NINETY-SECOND
FILM FESTIVAL

Rules

Submission Deadline

Submissions Open: Thursday, 1 December 2022
Final Deadline: Friday, 20 January 2023

Technical Guidelines

Your submission’s total runtime (TRT) must be at least 75 seconds and must NOT exceed 90 seconds with an additional 10 seconds allowed for title and credits treatments.

We strongly recommend that you triple check your audio levels and that your audio is NOT limited to one channel (ie: right or left).

Any film that includes main dialogue that is not English must be submitted with English subtitles packaged into the submitted video file. Standalone .srt or .vtt files are not accepted.

When uploading your submission, you must use the following file naming conventions:

FirstNameLastName_FilmTitle_Category.mp4

Examples: SueDNymm_TheFishmonger_Documentary.mov, NDGuerre_DistractedDriving_PSA.mp4

We will only except the file formats .mp4, .mov.

Do not submit films in 4K. Please submit your film in 1080 HD resolution. Any film files that are larger than 2GBs will not be accepted.

Do not submit using a YouTube link as they cannot be downloaded. Any submissions with a YouTube link will not be considered for selection or screening.

Films that are accepted into the festival will be screened in the 16:9 aspect ratio. If your film is submitted in a different ratio (not recommended), your film will be letterboxed to display on the 16:9 screen.

Content Guidelines

Submitted Films must be the original work of the applicant. If a film is based upon another person's life or upon a book or other underlying work, applicant(s) must secure any necessary rights to make such adaptations. However, it is not necessary to submit the adaptation rights agreements to the Festival. Neither the Festival nor its jurists investigates or attests to the authenticity of an applicant's statement of authorship or rights secured. By entering the competition, you represent that you have secured all necessary rights.

Applicants are solely responsible for obtaining all necessary rights and permissions for third-party materials included in their films, including but not limited to music, trademarks, logos, copyrights, and other intellectual property rights. The Ninety-Second Film Festival expressly disclaims all liability or responsibility for any violations of the foregoing.

The Festival has no obligation (other than as stated in these rules or on our website) to disclose any of the following information: i) Identities of judges; ii) Notes, feedback, or information relating to the submitted projects; and/or iii) Details regarding the submission review or selection process.

The Ninety-Second Film Festival team reserves the right to switch your submission to a different category as we see fit. Films that have not received a full color edit or sound edit are eligible for submission. Although the Ninety-Second Film Festival prefers picture-locked submissions for the consideration process, our focus is on story. Technical changes such as color or sound will not affect the final decision of any film. The student filmmaker will have the opportunity to supply the Festival with their most recent version prior to publication on the website.

Eligibility Guidelines

The film’s director(s) must have been in high school or younger while filming the project. Middle school students are eligible to submit in the Middle School category.

Any submission that does not meet these guidelines will NOT be considered for judging and will NOT be selected to screen at the Ninety-Second Film Festival.

Categories

Best Picture

Best picture is a very subjective recognition but the judging panel will do its best to determine this award based on execution, ambition, degree of difficulty, originality of approach, and deeper cultural resonance to name a few. Additional consideration but not limited to will include which movie the judges are most held by while watching, which movie stays with us the longest, and which movie we most want to view again.

Best Representation through Storytelling

The best work that reflects the diverse world we live in and highlights the stories of historically excluded voices.

Best Student Voice(s)

Work that best demonstrates the sharing of personal stories, perspectives, and passions.

Best Comedy

Work that best demonstrates the sharing of personal stories, perspectives, and passions.

Best Public Service Announcement (PSA)

Any work of a Public Service Announcement nature. A PSA is an advertisement broadcast for the public interest. PSAs are intended to modify public attitudes by raising awareness about specific issues.

Best Horror / Suspense

Best work of a scary, twisted, or out of this world nature.

Best Animation

A work that employs traditional, stop-motion, computer-generated, 2D, 3D, Claymation, etc. style of animation.

Best Experimental

A non-traditional, non-narrative or otherwise hard to define work. Get weird, break the rules, and express your style.

Best Cinematography

Cinematography is a language seen, not spoken. At its core, it is the visuals that support the story being told, involving many elements including scene composition, camera and filter(s) choice, camera movement and angles, lighting, and potentially the inclusion of special effects.

Best Middle School

This category is open to all entries from 6th - 8th grade.

Best Documentary Short

Work must be nonfiction and document an aspect of reality.

Best Drama

Any work or story of a narrative nature.

Festival Favorite

The selection is subjective and is separate from Best Picture.

Best Music Video

Find or create a song and share its story or essence through visual imagery. All forms of music videos are accepted though we do NOT accept music videos with copyrighted music (without explicit permission). Rights-cleared music is available and we are happy to lend assistance in providing access to available music.

Best Broadcast Journalism: Feature Story

Share an in-depth story about a compelling, newsworthy subject that highlights creativity and subjectivity and makes an emotional connection with the viewer.

Best Broadcast Journalism: Sports

Share profile pieces or real-time reporting about athletes in action, whether they’re making a difference on the field, off the field, or both!