San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition

09 - 10 Oct, 2020

San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition logo
San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition

Is this your festival?

Is this your festival?

About the festival

Underwater Films Only!

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, our "in person" event will not able to be held this year. We plan to hold a virtual film festival, details will be available soon.

Please keep submitting your films!!

The first San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition was first organized in 2000 by a small group who had been meeting at Chuck Nicklin’s dive shop to share information on shooting and editing underwater video. In the past twenty years, it has grown into one of the most prestigious underwater film festivals worldwide. Help us make the 21st festival the best ever by submitting your underwater film! Our venue is state-of-the-art Irwin M. Jacobs Qualcomm Hall, and we routinely sellout with over 500 people each night.

Our approach includes affordable tickets, the opportunity to share your work with an appreciative audience, no entry fees, and a panel of independent judges who are distinguished in their fields.

Among the renowned videographers whose work has been displayed are Howard and Michele Hall, Flip Nicklin, Leandro Blanco, Terry Maas, Shawn Heinrichs, and Simon Spear.

Unfortunately, due to the situation with COVID-19, we will not be able to hold an audience best film selection this year, and so will not be presenting prizes for 2020.

About

Underwater Films Only!

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, our "in person" event will not able to be held this year. We plan to hold a virtual film festival, details will be available soon.

Please keep submitting your films!!

The first San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition was first organized in 2000 by a small group who had been meeting at Chuck Nicklin’s dive shop to share information on shooting and editing underwater video. In the past twenty years, it has grown into one of the most prestigious underwater film festivals worldwide. Help us make the 21st festival the best ever by submitting your underwater film! Our venue is state-of-the-art Irwin M. Jacobs Qualcomm Hall, and we routinely sellout with over 500 people each night.

Our approach includes affordable tickets, the opportunity to share your work with an appreciative audience, no entry fees, and a panel of independent judges who are distinguished in their fields.

Among the renowned videographers whose work has been displayed are Howard and Michele Hall, Flip Nicklin, Leandro Blanco, Terry Maas, Shawn Heinrichs, and Simon Spear.

Unfortunately, due to the situation with COVID-19, we will not be able to hold an audience best film selection this year, and so will not be presenting prizes for 2020.

Awards & Winners

There are no winners yet for this festival

Terms and rules

The films should be submitted in 1920 x 1080 resolution with 20 – 30 Mbps encoding in H.264 in .mov or .mp4 format. The film(s) submitted will be the exhibition version that will be screened as uploaded to FilmFreeway if your film(s) is/are selected. Please keep your audio from peaking over -6 dB, as the sound system will distort audio that goes above this volume level. Should your video be shot in 4K or higher, please submit an HD (1920 by 1080) down-converted exhibition version of your video.

Please provide relevant info, including the following:
1. The name of the film.
2. The name of the filmmaker(s).
3. A brief introduction of the film (100 words or less).
4. A brief introduction of the filmmaker(s) (100 words or less).
5. Photo of the filmmaker(s).
6. A Contact email for the filmmaker(s)

By submitting the above information along with your film to the 2020 San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition, you will be declaring that all the included information is true to the best of your knowledge and that you have all legal rights, including legal rights to the music, to submit this film for public screening at the 2020 SDUFEX film exhibition. Your submission of the film is your affirmation to the truth of this declaration, in lieu of a signature.

Additional information, deadlines, and rules are listed below:

• Films must be submitted through FilmFreeway no later than June 21st 2020.
• Maximum of two films (total) per filmmaker can be submitted.
• Films can be submitted in two categories:
• 5 Minutes Max. Up to 5 minutes in length with at least 50% of the footage be shot underwater. The majority of films selected for SDUFEX will be in this category. We encourage film makers to submit the best version of their film, even if it is well under 5 minutes. Many of our best films are only 2 or 3 minutes long – longer does not always mean better.
• 10 Minutes Max. 5 to 10 minutes in length with at least 50% of the footage shot underwater. In this category we are looking for films that tell a story – we strongly encourage submissions with more substance in this category, and these will be judged accordingly. Films will only be selected for this category if they are narrated. Please note that a maximum of three films in this category (up to 10 minutes) per evening may be selected, and so film makers will stand a much greater chance of being selected if they submit in the under 5-minute category.

• Black Video Lead-In: Record or add a one (1) second black lead-in at the front of your video.
• You must have the legal right to use all visual footage, images, audio, and music contained in your film. You will be required to certify this in your entry email.
• Judges will not be permitted to submit films for consideration.
• Films should not have commercial content, for example promoting destination hotels or dive-boats.
• Films that have previously been submitted to SDUFEX will not be considered unless significant changes have been made.
• The San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition reserves the right to use up to thirty seconds from your film(s) for the promotion of this event and future events. All rights will remain with the producers of the films.
• Based upon our experience, judges do not like watermarks that appear during the whole film. It is recommended that all credits and acknowledgements appear either at the beginning or end of your film.

Questions or Assistance: sdufexfilm@gmail.com

Ratings & Reviews

Categories and fees

Up to 10 minutes in length
Early Bird (16th March, 2020) €0
Regular (6th August, 2020) €0
Late (9th October, 2020) €0

5 to 10 minutes in length with at least 50% of the footage shot underwater. In this category we are looking for films that tell a story – we strongly encourage submissions with more substance in this category, and these will be judged accordingly. Films will only be selected for this category if they are narrated. Please note that a maximum of three films in this category (up to 10 minutes) per evening may be selected, and so film makers will stand a much greater chance of being selected if they submit in the under 5-minute category.

Up to 5 minutes in length
Early Bird (16th March, 2020) €0
Regular (6th August, 2020) €0
Late (9th October, 2020) €0

At least 50% of the footage be shot underwater. The majority of films selected for SDUFEX will be in this category. We encourage film makers to submit the best version of their film, even if it is well under 5 minutes. Many of our best films are only 2 or 3 minutes long – longer does not always mean better.

Matchmaking

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