Festival Rules
Awards & Prizes
ONLY ONE film will be named the BEST PICTURE OF THE SEASON, voted on from Finalist from all of the genre categories winners. Seasonal best "genre" films become Finalists for Best Picture of the Season and are automatically submitted for the genre competition in the annual festival. ONLY ONE film annually will be awarded the GRAND PRIX and named BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR.
All winners will receive a Certificate of Cinematic Achievement with a sealed blue ribbon. Starting with September 2023, winners are also eligible to receive a trophy: The PALMA DORADA (Golden Palm) at individual expense. All selected films will receive the official SDSFF festival laurel (Official Selection, Nominee, Annual Finalist or Winner). All winners will receive an award certificate (via mail if not present). Trophy winners must be present at festival screening to receive their trophy or must pay shipping & handling cost. Honorable Mentions are also eligible to purchase a trophy.
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Rules & Terms
All films submitted will be watched and selected or not selected for inclusion in the festival by an impartial selection committee of festival programmers, filmmakers, industry professionals, cinephiles and short film aficionados. Not all selections will be screened at the festival.
NOT SELECTED - We thank you for submitting but your film was not selected at this time.
SELECTED - Your film was chosen by our selection judges but may not be chosen for screening or an award. You are authorized use of the SDSFF Official Selection laurel.
NOMINEE - Your film was chosen for inclusion and is eligible for an award(s) but may not be screened at the festival. You are authorized use of the SDSFF Nominee laurel.
HONORABLE MENTION - Your film scored among the top films without winning an award and may or may not be screened at the festival. You are authorized use of the SDSFF Honorable Mention laurel.
FINALIST - Your film has won an award in a best genre category but has NOT won Best Picture of the Season (or Year) and may be screened at the festival. You are authorized use of the SDSFF finalist laurel.
WINNER - Your film has won an award and may be screened at our festival. You will receive a Winner certificate (via U.S. post) and authorized use of the SDSFF winner laurel.
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Winners will be announced the following the screening at the awards presentation. Official Selection will authorize and permit SDSFF to use excerpts of the submission, including film trailers, stills, promotional materials for promotion activities related to the festival.
SDSFF accepts Short Films: up to 40 minutes in length. All entries must be in English or have English subtitles.
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There may not be a winner or even a selection for any particular category. The decisions of our judges are final and unappealable --So PLEASE DO NOT ASK!
Any film genre category submission includes 1 free technical category submission (your choice) per filmmaker, if desired. To submit, email your desired selections to the SDSFF after your genre category submission fees are paid. Additional technical categories may be selected for regular submission fees.
Pornographic entries will be disqualified without return of submission fees.
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All entries MUST have an online screener via the FilmFreeway platform. FilmFreeway is the ONLY way to submit your film. If selected for screening, it will be required for the filmmaker to submit a DCP for exhibition purposes upon request. Great care and precautions are taken when handling your DCP film once submitted to SDSFF, but SDSFF accepts no liability nor responsibility for lost or damaged files that are submitted to us. Delivery cost will be paid by the filmmaker, including the cost of shipping the DCP back to the filmmaker. If DCP is not specifically requested filmmakers are responsible to provide an appropriate MOV or MP4 file (download on FilmFreeway is usually acceptable).