Scan 5

(Submissions are open March 19 - April 2nd 11:59 pm)

The Middle of Knowhere film festival is an in-person juried showcase featuring all genres of short films ( ~10:00 minutes ) that are made through the lens of rural & suburban queer experience. This screening was designed to support filmmakers that are queering our frame of reference for what life looks like outside of metropolitan areas. This mini-festival will take place in the Ozark region of Northwest Arkansas, existing on-site with the larger AMMPlify arts & music festival on May 6th.

The phrase “middle of nowhere” is generally used to draw one’s attention to a remote space where there is conventionally little known significance. In the festival's title, the act of claiming nowhere (knowhere) as commonplace for queerness is a fictional approach that acknowledges the absence of queer visibility in remote areas, while also dissolving parameters for the ideal state or location of queerness.

This festival has no submission fees. Please review rules & terms before applying!

Awards & Prizes

Awards & prizes:
1st place: $150
2nd place: $75

Rules & Terms

Your project should fit one or more of the following to be considered:
1. Your short is written, directed, and/or produced by a queer filmmaker
2. Features a queer cast within queer roles
3. Depicts stories and experiences unique to queer folk
4. Depicts stories within the context of queer futurism
5. Your film is preferably 10 minutes or less (some exceptions apply based on quality of content)
6. There is no restriction on when the work was made, though preference may be given to more recent productions.
7. We are open to solo works and collaborations.

Technical Rules & Terms:
1. If you are selected, please have these assets available by April 24, 2023:
- H.264 / H.265 .mp4 or .mov file available for download via FilmFreeway, or enable download via a platform (Vimeo, Dropbox, WeTransfer, etc.) and send us the link.
- at least two print-ready film stills at least 72 dpi
- If your video is not in English, please be sure that the file you share includes legible English subtitles. All works in languages other than English must be submitted with English subtitles, unless an intentional absence is inherent to experiencing the work.

2. Submission Issues - If at the time of the selection process, your video file doesn’t work, your film may be rejected. Please contact the 'middle of knowhere' team ASAP if there are any technical issues with the submission process.

3. All submissions will receive notification of acceptance status around April 9, 2023.

4. The 'middle of knowhere' team will work to strongly adhere to the scheduled timeline. If the timeline is skewed for any reason, the team acknowledges this as an unfortunate circumstance but is not obligated to strictly adhering to enforced dates.

5. The 'middle of knowhere' team is not obligated to exhibit films, even if selected, and should have sole discretion regarding programming decisions.

( Submitting your film to middle of 'knowhere' certifies that you have read and understand the rules and regulations as posted here on the FilmFreeway 'middle of knowhere' call )