“By any standard one of the UK’s most ambitious and creatively programmed festivals” – Sight and Sound
Flatpack is a BAFTA qualifying festival which takes over venues across Birmingham every spring. It draws people from far and wide with a mixture of films, performances, contraptions and surprises, and has been described as “magnificently eclectic” (Time Out), “joyously inventive” (the Guardian) and “the UK’s most creatively curated film festival” (the Independent).
The kind of work we put on depends upon the project, but recurring themes include animation, music, artists’ film, archive discoveries, offbeat shorts for kids and live cinema. We are firm believers in creating a sense of occasion, exploring the fertile territory where film bumps up against other artforms, and showing people things they might not otherwise have seen.
“Britain’s most exciting and innovative film festival” (Lonely Planet) is once again open for submissions, so if you have a brilliant short film, take a look at the rules and terms, and submit! We’ll be in touch in March 2021 to let you know whether your work has been selected or not. As always the programme will celebrate film and the moving image in all its permutations, from animated curiosities, to weird and wonderful music promos, to celluloid installations, to shorts for kids, to cerebral video essays, with just about everything in between. The festival takes place in venues all over Birmingham, UK, and runs from 28 April - 3 May 2021.
We are a BAFTA qualifying festival, meaning successful submissions could go on to win a BAFTA!
Our short film strand currently has 7 coveted awards up for grabs:
– the Short Film Award – recognises the most outstanding piece of work across all genres. Selected by the short film jury (£1,000 CASH PRIZE);
– the WTF Award – hails the film which is the most innovative and extraordinary. It recognises vision, boldness, and originality. Selected by the short film jury (CASH PRIZE);
– the Audience Award – the crowds’ favourite;
- the Optical Sound Short Film Award - the very best short selected from our music/sound/audio-inspired strand;
- the Screendance award - the best short selected from our strand incorporating dance and movement (CASH PRIZE);
– the Colour Box Award – celebrating the best short in our family programme awarded by the Colour Box jury;
– the Colour Box Audience Award – the kids’ favourite.
All successful submissions will be included in the programme at Flatpack no.15.