New Zealand Short Films

To enter your film, please submit using Withoutabox or FilmFreeway.

Show Me Shorts is proud to be New Zealand’s first Academy Awards® accredited festival, with the winners of our Lightbox Best Film and Best International Film Awards eligible for nomination for an Oscar®. All submissions (including posted DVDs) should be entered online through Withoutabox or FilmFreeway.

We are also an IMDb qualifying festival, granting all eligible film submissions a fast tracked title-page in IMDb.com. For more information about the IMDb-qualifying program please visit the Support Tab on your Withoutabox account home page and click on IMDb-Qualifying Status.

For updates including festival entry, awards, winners, and other NZ short film news and opportunities, sign up to our monthly e-mail newsletter or follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Entry guidelines for 2016 are:

GENRE: Films and music videos can be any genre.

LENGTH: Films are to be no less than 2 minutes and no more than 20 minutes in length (including end credits). Music video must be no less than 1 minute and no more than 10 minutes in length.

COMPLETION DATE: Films and music videos must have been completed after July 2014.

BROADCASTING: Films must not have previously been shown publicly on the Internet. (This does not apply to music videos or to short films entered in the ‘Not in competition’ category.)

SUBTITLES: All entries with dialogue not in the English language must be subtitled in English.

DEADLINES & ENTRY FEES:

UNFINISHED FILMS: Please contact us before the deadline to request permission to submit an incomplete film, or have an extension granted.

ENTRY CATEGORIES: Show Me Shorts has four categories of entry.

• NZ films – Films made by New Zealanders or with significant New Zealand content are eligible for the ‘New Zealand short films’ entry category.
• International films – Films made without significant NZ contribution or content are eligible for the ‘International short films’ entry category.
• Not in competition – New Zealand or international films that are, or have been, shown on the internet are eligible for the ‘Not in competition’ entry category.
• NZ music videos – New Zealand music videos are eligible for the ‘New Zealand Music video’ entry category.

Show Me Shorts prioritises well-crafted cinematic films, as well as films that will make their premiere in our festival.

AWARDS CRITERIA: To find out if you qualify for our awards please see our Awards Criteria web page.

POSTAGE: All postage costs are the responsibility of the sender. Entry materials will NOT be returned. If selected, screening materials may be returned.

CENSORSHIP: If your film has previously been rated for screening in New Zealand please let us know.

PROMO USE: Show Me Shorts reserves the right to use up to 30 seconds of all entries for promotional purposes.