Florida is one of the most diverse states in the nation, populated by immigrants from around the world who came here to seek refuge and a new way of life. They now live alongside the indigenous peoples who cared for this land for centuries. The Third Annual Boynton Beach Short Film Festival celebrates this rich diversity of our population and their contributions to the region’s culture.

Founded in 2016, the Boynton Beach Short Film Festival (BBSFF) was the brainchild of Jon Palardis, DIGIFILM Instructor at SouthTech Schools in Boynton Beach, Florida. Open to professionals and students of any diversification, he felt a film festival would offer an exciting cultural venue for the community, be a tremendous educational experience for students interested in film and television, and provide an excellent opportunity to introduce the work of Florida’s filmmakers to the surrounding area.

The Boynton Beach Short Film Festival celebrates both the history and the future of the film industry with six days of films from around the globe, including post-screening discussions with filmmakers and cast, special events, parties, networking opportunities, and industry panels.

Under the auspices of SouthTech Academy, a Conversion Charter High School in the Palm Beach County School District, BBSFF is the only film festival in the United States organized by high school students who learn how to put on a film festival as part of their curriculum, including students from filmmaking, marketing, and graphics academies. Students are responsible for social media marketing to increase festival awareness; creating marketing campaigns for both film submissions and ticket sales; understanding and contributing to the submission and judging process; designing and creating logos, posters, flyers, and tickets; and supervising the film screenings at the theater.

Student filmmakers from middle school, high school, community college, and university levels, along with local professional filmmakers, enter their work in competition for prize money and awards with the chance to have their films shown on the "big screen" during the festival.

The festival includes films both “In Competition” and “Out of Competition.” Short films "In Competition" are submissions from Florida filmmakers who have the opportunity to receive acknowledgment for their artistic work in juried awards for Best Film, including cash prizes in the Middle School, High School, College, and Professional categories, along with trophies for Best Cinematographer, Best Editor, and Best Acting.

"Out of Competition" films are solicited by us from various film festival directors, filmmakers, sales agencies, and distributors from around the world. Activities also include seminars, workshops, and "hands-on" experience with filmmakers and professionals from all areas of the industry.

BBSFF is unwavering in its commitment to supporting emerging filmmakers of today and tomorrow. We strive to recognize new and original voices in Florida and channel the excitement of cinema into our local schools. As we enter our third year, BBSFF has dedicated itself to making a difference in the lives of young people by helping to fulfill their dreams in the world of film.

PLEASE READ ALL SUBMISSION RULES CAREFULLY:

ATTENTION- If selected, filmmakers will need to grant access to a DCP or MP4 file of their film.

ATTENTION- Please use a single email address for your contact. The festival is not responsible to get information to multiple email addresses.

The festival is open to all Florida professional filmmakers and college, high school, and middle school student filmmakers. No other submissions will be accepted and fees will not be refunded due to applicant error. All filmmakers are encouraged to submit films created within the last 12 months and of any genre. Films will only be accepted with a total run time (TRT) of 40 minutes and under. We strongly urge you to submit films of much shorter lengths for potential screening; however, don't be discouraged from submitting films up to 40 minutes in length.

All students' films must be accompanied by a photocopied current student ID or other legal documentation of current student status.

Launching careers in the film industry can be a tedious task, but recognition from the Boynton Beach Short Film Festival and the accredited, educational facility of SouthTech Schools may assist you in achieving that goal.

CASH PRIZES and AWARDS!!!

PLEASE READ- Criteria for winning include filmmakers’ active participation in their submissions process including, but not limited to, filmmaker emails and phone numbers being provided to the festival by the filmmaker(s) and any submitter(s) if other than the filmmaker(s), timely responses to emails and phone calls from the Festival, and accurate and true information provided to the Festival and/or in response to Festival requests. The Festival also requests attendance at events including opening night, their films’ screening(s), and the closing night awards ceremony, and such participation will be taken into account in the judging process. The Festival may, at its sole discretion, decide not to give out a particular award if no suitable winner is declared by the judges.

It is essential that the Festival be able to communicate directly with filmmakers on an ongoing basis. Therefore, all filmmakers, and any individual(s) submitting on behalf of filmmakers, such as educators and parents, MUST provide the individual filmmakers’ names and contact information, including emails and phone numbers, where available. Any individual(s) submitting on behalf of filmmakers, such as educators and parents, give the Festival express consent to communicate directly with the filmmakers via the provided emails and phone numbers. Failure to do so may result in disqualification of the filmmakers’ submissions with no refund of submission fees.

Best of the Fest 2019
$500

Best of the Fest "College" 2019
$400

Best of the Fest "High School" 2019
$300

Best of the Fest "Middle School" 2019
$150

Recognition may also be considered for:

Cinematography - Editing - Acting - Genre

All student entries require a copy of a valid student ID. Student films not accompanied by a valid student ID are subject to disqualification.

Filmmakers are not limited to, but are encouraged to enter in the following categories:

Comedy
Drama
Horror/Sci-Fi
Documentary
Animation
LGBTQ
Jewish Heritage
Caribbean/Foreign
Experimental
RomCom
Music Video

*Responsibilities for submissions fall on the person submitting the film. Films submitted that do not meet the festival criteria will not receive refunds.

*If selected, filmmakers will need to submit DCP or MP4 files of films.

*Do not use multiple email addresses during the submission process. Use a single address please.

