Film Festival

The UOWD x Media Team Film Festival is the inaugural Film Festival organized by the UOWD Media Team. This festival showcases the creative talents of students – both in Dubai and Internationally – in the form of short films and advertising shorts. Making videos, telling stories using the medium of screens, and bringing your creativity to the world has never been easier – iPhones, YouTube, TikTok, IG, etc. allow anyone to create and share content. But at the same time, going from content creator to film maker, director, producer, editor, scriptwriter, etc., has never been more challenging. This festival is a chance to show your talents – working together in a small team to produce a short film or advertising short.

All submissions will go through a selection process, and films that are chosen for the final round will be screened at the Film Festival before a panel of judges and public audience.

Prizes will be given to all finalists, with a grand prize given to the best overall film and to the best advertising short.

Film Festival Event Date

Saturday, 16 November 2024 | 6:00PM - 9:00PM | UOWD Building, Lecture Theatre, Dubai Knowledge Park

Eligibility Requirements

Age Groups:
University Students (18-30) & High School Students (16-18). Teams must indicate their school(s) in the entry form.
Categories:
Short Film (UAE resident & International, University & High School Students) and Advertising Shorts (UAE resident & International, High School Students ONLY)
Submission type:
Short Film (7-10 minutes) OR Advertising Short (less than 1 minute)
Individuals OR Teams can ONLY submit in one category
Either as a UAE resident or International participant
Teams can be a maximum of 4 people
(individuals cannot work on more than 1 team/submission)

Final date for submission: 15 October 2024

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University Students (UAE Residents and International) and High School Students (UAE Residents and International)

2024 Theme: Past, Present, Future

All short films must be made to fit with this theme. This theme is rather broad, and we want to see creativity in how the films adopt or apply this theme to the storyline and film.

Short Film Submissions must be uploaded online and include:

Entry Form
1 minute trailer (HD)
The full film (HD)
Film treatment (max 1000 words)
3 Screen Shots from the film (HD)
2 Posters of the Film (high resolution) (27” x 40”, 300 dpi)
Pictures (high resolution) and short biographies (100-200 words) of all team members

Short Films should be less than 10 minutes in length and submitted to one of the following Genres:

Comedy
Drama
Horror
Romance
Sci-Fi

All entries must be original work, done by the group

All content must be original or have written permission to be used in the production of the film – copyright protected material is not allowed to be used

If video, images or other content are used from another person, evidence of permission for use must be provided and acknowledged in the film credits. This is strictly enforced.

Non-English films must have English subtitles.

Short Films will be judged on the following:

Content

Storytelling
Artistic & Visual Appeal
Continuity
Originality
Creativity

Technical

Editing
Audio/Sound Editing
Film Focus & Lighting
Effects

High School Students ONLY (UAE Residents and International)

Advertising Shorts should be less than 1 minute in length and can be about any product/service the team chooses. Advertisements should be a new, original video advertisement for an existing product or service, but should not reimagine the product/service itself.

Advertising Short Submissions must be uploaded online and include:

Entry Form
The Full Advertisement
3 Screen Shots from the video AD (HD)
Pictures (high resolution) and short biographies (100-200 words) of all team members

Advertising Shorts will be judged on the following:

Content

Creativity
Originality
Artistic & Visual Appeal

Technical

Editing
Audio/Sound Editing
Film Focus & Lighting
Effects

The following types of content are not acceptable:

Sexual scenes and nudity
Very strong violence
Strong horror
Overly indecent language or behavior

Selection Process

Entries will be subject to preview by a committee constituted by the Festival. The committee will select up to 6 (3 from University students and 3 from High School students) short film finalists and up to 4 advertising short finalists to be screened at the festival.

No person in any way connected with the production or commercial exploitation of a competitive entry will be a member of the jury. All Members of the jury will refrain from releasing any articles or reviews to the press concerning the films submitted for their judgement until after the jury’s decisions have been formally published/ declared.

The committee will select up to 6 short film finalists (3 from University students and 3 from High School students) and up to 4 advertising short finalists to be screened at the festival.

Films and Advertising Shorts submitted to the UOWD Film Festival must be original work. Work previously submitted to other festivals will not be accepted.

Open Day

Attend our next Open Day on Saturday, 19 April 2025.
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