Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival

Call for entries now open!

EMP|SFM in partnership with SIFF will present the sixth annual Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival Saturday, January 29 or February 5, 2011 at the Seattle Cinerama Theater. The festival brings together industry professionals in filmmaking and the genres of science fiction and fantasy to encourage and support new, creative additions to science fiction and fantasy cinema arts.



SUBMISSIONS
From June 4 through September 15, 2010, the Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival will accept short film submissions, up to 15 minutes in length, that have been produced after 2006 for entry into the competition. Multiple submissions will be accepted according to the rules and regulations. Submissions will be judged based on originality, quality, artistic merit, innovation, voice, style and narrative.

The festival will accept animated or live-action submissions in science fiction (examples: futuristic stories, space adventure, technological speculation, social experiments, utopia and dystopia) and fantasy (examples: sword and sorcery, folklore, urban fantasy, magic, mythic adventure). The festival welcomes submissions that step outside the boundaries of reality and inspire a sense of wonder. The festival will not accept horror submissions.

Submissions are accepted through Withoutabox.com:

DETAILS
Festival Date: January 29 or February 5, 2011
Location: Seattle, WA at the Cinerama Theatre
Deadlines: June 30 (early), August 15 (final), September 15 (late)
Entry Fees: $15-$60
Submissions: All submissions are processed through Without a Box – www.withoutabox.com/login/4608.

JURY
A nationally recognized panel of distinguished film, television, literature, and science fiction industry professionals, peers and film critics will review qualifying submissions and determine the winners. 2011 Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival judges include:

Seattle filmmaker Barbara Brown, whose credits include Sherman Alexie's The Business of Fancy Dancing, World's Greatest Dad with Robin Williams, the mega-hit Twilight, John Carpenter's The Ward, and the TV series Northern Exposure; local cinematographer Ben Kasulke whose credits include $5 Cover: Seattle, Humpday, My Effortless Brilliance, and former SFFSFF film, CC 2010; acclaimed writer/director Howard McCain who made his big-budget directing debut with Outlander, co-wrote Underworld 3, and recently sold the action/adventure pitch, Amazon; io9.com editor-in-chief Annalee Newitz, whose science, technology and pop culture writing has been featured in Wired, The Washington Post, 2600, New Scientist, Technology Review, Popular Science, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian; 2010 winner of the SFFSFF Audience Favorite Award for his short, Charlie Thistle, Bragi Schut Jr. is the creator of the CBS series Threshold, and the winner of the Academy Award Foundation's Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for his 2003 script, Season of the Witch, which is currently in production starring Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman; Film Editor of The Stranger, Lindy West; and Daniel Wilson, author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising (Bloomsbury, 2005) and Robopocalypse (Doubleday, 2011), as well as a contributing editor to Popular Mechanics magazine.

SFFSFF 2011 Jury:
Barbara Brown
Ben Kasulke
Howard McCain
Annalee Newitz
Bragi Schut Jr.
Lindy West
Daniel Wilson

AWARDS
Grand Prize
Second Place
Third Place
Douglas Trumbull Award for Best Special Effects
Audience Favorite

FORMAT
10 short films will screen in the first session 4:00pm – 6:00pm; 10 short films will screen in the second session 7:30pm – 9:30pm. An awards ceremony follows the second session.

MISSION & OBJECTIVE
The Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival promotes and encourages an awareness, appreciation and understanding of the art of science fiction and fantasy cinema. Its mandate is to create a forum for creative artistry in science fiction and fantasy film and recognize the most outstanding short films produced.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film festival brings together industry professionals in both filmmaking and the genre of science fiction and fantasy to encourage and support new, creative additions to science fiction and fantasy cinema arts. The film festival is co-sponsored by Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM) and the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF).

Questions?
Consult the Submission Guidelines, Rules and Regulations and Info Sheet, or contact EMP|SFM public programming at filmfest@empsfm.org.