Down East Flick Fest

The Deadline Waiver Period is now closed. We are growing and evolving. We are open to sponsorships. Welcome to the 7th Annual Film Festival for Down East Flick Fest (DEFF) submission process. As always, we will celebrate all the collaborative arts that make filmmaking possible. There will be opportunities to promote your craft, network with working filmmakers, and talk with industry professionals. This year we will extend our on-the-ground footprint but still maintain an online event. There will be winners in all the categories. The overall winning film, the Best of the Fest, will win a cash prize. We will also award a Community Impact Award (N.C.), a National Community Impact Award (U.S.), and an International Community Impact Award for films that significantly address social justice issues. There will also be a winner of the Unapologetic Award for marginalized groups that produce documentaries and other genres to share their communities' stories. We are also excited to announce a Poetry/ Spoken Word Films category. This category includes a fusion of literary or spoken word poetry, visual images, and sound to create powerful presentations and interpretations of the poet's intended meaning. We will facilitate a special showing and awards for select films in this category. The festival is a juried event that is open for both emerging and experienced filmmakers. We are establishing partnership opportunities above and beyond the event itself. More news on that will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead. Choose one category or genre that best describes your film. Along with our "Kid-Friendly" category, we are also offering a "Family Film" category. Any genre may be submitted in this category except for Animation, which will be judged separately. Be sure to read the description and requirements under these categories before submitting your film. If they do not meet these qualifications, they may be disqualified from the entire festival or placed in a more appropriate category at the judges' discretion. Filmmakers who identify themselves as High School Students and request a unique code will be judged separately from the regular entries. Fees will be waived for High School filmmakers from North Carolina schools and reduced by one-half for all other High School filmmakers. This is not automatic. The Student Film coordinator will notify all those accepted with this waiver or reduction. See Rules and Terms for specific details on how to submit. We will announce the details concerning live streaming and seated events closer to the festival dates.