This film festival is about videos (5 minutes or less) about the history and stories of Independence, Mo.
This film festival is organized by the Independence Chamber of Commerce in partnership with other community groups and non-profits.
An awards ceremony will be organized to recognize and celebrate the winners.
Trophies and prizes will be distributed during the ceremony.
Prize for the winning video will be a minimum of $2,000 with lower amounts for second and third place winners.
The award provides an incentive for artistic growth and educational support for younger participants while acknowledging the achievements of professionals and adults in the field.
1. ELIGIBILITY
The contest is open to all individuals (international submissions are encouraged) high school age or older.
Submissions must be original work and can be previously submitted to other contests. Up to three submissions will be accepted per applicant.
2. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
a. The duration of the video should not exceed 5 minutes.
b. All submissions must be in English or include English subtitles.
c. No entries will be accepted after the submission period closes.
3. CATEGORIES
High School students
College students
Adults (25 years or older)
4. SPECIAL CATEGORY
This special category is for videos of 30 seconds or less about "Why I love Independence? One video will be selected for each age group and receive a $500 cash and/or scholarship award.
There will be separate "Why I Love Independence" categories for:
- Individuals
- Non-profits
- Business
5. CASH PRIZES AND SPECIAL AWARDS
A minimum of $2,000 cash award and/or scholarship will be provided to the top video in each of the three categories. Smaller cash awards will be given to videos ranked second or third.
Awards may be higher depending on the available prize funds.
High School Students: Cash award and/or scholarship
College Students: Cash award and/or scholarship
25 years or older: Cash award
Special awards of a minimum of $500 will be given to each category for outstanding videos involving:
- Videos telling a story that involved racial diversity, persons or color or under represented communities
- Videos whose content includes 50% or more is generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Videos submitted by a non-United States resident
Any individual video can be selected for multiple special awards.
People’s Choice: A People’s Choice award will be given in each of the three age group categories. The format will be developed based on the number of videos submitted.
Videos need to have an average score of 70 points or higher to be considered for the cash awards or People’s Choice.
6. JUDGING CRITERIA
A panel of judges selected by the ILIVC will evaluate entries based on the judging criteria.
The judging criteria is as follows:
Adherence to the theme of “Stories of Independence” - 30 points
Use of primary sources or documents - 25 points
Creativity and originality - 20 points
Technical proficiency - 10 points
Overall impact and emotional resonance - 15 points
An additional 10 bonus points are possible if a 30-second trailer of the 5-minute submission is included.
7. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS
By submitting an entry, participants grant the ILIVC the right to use and showcase the videos for promotional purposes and potential use by other non-profits and/or the City of Independence. Some submissions may be selected as promotional material for use by the City of Independence on an ongoing basis.
By submitting an entry, participants grant the ILIVC the right to use, edit, combine videos to create other videos which promote history, civic education and tourism with appropriate credits provided.
8. AWARDS CEREMONY
An awards ceremony will be organized to recognize and celebrate the winners during which trophies and prizes will be distributed. Attendance at the awards ceremony is not required, but encouraged.
9. RULES UPDATES
Organizers reserve the right to update the rules based on questions received.
10. LIMITATIONS
The contest organizers are under no obligation to use or exhibit the submitted film(s) in any manner and it retains the right to accept or decline any entry, for whatever reason, without notice or explanation.
Videos may be rejected for plagiarism or inappropriate use of copyrighted material.
By submitting your film, you certify that you are the sole owner and producer of the work and that you are authorized to submit this work and that all clearances and licenses necessary for public display of the work have been granted. Filmmaker represents and warrants that its film(s) submitted to ILIVC does not infringe in any way, directly or contributorily, upon any third party’s intellectual property rights, including, but not limited to, music, still images, moving images, copyright, trademark, and right of publicity.
Filmmaker, at his/her own expense, shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless ILIVC from and against all lawsuits and causes of actions, claims, losses, demands, and expenses, including, but not limited to, attorney’s fees (both in house and outside counsel) and cost of litigation, damages or liability of any nature arising out of infringement, actual or alleged, direct or contributory, of any intellectual property rights, including, without limitation, copyright, trademark, and right of publicity. The rights and remedies of the ILIVC provided in this section shall not be exclusive and are in addition to any other rights and remedies provided by law or under these Terms and Conditions.