**COVID19 Update**
*Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 Pandemic we are having to push back our spring event, we are now planning on holding the event on the 17th October 2020 if it is safe to do so. We have also cancelled the summer and autumn events for this year and will hopefully open again for new submissionsin the winter. *
Sandgrounder International Short Film Festival is a quarterly film festival for films of 20 minutes or less with a live screening event for all winning films and all Best of the North West Finalists. Our first ever event will be the 24th October 2020 at the Southport Bijou Cinema in Southport UK, close to Liverpool, Preston, Wigan, Bolton, Manchester, Blackpool etc.
We want to promote the interesting & entertaining work of as many short filmmakers as possible. To do this we have structured our competition to have several simple entry categories that will allow national and international, experimental, local (North west of England) and low budget filmmakers compete for awards.
All selected films will have their poster featured on our website indefinitely
Best Drama/Thriller
Best Comedy
Best Sci-fi/Fantasy
Best Horror
Weird and Wonderful Award
Best of the North West
Best Low Budget Film
Enter into one category only and if selected, your film will also be judged for the following awards:
Best of the Fest
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Director
Best Editing
Best Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Score
Best Sound Design
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL AWARD
If your film doesn't exactly fit into a box, is experimental, extreme or just plain crazy, then the Weird and Wonderful award category is for you.
THE BEST OF THE NORTH WEST AWARD
This award is for local filmmakers. To be eligible for this award the entrant should reside within the following counties: Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumbria. Best of the North West finalists can claim 2 free tickets to the live event.
THE BEST LOW BUDGET FILM AWARD
This award is for films made for under £1500.
Winners for the following categories will be announced prior to the live event. All winners will be screened at the event:
Best Drama/Thriller, Best Comedy, Best Sci-fi/Fantasy, Best Horror, Weird and Wonderful Award, Best Low Budget
All Finalists for the Best of the North West categories will be screened at the live event and the winner will be announced at the event
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
There will be a maximum of 10 films selected for each category. The film's poster and entrant will be posted in the selected films area on our website indefinitely. Official Selections will NOT be screened live.
FINALISTS
We will choose the top 5 finalists for each category. The film's poster and entrant will be posted in the finalist area on our website indefinitely. By default if the film is a finalist in a category other than a best film category the poster will be posted in the finalist area, however this can be replaced on request if the winner would like a head shot or alternative image in its place. Finalists (apart from Best of the North West) will NOT be screened.
AWARD WINNERS
If a film wins an award for one of the selected categories or Best of the Fest, the film's poster will be posted on the winners area on our website. By default if the film wins in one of the other categories the poster will be posted in the winners area, however this can be replaced on request if the winner would like a head shot or alternative image in its place.
All of the winning films from the entry categories and the best of the fest finalists will be screened live at the Bijou Cinema Southport.