The festival focuses on women and the youth in filmmaking both filmmakers and as subjects. The festival will celebrate the empowerment of women and youth, in front of and behind the camera.

All the programs are geared towards young and women filmmakers only. The festival’s goal is to shift the current mindset among filmmakers and audience which suggests that filmmaking is merely a form of entertainment by introducing a holistic business and skills development programme to assist emerging filmmakers that will inculcate a spirit of entrepreneurship and to come up with ways to support the future development of the film industry

Trophies are awarded to winning films in each of UFF's categories.

1. Introduction
The uMgungundlovu Film Festival is created to provide a platform for local filmmakers
to exhibit their films. This is Pietermaritzburg - based festival in Kwazulu-Natal, South
Africa. The uMgungundlovu Film Festival invites filmmakers to submit their Short,
films to screen in the festival from 24 Nov - 26 Nov 2023 under the theme TELL YOUR STORY. As we discover, tell and hear our legacy.
The festival will be over a 3-day period at various locations in Pietermaritzburg.
Only films completed in 2020,2021,2022 and 2023 will be accepted.
2. Submission deadline
Deadline for all entries is 14 July 2023
3. Categories of the Festival and Terms
Feature or Short Film: A fiction or documentary film with a running time up to 120 minutes.
All submissions should be made by the official representative who will serve as the
mediator for screening fees as well as the transportation of the materials.
4. Film entry rules
Feature or short films in which either the producer, director, or writer is Woman or youth, short films that have been completed since June 2020, accepted exhibition formats for our festival are:
MPEG - 2, MPEG - 4, only downloads will be acceptable
Audio is STEREO only.
Films written in other foreign languages other than English must be subtitled in English
in order to be considered for selection.
Works that are solely promotional, educational or scientific in nature are not eligible for
selection for the UFF.
A Film that is selected to participate in the festival cannot be withdrawn from the festival during the event.
5. More info can be found on the festival website www.umgungundlovufilmfestival.org.za or
via email umgungundlovufilmfest@gmail.com
6. Selection and Notification
Films are selected by the Selection Committee.
The application will not be considered complete until all entry requirements are met.
All selected films will be notified by the Festival Director no later than 15 September 2023.
6. Selected Films Required Materials
Successful entrants will be asked to send us an online link to download the film in high
resolution for screening purposes. A Director of the selected film must complete an official UFF Participation Confirmation Form available on selection no later than 30 September 2023.
A half a page synopsis in English
The director’s photo, biography and filmography
Trailers, posters, for promotion of the film
By submitting the UFF participation confirmation form and the above materials, the
entrant(s) grant to UFF a non-exclusive license to publicly screen the selected film in
the 2023 physical uMgungundlovu Film Festival in the offline and online platforms used by the festival
8. Awards & Prizes
This is the competition section of the festival, which covers a selection for Shorts with the most viewership and a compelling story our roots and legacy to be judged by a
jury.
Trophies are awarded to winning films in each of UFF's categories. Prize money will be
determined by the jury.
Not all invited films officially selected will be eligible for competition. The selection
committees' and juries' decisions are final.
UFF reserves the right to make any necessary changes in rules or festival scheduling.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Minizobuhle Mmango

    It was okay, but there was a bit of disorganisation.

    December 2023
  • Marjorie Silva

    The communication was excellent, for us it is a pleasure to have a mention in this wonderful event. We are very grateful to belong to your story.

    December 2023
  • Thank you so much for selecting "Adult" for your festival! It was the Africanian premier of the film. Thank you for the support of Ukraine!

    December 2023
  • What a wonderful film festival! I had been selected before, but never had made the effort to travel to it. This year I did, and wow - am I glad I did! Now in it's 5th year, Portia and her team has built this into the most welcoming, warm, well organised festival you can imagine. The warmth and generosity shown to us was on another level, it's hard to describe. If this is how it is at 5 years, I can't wait to see how it will be at 10 years. My sincerest congratulations to Portia and the team at uMgungundlovu Film Festival, and all their amazing sponsors, like KZNFilm, for organising such an amazing festival. It really was fantastic, thank you. We hope to be back in future years too, and will watch this festival go from strength to strength. Ngiyabonga kakhulu.

    December 2023
  • The Myth Creates

    It was a wonderful experience. My short was picked and we won. It was such a surreal experience and I really enjoyed it. Communication came in late but overall, I believe it will get better

    December 2023