The Equinox Film Festival is an annual nonprofit short film contest hosted by the Digital Media Club at Montgomery Bell Academy and is open to any high school student in the Nashville area. The festival was first created in 2023 by Eric Zhong (MBA '24) and Hunter Sava ('27) to encourage students to learn about, explore, and maybe even find a passion in the art of filmmaking. All submissions are reviewed by a panel of faculty judges and are screened at ENDADA, MBA's Music & Arts Festival on April 18, 2026.
NOTE: ONLY ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS FROM NASHVILLE MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Awards & Prizes

Best Overall Film ($400) - based on narrative cohesion and pacing, visual impact, editing, sound, performance, overall emotional or artistic impact, and unity of vision. This award recognizes the film that demonstrates excellence across all aspects of filmmaking.

Best Story ($300) - based on strength and originality of the concept, clarity of structure and plot, character development, dialogue quality, and emotional or thematic resonance.

Audience Choice ($200) - viewers at ENDADA will be able to vote on their favorite film.

Rules & Terms

Any film medium or genre is accepted. Be creative! You can create anything from an animation to a documentary. Find something you would enjoy creating a film about and run with it!

Content Restrictions: Do not promote discrimination, harm, or violence towards any individual or group. Be all-age appropriate (G-PG). For more information on things to avoid, see here.

Time Requirement: The film should be 7 minutes or less.

Originality: All work must be your own or your group’s. You may use others’ music or songs, but they must be credited. AI is only permitted to help with ideas or to generate your music (but must be credited if used). The script must be entirely written by you or your group. You may adapt the script from a book, movie, series, short story, poem, myth/legend, etc., but it must be in your own words. (Note: Adapting another work may hurt chances for Best Story Award)

Credits: Include credits in your final film submission. Name all participants and their role in the creation of the film. If unoriginal content (such as music) was used, it must be included in the credits.

Format: All films must have a size between 1:1 and 21:9 (vertical is not allowed).

The Digital Media Club has the right to exclude films from judging if they violate the above guidelines.

All films must be submitted no later than March 23, 2026 to be considered for prize money.