Outsiders Film Festival is a student film competition honoring networking in the Texas Film Community.

We are so excited to announce that the 18th annual Outsiders Film Festival will be an all day event! We will have film screenings, Q&As with our directors, workshops, and panels throughout the day, and then we will end the night with our marquee event showcasing the best films of the festival and individual awards!

IMPORTANT: We will ONLY consider films produced by elementary, middle, and high school students from the Texas area. All other entries will be automatically disqualified. PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR FILM IF YOU DO NOT MEET THESE 2 CRITERIA.

The Outsiders Film Festival began in 2009 as a collaboration between the Cinema program at North East School of the Arts and other educational film programs in San Antonio. The purpose of the festival is to promote networking among young filmmakers (under 18) from the Texas area, as well as to showcase their work.

More Outsiders Info (date, time, etc...) is on our instagram! @nesacinema

Awards & Prizes

Best Animation: Certificate and trophy
Best Narrative Short: Certificate and trophy
Best Documentary Short: Certificate and trophy
Best Experimental Short: Certificate and trophy
Best Cinematography: Certificate and trophy
Best Acting Performance: Certificate and trophy
Best Directing: Certificate and trophy
Best Middle School Project: Certificate and trophy
Best Elementary School Project: Certificate and trophy

Rules & Terms

Submitting filmmakers MUST be 19 and UNDER, or 19 years old when the film was completed. This is a student-only film festival. The birthdate of the submitting filmmaker must be included in the submission to verify this.

Submitting filmmakers MUST be from the state of Texas. The submitter's address must be included in the submission to verify this.

Generative AI should not be used in any way and will disqualify the film. Adobe Premiere tools that use AI technology without generating content, such as object masking, Auto-Translate Captions, and media intelligence, are permitted. If you have any questions regarding AI rules and restrictions, please email me at svilla7@neisd.net.

Submitted films MUST include a logline or short synopsis of the film, and a short bio of the filmmaker(s).

Submitted films may not contain any copyrighted materials such as music or graphics for which the filmmaker(s) do not have permission.

Electronic submissions only, through FilmFreeway; films can be linked to Vimeo for submission or directly to FilmFreeway, and the films should be available to download. Films should not be submitted through YouTube.

The films should be 1920x1080.

ACCEPTANCE OF RULES:
Your signed entry form constitutes full acceptance of the entry requirements. The producer(s) listed warrant that they are the owners of the film, including the copyright therein. They further warrant that they have obtained all required authorizations, consents, and releases from others, including but not limited to those appearing or rendering services in connection with the film. Failure to comply with these rules will render the entry ineligible. We reserve the right to request proof of copyright on questionable material.