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This page is inactive. Please see here for updated information about the USS film festival. 

Have you made an original film you'd like to screen at NSU? Here’s your chance!

NSU's Annual Undergraduate Film Festival, hosted by the Farquhar Honors College, invites NSU undergraduates to submit short films in a variety of styles, including narrative, documentary, or avant-garde. The completed films are screened at the Undergraduate Student Symposium, which is held each year in April. Prizes are awarded for the best films.

Guidelines

• Films should be 5-10 minutes in length. Films that don't adhere to these length requirements will be disqualified.
• The director for each film must be a current undergraduate student at NSU; however, the actors and other crew members are not required to be enrolled at NSU.
• You must secure a faculty sponsor for your project; the faculty sponsor must approve the project’s abstract before you complete the USS application.
• You must clearly cite the influences on your work in the film credits and in your written abstracts. If any paradigm or technique has been taken from a specific film, that should be made explicit in both the film credits and in the written abstracts.
• You may submit only one film per year to the annual film festival.
• You are responsible for attending the screening of your film during the symposium.

How to Participate

For more information, or to sign up, contact the festival organizers by email: Marlisa Santos, Ph.D., at santosm@nova.edu, or Weylin Sternglanz, Ph.D., at sterngla@nova.edu.

Each filmmaker is responsible for all legal matters related to his or her film (such as getting actors and crew members to sign the appropriate release forms).

Important Dates

• Application Opens: January 9, 2023
• Application Deadline: February 12, 2023
• Film Completion Deadline: end of March

Film Workshop

The festival organizers may hold an organizational workshop for NSU undergraduates interested in participating in the film festival. Workshop topics may include tips for writing scripts, recruiting actors, camera work, editing, and submitting abstracts to the USS.

Judging and Awards

Judging will take place before the film screenings at the USS. Participating judges include NSU faculty and industry and community professionals. During the USS, the top twenty films will be showcased as part of the NSU Film Festival. The highest honors will be announced at the USS Awards Ceremony. 

Benefits and Outcomes

• Learn invaluable skills in film technology and media studies. These skills give you a significant advantage when applying to graduate programs in film or media studies or positions in advertising, business, and media technology.
• Gain a deeper understanding of the work involved in a collaborative creative endeavor.
• Develop creative writing and leadership skills through writing and directing your film.
• Engage with faculty in a social and educational setting during the film festival.