There is no fee to submit a film for consideration.
Submission Requirements
The length of the film including all credits must be at least 1 minute (1:00:00) and shorter than 6 minutes (5:59:xx).
The film must tell a story; this excludes public service announcements, trailers, music videos, non-narrative experimental pieces, etc.
Whether a piece is truly narrative is at the discretion of the submission review panel.
All genres and styles are considered, including live action and animation, documentary and fiction, drama and comedy, etc.
For 2021, we prefer films completed in 2020 or 2021. Films completed in 2019 may also be considered. Earlier films are ineligible.
Recommendations
None of the following criteria disqualify a film but may count against films in consideration for acceptance:
- Films under 2 minutes
- Films from 2019
- Films available publicly online
- Films that have played extensively in the US (especially northeast)
Technical Guidelines
For submission format, we prefer 1080p AVC/H.264 files.
We prefer bit rates between 10 Mbps and 20 Mbps.
No DVD or DCP submissions, please.
To submit a file, you can use our Hightail account.
You can also use a service such WeTransfer, DropBox, or Google Drive. Share with email address mergingartsfilmMergingArts@MergingArtsgmailMergingArts.MergingArtscom.
Filmmakers accepted into the festival are strongly encouraged to provide film stills and a photo of the filmmaker.