The Sky Arts Film Festival takes place at the historic Capitol Arts Center in downtown Bowling Green, KY. We are the home of the Corvette, Lost River Cave, and have the second most restaurants per capita in the nation.

Bowling Green is a fast growing city, with a media service sector rapidly increasing. Sitting halfway between Louisville and Nashville on I65, Bowling Green was once a stop over town on the road to Music City. But no longer. We at the Sky Arts Film Festival and our partnerships with the City of Bowling Green are bringing Film and Art into the community.

The mission of the Sky Arts Film Festival is to grow and develop the media industry in Southern Kentucky by giving filmmakers, media professionals, content creators, movie goers, students, and teachers the opportunity to learn and experience an unforgettable event centered around the art of film making. Combined with our Film Festival, we will be holding Masterclasses for local students with industry professionals. As the city grows so does the need for unique and creative media. We are aiming to foster that creation with home grown talent.

Officially selected films will be eligible to receive awards by category, as well as the ranking award for Best of Fest. There will also be individual awards. Prizes will be awarded by a panel of judges based on the film’s overall artistic, narrative, and technical quality.

CATEGORIES:

Short Narrative
Short Documentary
Short Experimental
Music Video
Student Short Film
Best of Fest

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:
Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Score
Best Production Design

Each official selection will be given two (2) VIP Passes to attend Sky Arts Film Festival screenings and events. SAFF plans to offer networking opportunities and panel discussions for film industry professionals and fellow supporters of the arts community. Attendees representing officially selected films may also be asked to participate in panels and moderated Q&A sessions with the audience immediately following their film’s screening.
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SKY ARTS short film script writing competition. A jury of working professionals including writers, actors, filmmakers, and other industry artists will review scripts and vote. Top selections will receive a live, in person, reading at our festival in Bowling Green, KY. The award for the best script receives the following:

• Physical Award
• Live table reading with actors at the festival
• Script is sent to SAFF's network of producers.

FILM FESTIVAL RULES & TERMS

•Submitter only needs to submit to ONE genre, but will be considered in all appropriate categories.

•You agree to the following terms and conditions of the Sky Arts Film Festival.

• All films must be the original work of the filmmakers and all filmmakers must have the necessary rights. The festival is not liable for any rights issues.

•Student's are considered anyone current enrolled in high school or college.

• The Sky Arts Film Festival is not responsible for any lost, damaged, or stolen items, including films in any medium, while en-route or in our possession, on or off of festival grounds.

• By submitting a film to SAFF, you grant the Sky Arts Film Festival permission to screen your film, if said film is officially accepted into this year's lineup.

• If your film has been selected, you are automatically considered accepted. If we do not hear from you otherwise within 14 days of notification, your selection will be accepted and intended for playing in the festival.

• All entries must be either in English or subtitled in English. Foreign language films without English subtitles will not be screened.

• Only completed entries (including entry form, payment, and final film) will be considered.

• We are an environmentally friendly festival. We accept digital entries ONLY. Do not send DVD’s, Blu-rays, or physical press kits.

• Films must have been produced no earlier than 2020.

• We have no premiere status requirements.

• If accepted, the filmmaker is required to provide the festival a digital file (.mov, .mp4), for exhibition.

•Digital files must have a 2k resolution, with a preferred 4k resolution if possible. Aspect ratio does not matter.

• In accordance with the Sky Arts Film Festival policy, the entry fee is non-refundable.

• You will not be allowed to enter your work unless you agree to abide by the terms and conditions of the Sky Arts Festival Festival.

You grant the Sky Arts Film Festival the following:

• Permission to exhibit your film. Films must be available for screening October 2025.

• Allow photos, posters, highlights or excerpts of your film (e.g. a trailer) to be placed on the Sky Arts Film Festival website and used for other marketing and promotional purposes. You also agree to allow SAFF to promote the following year's festival with the material listed above. SAFF will never solicit or screen your film outside the promotion of the SAFF without your approval.

• We are accepting short films (under 35 minutes), and screenplay submissions.

• The Sky Arts Film Festival reserves the right to change our programming without notice.

• The official selections and screening schedule is at the sole discretion of the festival.

• You may submit as many entries as you like. Each entry requires its own entry fee.

• Entry fees will not be refunded.

• Entrants are encouraged, but not required, to attend the festival. Entrants receive 2 free full passes to the film festival for the duration of the film festival, and can receive artist pricing on each additional pass.

• Exceptions to these rules will not be made unless we make an exception.

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SCRIPT COMPETITION RULES & TERMS

•Submissions are accepted via electronic submission only.

•Entry fees are as listed on the Film Freeway website

•Short scripts should be between 2 - 30 pages.

•Entries must be received on or before the deadline dates by 11:59PM. All entry fees are non-refundable.

•All submitted material must be owned by the writer(s), however the material may be based on other works not owned by the writers.

•Material must be submitted by the writer. Material written by writing teams must be submitted by one of the writers, with consent of the other(s).

•If a writing team is chosen as a winner, prizes will be given to the person who submits the project. Each team is responsible for dividing or sharing any prizes awarded as they deem fair (whether there is a cash value or not).

•Substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entered material will be allowed for a limited time with a reentry fee.
It is recommended that original material be registered with the WGA or The Library of Congress before submitting to any competition, however we do not require registration.

•Contact info may be included on the cover page of the screenplay, however it is not required.

•Sky Arts Film Festival claims no ownership nor option on your work. All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this contest remains with the original rights holders.

•Short film scripts produced or soon to be produced by the writer are eligible to enter as long as it will be made by independent means.

•The decision of the judges will be final and cannot be contested in any manner.

•Sky Arts Film Festival reserves the right to change deadline and announcement dates at any time.

•Sky Arts Film Festival reserves the right to amend these rules at any time.

• For questions and inquiries, please email skyartsfilmfestival@gmail.com

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jeremiah Reeves

    Top Notch Festival. Programming was fantastic. I attended everything that they had scheduled and had a fantastic time! During the festival they had an action film workshop and shot a live action sequence in the square in front of the theater, which was amazing to see. I met some awesome people there. The sound system for my screening was the best that I've had on my festival tour, the screen was also huge! Would go again in a heartbeat.

    January 2025
  • So grateful that PLEASE BE KIND was able to have its American debut in this ambitious festival in Kentucky. I’m so sad we were in Europe and unable to attend, but my brother went and he was duly impressed. And communication with the festival was continually outstanding. Thanks for having us!

    November 2024
  • Parker Croft

    Being part of Sky Arts Film Festival was an amazing experience. Although we couldn’t attend due to scheduling conflicts, we were really impressed by the festival’s outstanding support and dedication to both the films and the filmmakers. Their professionalism truly stood out.

    October 2024
  • Koura Linda

    This was our second year attending. The festival team cares so much about uplifting independent filmmakers and works really hard to make a space for filmmakers, by filmmakers.
    Absolutely will continue to submit, and looking forward to hopefully returning again for a third time!

    October 2024
  • Josh Hendrix

    We had the privilege of premiering our short documentary, Wandering Daydreams, at the Sky Arts Film Festival. While I couldn't attend, the documentary's subject, Makara, was there and shared that it was an amazing experience. Thank you, Sky Arts!

    October 2024