FORMALLY "COVIDaVINCI" by DaVinci International Film Festival.

GENiUS is a branded ultra-short program presented by the DaVinci International Film Festival; originally launched in 2020 as "COVIDaVINCI" -- a "Shelter-In-Place" film competition for those under strict mandates during quarantine.

ANYTHING GOES AT GENiUS. Well, within [creative] reason and interpretation, of course ...

We have made his program extremely affordable with huge upside and visibility for our Selections. It costs $10 to submit -- always has -- always will.

We are looking for bold. beautiful, and creative voices in this program. Voices that break boundaries with creative expression and explore new ways of storytelling. And all in 5 minutes or less, which we all know is part of the discipline.

Over the last two years, this program has seen thousands of entries and showcased hundreds of incredible projects in competition for DaVinci's "Audience Award". Our online-live hybrid model offers exponential visibility for our filmmakers to global audiences!

Official Selections are invited to screen as a "block" of GENiUS (Ultra-Shorts) at AMC Theaters, The Grove in Los Angeles, as well on DaVinci's online festival for audiences worldwide. Online guests can vote for the Best of Fest and Audience Award.

All categories are welcome! GENiUS Official Selections will screen all together at the festival, which means narrative, animation, music video, documentary, etc., in one seating.

Awards & Prizes

- Selection laurel from GENiUS / DaVinci International Film Festival
- Sponsorship Prizes
- Program inclusion
- Audience Award (https://davincifilmfestival.com/genius-ultra-shorts)
- Live Event Screening (for Official Selection films)

Rules & Terms

PLEASE READ THE RULES & REGULATIONS BELOW BEFORE SUBMITTING.

If your project is over 5 minutes (TRT) even by a second, please DO NOT SUBMIT, as it will be disqualified and not reviewed.

CLEAN AND SIMPLE:

- No longer than 5 minutes TRT
- All non-English speaking films must be presented with English subtitles.
- In the event of a film is withdrawn, DIFF will not refund or return any materials.
- Submit as many projects as you'd like! Each film requires its own entry fee.
- If you are awarded an Official Selection and wish for your film to screen at DIFF, you will need a DCP film file.

Questions? Please contact us at genius@davincifilmfestival.com
22 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Zoë DeLeon

    Everyone behind this festival was communicative, helpful, and kind! The AMC at the Grove setting was awesome! It all felt very legit and exciting. Definitely worth the entry fee, I'll definitely submit to it again!

    My only critique is that our film (a stop-motion short) was in the ultra-short film block and a good amount of the other selections were music videos, which to me didn't feel like short films... this was a bit disappointing.

    But still, great festival, thanks so much for being our premiere on the big screen! :)

    October 2022
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  • Thom Lunshof

    Great festival, very greatful to win the Audience Award! Thanks!

    October 2022
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  • Russell Emanuel

    Great film festival that treated us well! Thank you so much!

    October 2022
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  • Yo Kohatsu

    I was surprised that both of the two works in the series "The journey with" and "Hill top town" that I submitted were selected. I am very grateful to the festival team. All my movie teams are happy too. Even under the influence of COVID19, movies are traveling across countries in this way.

    January 2022
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  • Daniel Beals

    It was an honor to have our film, Don't Be Afraid, included in CoviDaVinci. We look forward to getting back to more in-person events in the future, but in the meantime, fests like yours were refreshing and encouraging to be part of. What a creative expression of film. Congrats, everyone!

    -Daniel
    Say hello at
    http://www.bealsebub.com/dontbeafraid

    December 2021
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