Anyone aged 15 - 24 years based in Aotearoa New Zealand is eligible. This includes both secondary and tertiary students as well as non-students. You can be of any nationality or background, and hold any visa type. If you are under 18, your parent/guardian must consent to your entry and participation. The person entering an entry can be of any role or position, as long as they have proper authorisation.

You can enter any type* of short film, animation, video advert, documentary, or music video. This includes entries of any genre, story, or theme including, but not limited to, horror, drama, action, adventure, comedy, science fiction, thriller, romance, fantasy, crime, noir, mystery, etc. NCEA student assessments, coursework, vlogs and explainer videos are accepted.

*Certain rules apply. All entries must be of a ‘Mature (M)’ rating or lower.

All entries must be of a ‘Mature (M)’ rating or lower. Profanity and violence are accepted to a certain, reasonable extent for artistic or other applicable purposes (such as for storytelling purposes and in a documentary). We do not accept explicit material which intentionally encourages violence, sexual harm, self-harm, property damage, terrorism, or other forms of harm.

While freedom of expression is promoted and cherished, violence and the endangerment of others is banned and will not be tolerated.

Entries can be of any language, including in languages other than English. If your entry is not in English, however, please enter a version with English captioning (subtitles).

Entries need to have been completed in the 2 years before each entry deadline. The ‘Completion Date’ is the date on which your entry’s final cut (version) was completed and/or published (public or otherwise).

We accept entries of any publication status. This includes both entries which have been published publicly or privately, as well as entries which have not yet been published at all. We also accept entries which have been submitted to other film festivals or competitions.

You must hold full and unrestricted rights to all content of any form in your entry. This includes imagery, video, audio, and any other type of intellectual property. If your entry includes or has made use of any content which is not your intellectual property or which you did not create, you must have obtained (or purchased) appropriate license(s). For example, if you used any music which you did not create yourself, you must have obtained license(s) and/or the rights to use such music in your entry. You must ensure you are not prohibited from entering your entry into a film festival or competition. Please see our Terms and Conditions for more information. By entering your entry and agreeing to the Copyright Declaration included in our Entry Form, you understand and agree that you may be disqualified if you are found to have falsely declared that you have obtained all right(s) and permission(s) to enter your entry. You may be asked to present proof of permission(s) and/or license(s) by us.

All entries will be reviewed and judged according to our Festival’s Judging Criteria. This is carried out by our Curation Team, which includes industry experts and professionals from throughout New Zealand and across the world. Entries are evaluated according to:

Artistic Merit (story, creativity, entertainment) - 60%

Technical Merit - 40%

We accept entries which utilise or were created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). If you used artificial intelligence in the creation of your entry (including in any part of the creation of your entry), please declare this in writing either as a comment on our Entry Form or by contacting us.