2020 South Texas International Film Festival
Submission Guidelines
The City of Edinburg, in an effort to promote the visual arts and the growing Film industry in the Rio Grande Valley, has developed an annual selective film festival, the South Texas International Film Festival.
The STXIFF is an annual event that showcases the work of visionary filmmakers from all over the world. Based in Edinburg, Texas, our Festival features State, National, and International films that bring together local filmmakers and connects the South Texas film industry with the world.
This year, the Festival will run from September 9th through September 12th of 2020 for its sixth edition. The submission guidelines for the 2020 South Texas International Film Festival (henceforth also referred to as “Festival” and “STXIFF”) are as follows:
1. Call for entry for the 2019 STXIFF will open on October 4th, 2019. Final submissions close at 11:59 PM on April 27th, 2020. Deadlines will have four different final dates:
a. Early Bird Entry: October 4th, 2019 – December 23rd, 2019
b. Regular Entry: December 24th, 2019 – March 9th, 2020
c. Late Entry: March 10th, 2020 – April 6th, 2020
d. Extended Entry: April 7th, 2020 – April 27th, 2020
2. All genres and subgenres are accepted, as long as the STXIFF Committee considers they align with the mission and vision of the Festival.
3. Feature films must be between sixty (60) minutes and one-hundred and ten (120) minutes in length, including credits. Short films must be between two (2) minutes and thirty (30) minutes, including credits.
4. In order to be eligible for competition, films must have been completed after January 1st, 2018. Films completed before this date, will not be selected for competition but may be selected for a showcase.
5. The competing film must not be available online or physically for purchase, renting, or free streaming. You may have your film online but private (i.e. password or private link).
6. Film submissions will be admitted only through FilmFreeway.
7. The minimum requirement for selected films is H.264 codec in resolution 1920x1080.
8. If selected, the deadline to submit your film, poster, and three stills will be Monday, June 30th of 2020 before 11:59 PM.
9. Trailers are required for feature films only and must also be submitted by June 30th, 2020. Short films may submit trailers by the same date but it is not a requirement.
10. Films which do not have English as their original language must have English subtitles included in the film screener and final projection file.
11. Each of the following categories can be either in documentary or narrative format. The Festival accepts animation for any category and format. These are the competition categories for the 2020 STXIFF:
a. Feature Film
i. International
ii. National
iii. Texas
b. Short Film
i. International
ii. National
iii. Texas
iv. RGV
v. RGV Students
12. These are the prizes that will be awarded this year at the 2019 STXIFF:
i) Best International Feature
ii) Best National Feature
iii) Best Texas Feature
iv) Best International Short
v) Best National Short
vi) Best Texas Short
vii) Best Student Film – RGV Student
viii) Best RGV Short
ix) Best RGV Director
x) Best RGV Actor
xi) Best RGV Actress
xii) Audience Award
xiii) The Pitch Award
13. In order to be eligible as a finalist on “The Pitch: Feature Film Screenplay Competition”, the contestant must attend on the day of The Pitch event and present their screenplay to the panel of juries. The Pitch event will most likely take place on September 12th, 2020.
14. A Jury of industry professionals will determine the winners of each category previous to the start of the Festival. The decisions will be final and unappealable and will be announced during the Award Ceremony on September 12th, 2020.
15. Volunteers, staff, and employees of the STXIFF, Dustin Sekula Memorial Library, City of Edinburg or Edinburg Arts Foundation may not participate in any of the films which compete for an award. This includes but is not limited to actress, actor, director, writer, producer, or any other member of the production team of the film. If the producer and/or director wishes to appeal a crew member’s conflict of interest, they may do so by contacting the STXIFF staff no later than April 27th, 2020. The STXIFF will review the appeal and give a response before notification date.
16. By submitting your film, you grant permission to the Festival to use up to thirty (30) seconds of your film for Festival promotion.
17. Any other situation not considered in these submission guidelines will be reviewed by the South Texas International Film Festival.
18. We recommend you carefully review these guidelines and please email stxiff@edinburglibrary.us if you have any additional questions.
DISCLAIMER: In an effort to ensure fairness and transparency within our regional film competition, we invite professional filmmakers from outside the Rio Grande Valley to view and to select the films in our regional competition. This process provides an equal platform for all local filmmakers in the RGV.