Voices With Impact is proud to present the Serious Mental Illness Short Film Competition.

This is an open call to submit film projects, up to 5 minutes in in length, of any genre, using Serious Mental Illness as the point of interest. Film topics may either be interpretive of Serious Mental Illness, or address it directly. We are looking for films on Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, Psychosis, Bipolar Disorder, and films that take a wider view of serious mental illness - we define this as any a mental illness that significantly impairs daily life.

We do not place any formal restrictions on submissions, and will consider all genres and types of short films, including submissions utilizing original footage, shared footage, photo stills, music, essays, screenplays, original art work and more. The film must however be your own original work and you must have the correct license for any materials used within the film. There is no fee for submissions.

The submission window opens on November 10 2023 and closes on March 17 2023. Entries will be juried by our advisory board of filmmakers, students and mental health professionals. Applicants will be notified of outcomes in late May 2024. Winning films will be announced at the Voices With Impact festival June 2024.

To watch films from our library visit www.voiceswithimpact.com/archive
This should give you a good idea of the films that we accept.

This competition is supported by The Sidney R. Baer Jr. Foundation.

Awards & Prizes

We will award prizes to 3 winning entries.

Each winner will receive a cash prize of $2000 USD and have their film inducted into our film library for Distribution in our educational programming across the US & Canada.

Winning films will be announced at the Voices With Impact festival, June 2024.

Rules & Terms

Length and Content:

> We only accept submissions as Vimeo video URLs. YouTube, Google Drive, Dropbox, and any other URL links are not accepted and will be disqualified.

> Submissions must either be interpretive of serious mental illness, or address it directly to be eligible for this competition.

> Submissions must be 5 minutes or less. Films longer than five (5) minutes will be disqualified.

> Submissions may not advertise any product, service, brand, or other commercial interest.

> Submissions that are music videos may only portray original music that you own rights to.

Language and Location:

>There are no geographic limitations on entries — we accept short films made anywhere in the world!

>If a submission is not in English, a translation or subtitles in English must be accessible (Closed Caption CC options turned on)

Process:

> If your video is listed as private, you must provide a viewing password in your submission form so our jurors are able to view it.

> Participants may submit only one version of a given project. However, any participant may submit more than one project. A separate Entry must be completed for each submission.

> Past winners are required to wait at least one year before re-submitting to the competition.

> Film jurors from our Advisory Board who are also filmmakers may submit work, but only during competitions in which they are not serving as a juror.

Content Rights:

> Filmmaker agrees that all submitted films may be used by Art With Impact for educational and outreach activities and the winning filmmaker will sign a license agreement to Art With Impact that will allow both AWI and and affiliated organizations in any relevant programming in perpetuity.

> Filmmakers are responsible for securing any and all necessary licenses for any third party content, including footage, music, fonts, artwork, and any other asset used in film production.

Jurying Procedures:

> Films will be judged by the Film Program team and select members of the Advisory Board, which comprises of filmmakers, mental health professionals, and students.

> To select the winner, jurors respond to the 10 questions found in the contest FAQ.
Art With Impact reserves the right to not award a prize ($2,000 cash) if submissions do not meet the jury’s standards for both content and production value.

Topic Focus

> This competition is inspired by the life and legacy of Sidney Baer Jr. and supported by the Baer Foundation.

> The three winning films will tell authentic stories of people living with serious mental illnesses with the goal of reducing stigma and opening opportunities for dialogue and learning.