The following is an explanation of Rules & Regulations governing the submission of a project (hereafter called the “Film”) to the Boynton Beach Short Film Festival (hereafter called the “BBSFF”) for consideration into the Boynton Beach Short Film Festival presented by SouthTech (hereafter called the “Festival”) By agreeing to the Terms And Conditions found on the Boynton Beach Short Film Festival Application Form, the person submitting the Film (hereafter called the “Applicant”) acknowledges that he or she has obtained consent from any and all owners, creators, writers, Producers and/or other authorized representatives of the Film (hereafter called the “Film’s Owners”) whose consent is required to submit the Film to the BBSFF, and has read and understood the submission rules & regulations set forth below:

To be Eligible for Consideration

(1) Applicants must fully comply with Category Criteria and Rules & Regulations, including deadline(s), entry material requirements, and film requirements.
(2) All Applicants must be either a resident of Florida, Florida high school student or Florida college student. All projects submitted for consideration must have been completed within the 12 months prior to the current deadline. Repeat entries are prohibited.
(3) Applicants must execute a release agreement wherein you (i) accept responsibility for obtaining any and all clearances necessary to exhibit your film at the BBSFF or Festival; (ii) warrant that you have the rights necessary to exhibit your film at the BBSFF or Festival; and (iii) indemnify and hold harmless the BBSFF and its affiliates against any claim arising out of exhibition of your film at the BBSFF or Festival.
(4) It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to secure authorization and permission from the copyright owner(s) of any and all copyrighted content or materials included within the submitted Film. The BBSFF expressly disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any unauthorized inclusion of any copyrighted content or materials within or relating to the submitted Film, including any content or materials that are or may become the basis for any third party claims for copyright infringement. The BBSFF reserves the right to disqualify any Film with any unauthorized inclusion of copyrighted content or materials. In the event that any claim, dispute, action or proceeding shall be brought or asserted by any person or entity that alleges that the Film makes unauthorized or unlawful use of any copyrighted content or material, Applicant shall fully indemnify and defend the BBSFF, the Festival, and each of their representatives and affiliates from any liability in connection therewith and from any fees and expenses, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees, that any of them may incur in connection therewith.
(5) It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to secure authorization and permission from the owner/s of any and all trademarked content or materials included within the submitted Film. The BBSFF expressly disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any unauthorized inclusion of any trademarked content or materials within or relating to the submitted Film, including any content or materials that are or may become the basis for any third party claims for trademark infringement, trademark dilution or unfair competition. The BBSFF reserves the right to disqualify any Film with any unauthorized inclusion of trademarked content or materials. In the event that any claim, dispute, action or proceeding shall be brought or asserted by any person or entity that alleges that the Film makes unauthorized or unlawful use of any trademarked content or material, Applicant shall fully indemnify and defend the BBSFF, the Festival, and each of their representatives and affiliates from any liability in connection therewith and from any fees and expenses, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees, that any of them may incur in connection therewith.
(6) It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to clear all content of the Film from any and all actual or potential legal claims and issues, including, without limitation, claims based upon theories of libel, defamation, invasion of privacy, violation of rights of publicity, theft of trade secrets, breach of confidence, breach of confidential relationship, and breach of express or implied contract (“Third Party Claim(s)”). The BBSFF expressly disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any unauthorized inclusion of any content or materials within or relating to the submitted Film that are or may be the basis for any Third Party Claims based upon any of the foregoing legal theories or others. The BBSFF reserves the right to disqualify any Film that is or may become the subject of any Third Party Claims. In the event that any Third Party Claim(s) shall be asserted by any person or entity, Applicant shall fully indemnify and defend the BBSFF, the Festival, and each of their representatives and affiliates from any liability in connection therewith and from any and all fees and expenses, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees, that each of any of them may incur in connection therewith.
(7) Upon completion of the Festival selection process, the BBSFF will attempt to contact the Applicant using the contact information provided on the submission form to notify the Applicant of the Film’s finalist status. The BBSFF disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible for, any failure to contact the Applicant using the contact information provided on the submission form. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to ensure that the contact information provided on the submission form is correct throughout the entirety of the submission period.
(8) The BBSFF is under no obligation to provide to Applicant or any other representative of Film any comments or feedback regarding submitted Film, any information relating to the manner in which the Film is, will be, or was reviewed; any views that the Festival or any reviewers of the Film may hold concerning the Film; any reasons why the Film, should it not be accepted for exhibition at the Festival, was not accepted; or any other information relating to the Festival’s review, consideration and/or selection process regarding the Film specifically or submissions generally beyond the information set forth in these Rules & Regulations. The BBSFF disavows any responsibility for, and will not be held responsible or liable for, the contents of any internal comments or feedback regarding any Film that are or may be obtained by the Applicant or any other representative of the Film; any communications by any representative of the BBSFF or the Festival relating to the Film or the Festival selection process; the manner in which the Film shall be, is or was considered and reviewed; the identity or identities of any specific reviewers of the Film; and/or any failure on the part of the BBSFF or the Festival to provide Applicant or other representative(s) of the Film with information concerning the Festival’s consideration and/or review of the Film.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Rafael Gomez

    This was a very well organized film festival.

    June 2019
  • BBSFF was a great Festival! I was able to get to one of the blocks being screened and was greeted with such great, friendly volunteers (who were mostly students of the program). From the goodie-bag to the production, I felt welcomed, informed, and entertained. For filmmakers looking for a festival with a good cause behind it, this is it. Thanks for having our short as part of the program!

    June 2019
  • Tarell Cunningham

    Very welcoming festival. They made it a point to make each filmmaker feel appreciated with executives coming to you and nightly filmmaker meetups and parties. You can tell this was programmed by film lovers that have an array of taste.

    May 2019
  • Maxwell Price

    We were thrilled to win the award for Best Screenplay.

    Thank you so much for recognizing our efforts and making us a special part of your festival!

    May 2019
  • Stephanie Martino

    This film festival was fantastic. Very organized and terrific staff. Highly recommend for new and also seasoned filmmkaers! Look forward to attending next year regardless if our film(s) get chosen for a screening. Thanks for everything! BRAVO!

    May 2019