The San Diego International Kids' Film Festival promotes the idea of entertainment with education. Supported by many across the world, the festival supports the entertainment and education industries by showcasing international films, and gives young, aspiring filmmakers a channel to communicate to an international community. The resulting collaboration produces a unique multicultural experience, engaging young viewers with positive media, as a diverse education.

Winners of Best Feature Length Film, Best Short Film, Best Youth-Made Film ; Best screenplays; Best Original Song

FILM ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:
• Films must have a completion date of Jan 1, 2020 or later.
• Acceptable NTSC exhibition formats are: DVD, Blue ray
• All non-English language films must have legible English language subtitles.
• All entries submitted must be suitable for children ages 18 and under.
• Films accepted into the festival must arrive with shipping and customs duties or taxes pre-paid.
• You may submit a completed paper submission form.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
Entries received late or incomplete may be disqualified.
• The action of the film should be child & family -driven and the stories should be culturally authentic, timely, and of universal appeal.
• Films submitted to SDIKFF should be made for, rather than about, children and family.
• Film content should be creative, highly original, and demonstrate artistic and technical mastery.
• Content should speak positively to children of diverse backgrounds and cultures and should provide strong role models for both boys and girls.

Criteria for non-acceptance of films into the festival include:
• Excessive or gratuitous violence, nudity, or profanity.
• Content that advocates and supports racial, cultural, religious, or gender bias.
• Any submission not subtitled or dubbed into the English language.
Entrants are responsible for obtaining any necessary licenses, royalties, release forms, clearances, and permits necessary to present their work. San Diego International Kids' Film Festival is not responsible for any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, or royalty infringement related to the work.
Every precaution will be taken to safeguard all materials sent to the Festival, but the Festival is not responsible for damage to submitted materials incurred by shipping to or from the Festival.

Submission Package:
• Signed and completed Entry Form (one entry form per film or episode)
.3 preview copies DVD(NTSC only),
• A minimum of one (1) still from the film (color preferred, B&W accepted). Digital stills and press kits are preferred. Stills must be 300 dpi and at least 4"x 5" in size and contain an actual shot from the film.
• You may email stills to info@sdkidsfilms.org
• Payment

Stated submitter will be considered the contact person for the film and thus will be the only one receiving emails and information regarding the status of the film's acceptance in the festival.

COMPETITION:
San Diego International Kids' Film Festival is a competitive Film Festival. Films accepted are automatically eligible for the applicable competition category. There are three age groups: Children ( age 6-14); Youth ( age 15-18); Adult: age 18+ ; under each age group, there are categories in Live auction ( feature and short); Animation ( feature and short); Mix-media ( feature and short); Documentary ( feature and short). In addition to all official selections being eligible for Jury, Audience and Festival Honors awards, a jury comprised of filmmakers ( both young and adult) and industry representatives will screen all competition finalists, deliberate and announce the results at the end of the Festival.

NOTIFICATION OF ENTRY STATUS:
Filmmakers will be notified on or before Early-August, 2024 as to whether or not their film has been officially selected. Upon acceptance you will receive an email verifying your acceptance. Be sure to have info@sdkidsfilms.org on your accepted email list.

SCREENPLAY ENTRY GUIDELINES:
1. Submissions must be the original work of the applicant. Entries may be adapted from the applicant's own work
2. All screenplay entries must include a completed entry form, the correct entry fee; the screenplay in in one of the following formats: .PDF (preferred), Microsoft Word, or Text. (Your name should NOT appear anywhere on the screenplay as it is mandatory that adjudication is conducted without knowledge of the writer's name or identity); a character description and a 50-word synopsis that in PDF/Doc/text. Incomplete forms may cause delays.
3. Screenplays that are currently optioned or sold are not eligible for competition. Judges who work for the SDKIFF are not eligible to enter the competition, nor are their affiliates or immediate family members.
4. Feature length screenplays must be no longer than 120 pages and short screenplays should be no more than 45 pages. All screenplay entries must be written in English. Any revisions after the entry has been entered are not accepted. Screenplays must be in 11 pt courier font, no promotional materials or illustrations are accepted, pages must be numbered,
5. It is the responsibility of the screenwriter to ensure that their work is protected (US Copyright Office, The Writers Guild of America or Screenwriters Federation of America). International entries should protect their work with similar organizations within their respective country.
6. Entries will not be returned. Be sure to retain a copy of all material submitted.

SDIKFF Film Songwriting Contest

SDIKFF is proud to launch the 2nd edition of SDIKFF Film Songwriting Contest through the platform of 2021San Diego International Kids’ Film Festival. A song can fit in a film so perfectly that it's hard to imagine the scene without it. To continue to promote diverse cultures and kids’ education through motion pictures, we are now offering a great opportunity for talented songwriters to be heard!

The SDIKFF Film Songwriting Contest will embrace KIDS-THEMED films songs in all languages and all genres. This contest is open to songwriters of all ages from any cultural background. Submit your music work for kids’ films and we will make sure your song to be heard!

All official selections will be granted a Filmmaker Badge for the songwriters to attend all the events during the film festival on August 23-25, 2024.

A selection of the finalists will be invited by the film festival to do a live performance either on the Opening Night (August 23, 2024) or on the Award Ceremony (August 25,2024).

 Sound quality can be studio, live, or demos. Choose the quality to best convey your music message.
 Format: .mp3 file is preferred. We also accept .wav, flac and aac. When you choose another format than mp3, please also attach the mp3 file for easiest sharing. PLEASE do not submit music videos!
 Each entry must have a song title, and the name of artist(s) or band attached.
 An attached song cover or artwork is highly recommended for us to promote your song.
 Each song entry must be no longer than 5 minutes.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Dave Quion

    Very good communication and a wonderful selection of films. It was great to be a part of this festival.

    September 2023
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    Response from festival:

    so glad you enjoy it

  • Benji KIM

    The happiest memory of this year! Applause to those involved in making this a great film festival!

    September 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you for across the pacific ocean to be here with us.

  • Kevin Jackson

    I must commend this festival. Superb and timely communication. Very friendly Festival.

    September 2023
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    Response from festival:

    so glad to have you

  • Darius Jaru

    Great organization and communication, well done kids fest

    September 2023
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    Response from festival:

    thank you, always welcome you back

  • The film festival became the most wonderful memory of 2022.
    Thank you.

    December 2022
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    Response from festival:

    we are so happy to meet you in person at our festival. Great work you have completed