impact Award
Cinematic Artistry Award
Out of the Box Award
Audience Choice Award

To be eligible for selection, the primary contact on the entry form must be the sole maker of the work, or have played a significant creative role (director, screenwriter, cinematographer, etc.) in production, and be currently enrolled in an ACM affiliated school, or enrolled at the time of production. Recent alumni are encouraged to submit works produced while enrolled at an ACM school. ACMFILM encourages students to submit both course-related and independent works.

To Submit:

First, create your free account on https://filmfreeway.com/:

1. Go to https://filmfreeway.com/. Click “Sign Up” in the upper left hand corner of the
homepage to get started!

2. Upload the project(s) (film & videos, screenplays, and/or papers) you would like to
submit. (NOTE: For scholarly papers, choose “Script” for Project Type, then “Other” for
Script Type in Section Four of the information form.)

3. Fill out the info fields for each project- please also include your school’s name in the
same box as your project description. (TIPS: Make sure to expand the tab for Section 2 to
see all the fields if this is your first time! Also be sure to toggle the Student Project box to
“Yes” in Section Four!)

4. Once you have added all your information, hit “Save Project” at the bottom of the page.

5. Next, click on the “Project File” tab at the top of your project dashboard and follow the
prompts to upload a digital copy of your project.

6. If you plan to enter multiple projects, follow the steps above for each submission.

Now go back to the ACMFILM submission page at https://filmfreeway.com/ACMFILM:
1. Click the green “Submit Now” button.

2. In the new window that pops up, toggle to the project you would like to submit and
make sure (only) the category to which you'd like to submit is checked.

3. Click "Add to Cart”, then “Check Out,” and finally “Complete Order” to submit. (NOTE: Don’t worry, submission to this festival is free!)

That’s it- congratulations!!! We’ll notify you about your application status by Feb. 19th!

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