Sheffield Short Film Festival

30 Oct, 2020 - 01 Nov, 2020

Sheffield Short Film Festival logo
Sheffield Short Film Festival

Is this your festival?

Is this your festival?

About the festival

Sheffield Short Film Festival is run by Sheffield filmmakers and is following in the Steel City’s long history and tradition of celebrating cinema. By bringing international short films to the amazing and diverse audiences of Sheffield, our aim is to celebrate new and established filmmakers from around the globe and share with you the magic of cinematic storytelling through the time-honoured format of short film.

Launched last year, the festival was forced to be postponed until October 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and held online.

Tickets for this years festival are available from our website.

We remain dedicated to holding a live physical event in 2021. Further details will be announced soon!

WAIVER REQUESTS
As a small festival we are unable to grant free entry codes apart from the exceptions listed in our categories.
No deadline waivers will be granted.
Thank you

Awards:
Best UK Short
Best International Short
Best Student Short
Best Documentary Short
Best Queer Short
Best Yorkshire film *Your film must have been filmed in Yorkshire*

About

Sheffield Short Film Festival is run by Sheffield filmmakers and is following in the Steel City’s long history and tradition of celebrating cinema. By bringing international short films to the amazing and diverse audiences of Sheffield, our aim is to celebrate new and established filmmakers from around the globe and share with you the magic of cinematic storytelling through the time-honoured format of short film.

Launched last year, the festival was forced to be postponed until October 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and held online.

Tickets for this years festival are available from our website.

We remain dedicated to holding a live physical event in 2021. Further details will be announced soon!

WAIVER REQUESTS
As a small festival we are unable to grant free entry codes apart from the exceptions listed in our categories.
No deadline waivers will be granted.
Thank you

Awards:
Best UK Short
Best International Short
Best Student Short
Best Documentary Short
Best Queer Short
Best Yorkshire film *Your film must have been filmed in Yorkshire*

Awards & Winners

There are no winners yet for this festival

Terms and rules

Rules & Eligibility

1. Entries must be no more than 30 minutes in duration including title sequences and credits.

2. Films must be the original work of the entrants and must have been produced after 1st January 2019.

3. Sheffield Short Film Festival does not have a premiere policy for documentaries however fiction films submitted must retain a Sheffield Premier status.

4. Sheffield Short Film Festival accepts all genres.

5. Sheffield Short Film Festival does not accept films that promote a product or company.

6. Entrants must have obtained clearance for all copyrighted music and other copyrighted material used in their film’s entry.

7. Written permission must have been obtained from all the people actively appearing in the film. This is usually done by way of a release form.

8. All films not in the English language must have English subtitles that are embedded in the film.

9. Sheffield Short Film Festival only accepts electronic submissions completed online through FilmFreeway.

10. To be considered for the 2021 competition, entries must be received by the final deadline as stipulated on FilmFreeway.

11. Your status on FilmFreeway will acknowledge the receipt of your submission.

12. Filmmakers whose work has been selected will receive notification by email by 16th April 2021.

13. Sheffield Short Film Festival may need to alter deadlines and notification dates and reserves the right to do so for any reason.

14. Sheffield Short Film Festival reserve the right to have absolute discretion over all decisions regarding entry and status of films into the festival at any time and for any reason.

15. The decision of the judges is final. Unfortunately, we cannot enter into individual discussion regarding those decisions and are unable to provide individual feedback.

16. The entry of a film is the entrant’s responsibility. The submission fees are decided by the festival and, unfortunately, we cannot reimburse submission fees for any reason.

17. Sheffield Short Film Festival and associated parties cannot accept any responsibility for any misuse of intellectual property rights.

19. Sheffield Short Film Festival has the right to use images and a maximum of 90 seconds from selected films for promotional or festival screenings or on the Sheffield Short Film Festival website, for press and/or media purposes.

19. Sheffield Short Film Festival will always seek permission from filmmakers if we wish to use any film for any other purpose related to Sheffield Short Film Festival or subsequent promotion or events.

Ratings & Reviews

Categories and fees

International Films
Early Bird (1st October, 2020) €10
Regular (28th February, 2021) €20
Late (22nd March, 2021) €25

UK Shorts
Early Bird (1st October, 2020) €10
Regular (28th February, 2021) €20
Late (22nd March, 2021) €25

Yorkshire Films
Early Bird (1st October, 2020) €10
Regular (28th February, 2021) €15
Late (22nd March, 2021) €18

If you film was shot in Yorkshire please submit to this category and state the area in your cover note. Any films submitted to this cheaper category not shot in Yorkshire will be disqualified.

Spotlight on Africa - FREE
Early Bird (1st October, 2020) €0
Regular (28th February, 2021) €0
Late (22nd March, 2021) €0

We would like to encourage more filmmakers who are from the African continent to submit their work for a special 'Spotlight on Africa' strand to be featured in the 2021 festival. If you are a filmmaker from the African continent, whether living there or not, please submit your film using this FREE category.

Iranian Filmmakers
Early Bird (1st October, 2020) €0
Regular (28th February, 2021) €0
Late (22nd March, 2021) €0

We are aware of the international sanctions on Iranian filmmakers making payments and as such ask they submit their film to this FREE category. UPDATE - we will be closing this category 31st October due to being close to reaching our upper cap limit on free submissions, no waivers will be given after this date.

Palestinian Filmmakers
Early Bird (1st October, 2020) €0
Regular (28th February, 2021) €0
Late (22nd March, 2021) €0

Anyone from Gaza and the West Bank are invited to submit their films free of charge.

Matchmaking

What is the title of your film?

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How long is your film?

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What should be the main focus of your festival strategy?

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Monetary award

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Start date of submission

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