The LJMU MA Short Film Festival was first held in April 2021, originally as an online-only festival. Since 2023, it has grown to include a selection of in-person screenings and a live awards ceremony. The festival is curated, promoted and organised by students as part of the MA Film at Liverpool John Moores University, guided by LJMU staff. We are a global celebration of the student short film: fiction, documentary and animation.

In addition to our online screenings and live events, we offer featured filmmakers the opportunity to network and promote their films to our audience across the world, via Q&A sessions which are live-streamed on our YouTube channel. Our extensive promotional and marketing campaign also ensures visibility across all of the major social media outlets, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X.

Submissions are open to students and alumni from ANY INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION and/or FILM SCHOOL provided their submission was made as part of their student work and completed after JANUARY 2022.

We are proud to present the Paper Bird Award in the following four categories:

-The Red Paper Bird for Best Fiction Film
-The Yellow Paper Bird for Best Animation
-The Purple Paper Bird for Best Documentary
-The Blue Paper Bird for Best Experimental Film

We also award a fifth Paper Bird: The White Paper Bird Audience Award, which goes to the film that receives the most votes from our audience across the duration of the festival.

Films must have been completed after January 1, 2022.

The festival welcomes student fiction, student documentary and student animation films with a maximum length of 20 minutes, from any country, completed as part of your student work.

A maximum of three film submissions per filmmaker is permitted - Any more than this amount will not be considered for competition and will be disregarded.

All films not in the English language must include English subtitles (either embedded or submitted as an SRT file).

The films do not need to be premieres.

Submissions are open to students and alumni from any Higher Education Institute and/or Film School.

The LJMU MA Short Film Festival can use parts of your film (including trailer/teaser/film poster) for promotional purposes.

You own the rights to the film.

If your film is selected for the programme, we will contact you separately to receive your permission to make the film available for viewing for the duration of the festival.

You must ensure that there are no outstanding copyright or licensing issues with any of the material or soundtrack in your film - failure to adhere to this will result in disqualification.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Margaret Mäses

    Super dedicated and thorough in every aspect, giving student films the attention and appreciation they often miss. Very good at making the selected filmmakers feel welcome and involved, even when they couldn't be there in person. Also, the podcast was great. Thanks a lot and all the best! Your future is bright!

    April 2025
  • Ewa Japola

    They choose unique films, work very hard and keep it on the highest level with the great community and atmosphere.

    April 2025
  • Saksham Sharma

    Loved being a part of it!

    April 2025
  • Raphael Heinisch

    Thank you a lot for the great festival! Although I couldn't be there in person, the festival team did a great job at bringing us filmmakers together for an online Q&A with a live audience. Lovely questions, entertaining in its presentation and a podcast to warm up before the festival starts worth listening to for a better understanding of the people behind the decisions and preparation. I was in another country but still this festival felt close.

    April 2025
  • Lucas Kua

    Great festival with all-round fantastic people who clearly just love to see students' works. I am all the more grateful for LJMU's enthusiasm and eagerness to celebrate young people without prejudice. Thank you so much for having Obscura!

    April 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you very much for your kind words, Lucas! It was great to be able to feature Obscura at this year's edition and we are glad you enjoyed the experience.