LJMU MA Short Film Festival

LJMU MA Short Film Festival

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The LJMU MA Short Film Festival is a showcase of student short films programmed and run by students of the MA Film at Liverpool John Moores University, as part of the course module Exploring Film Festivals, Distribution and Exhibition. Working under festival director Dr Lydia Papadimitriou and festival coordinator Martin Jones, the students select the films, curate the strands and handle publicity, trailers, award design and filmmaker Q&As. Entries come from students and alumni of universities and film schools worldwide, with films of up to 20 minutes made as student work, in fiction, documentary, animation and experimental strands.

The festival was first held online in April 2021 and has included in-person screenings in Liverpool and a live awards ceremony since 2023, while the full programme streams free online during the festival. The jury prizes are the Paper Bird Awards, one for each strand, alongside an audience award decided by online votes. The dates for the 2027 edition are 9–18 April 2027.

Country

United Kingdom (UK)

Categories

Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Short, Student

Dates

9 April 2027 — 18 April 2027

Awards and prizes

Paper Bird Awards, presented in five categories: - Red Paper Bird for Best Fiction Film - Yellow Paper Bird for Best Animation - Purple Paper Bird for Best Documentary - Blue Paper Bird for Best Experimental Film - White Paper Bird Audience Award, voted for by visitors to the festival website

Festival rules

Submissions are open to students and alumni of any institution of higher education and/or film school, provided the film was made as part of their student work and completed after January 2024. The festival welcomes student fiction, documentary and animation films (plus an experimental category) with a maximum length of 20 minutes, from any country. A maximum of three submissions per filmmaker; any more will not be considered for competition. Films not in English must include English subtitles (preferably as a separate SRT file; embedded subtitles are also accepted). Films do not need to be premieres. The festival may use parts of the film (including trailer, teaser and poster) for promotional purposes. The submitter must own the rights to the film. Selected filmmakers are contacted separately for permission to make the film available for viewing for the duration of the festival. There must be no outstanding copyright or licensing issues with any material or soundtrack in the film; failure to adhere to this results in disqualification.

Contacts

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