It's a short film festival, entirely free. Concept is simple: to propose a short film of 2 min 20 on a imposed theme each year.
The ambition is to support video creation and to encourage the emergence of new talents.
This very short format is explained by determination to reduce constraints of movie making to the maximum and to be the most accessible possible, that makes it possible to propose an opportunity to create.
To participate, you just have to submit your movies on this website that broadcasts all shorts in competition.
This Contest is open to all individuals, no matter your country.
Minors must obtain permission from a parent or guardian to enter the Contest. The Organiser may require written parental consent before awarding a prize.
The theme of this 13th edition will be "The Number 13". It will be possible to submit your films between 25 October 2022 and 25 January 2023.
As always, this is a basis for inspiration but it is up to you to interpret this theme, to treat it in a direct or more subtle way, surprise us!
No, the selection is made by the pre-selection committee on the basis of the following criteria :
- The relevance of the video to the theme of the Competition
- The quality and originality of the script
- Technical quality, photography and direction
- The personal appreciation
Votes are limited to the Public Prize, they don't enter into selection or designation of other prizes.
Yes, each director can upload as many videos as they would like, as long as they are related to the theme and duration.
To guarantee that the works submitted are recent, the first broadcast or streaming of the video on any platform must not be earlier than 1 January 2022.
To participate, you must register on www.festivalnikon.fr during call for films period, then complete your profile, information about your film and upload it before closing date for entries.
No other way of participation will be taken into account (sending a DVD, by mail, transfer link, Youtube link, multi-festival website...).
Each director can upload as many videos as they would like, as long as they are related to the theme.
The length of the video must be between 120 and 140 seconds including credits. As video players used to show films sometimes round length up to the next second, an additional second will be tolerated.
Videos submitted must be in High Definition, with minimum resolution of 1080 pixels (1920x1080p).
To guarantee that the works submitted are recent, the first broadcast or streaming of the video on any platform must not be earlier than 1 January 2022.
A French version or version subtitled in French of the work must be submitted to be eligible for the following awards and prizes: Grand Jury Prize, Media Award, Best Director, Best Photography, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Sound, Best Student Film and Audience Award.
An English version or version subtitled in English of the work must be submitted to be eligible for the Best International Film Award.
See our technical recommendations for more information.
It's not forbidden to include violence or nudity in your movies, however some rules must be respected to validate online broadcast and to ensure that potential viewers of your work are warned.
Proposed content must not contain pornographic messages or incite to crime, hate, violence, suicide and racism.
If your content contains scenes that are unsuitable for all audiences, we recommend that you include a warning introduction message to alert viewers. Finally, an age restriction can be imposed by the organization directly on video player to provide an additional level of protection and prevent distribution of this content to vulnerable audiences.
You will find all our recommendations, whether for image, sound or subtitles, to best prepare the upload of your film on the page "How to participate?"
For a possible projection of your film on a large screen during public screenings, we also recommend that you provide a file in Pro Res HD HQ 422 or 4444 or XQ format in .mov
If upload of your film doesn't not work, check that your file respects recommendations and try again with a better internet connection, wired if possible.
If it still doesn't work, contact us at contact@nikonfilmfestival.fr : we'll tell you alternative procedure to follow.
Yes, it is quite possible to submit your film to other festivals during or after the Nikon Film Festival.
There is no imposed exclusivity, we invite participants to share these films as much as possible.
The Jury's decisions will be based primarily on the following criteria :
- Relevance of the video to the theme
- Quality and originality of scenario
- Technical quality, photography and direction
- Personal appreciation
Evaluation of the films in competition is a whole, no criteria has priority over another.
A preselection of 50 films will be selected by a committee made up of several members of the Organiser’s staff and industry professionals.
This list of committee members will be publicly announced at the same time as the preselection of films on the Internet.
The pre-selection of the 50 finalist films aims to represent as best as possible the diversity of views proposed each year on a common theme. The choice of this list is made in 3 steps that we explain below.
Preamble: the number of votes or views has no influence on the selection. The different stages are based solely on the qualities of the films in competition, without distinction of amateur/professional status and consideration of the team they are made up of.
1st stage: The members of the festival's organization view all the films in competition to make an initial selection of several hundred films for the second stage. This selection can vary between 300 and 500 films.
2nd step: each member of the pre-selection committee receives a list of 100 films or 200 films according to their availability to evaluate them on the same criteria as the members of the jury. This step is carried out individually and remotely.
A first deliberation is carried out to validate the films to be sent in step 3.
3rd step: a selection of 150 to 200 films (between 6 and 8 hours) is screened in a cinema to deliberate and validate the list of 50 finalists.
It is on this selection of 50 films that the jury bases itself to award the different prizes for which it is responsible. For the other prizes (International Prize, Media Prize, Gross Talent Prize and Audience Prize), this selection has no impact.
This pre-selection committee is composed of members of the organization and professionals from the audiovisual sector. Its exact composition will be revealed at the same time as the list of finalist films.
The selection criteria are the following (in no order of importance): quality of the script, photography, interpretation, direction, editing, sound, emotion, originality and relevance of the film to the theme.
The pre-selection of the 50 finalist films is made to prepare public screenings and deliberations of the main jury.
The Audience Award, International Award and Sens Critique Selection are not concerned by this selection. All eligible films in competition can win.
The award for Best Student Film is designated by the main Jury from the shortlist of finalists. The jury's decisions will be based primarily on the same criteria as the other main prizes. The participant's status as a student or young graduate of less than one (1) year as of the closing date of the entries will also be taken into account.
You want to add your school to the list ? Please contact us by email.
To support a movie, you have to click on the "support this movie" button available on the movie page, located below the video player. To vote, it is necessary to log in or create an account in the window that will open.
To create an account, there are 2 possibilities: by Google connect, or by email, in which case you have to activate your account by clicking on the link received by email.
Each voter can only vote via the "support this film" button once per film throughout the voting phase. There is no limit on the number of films that can be supported.
The Audience Award is given to the Entrant whose film achieved the highest score based on the following calculation formula:
Score = ((1 x N1) + (1.25 x N2) + (1.5 x N3) + (2 x N4) + (2.5 x N5))
N1 = number of votes submitted by a voter who supported one (1) film in competition
N2 = number of votes submitted by a voter who supported between two (2) and five (5) films in competition
N3 = number of votes submitted by a voter who supported between six (6) and ten (10) films in competition
N4 = number of votes submitted by a voter who supported between eleven (11) and twenty (20) films in competition
N5 = number of votes submitted by a voter who supported more than twenty-one (21) films in competition
The minimum number of supporting votes to be eligible for the Audience Award is set at 50% of the average number of supporting votes for all films. In case of a tie between several Entrants, the jury will designate the winner.
The Best International Film Award is open to all.
No matter what language original version is, an English or English subtitled version of your movie must be submitted to be eligible for the International Competition.
Nikon Film Festival invites representatives of the film press to award a prize to one of the 50 finalist films.
This specific jury dedicated to the Critics' Choice Award is composed of journalists who agree to share their views on the films in competition, their decision is based on the same technical and artistic criteria as the main jury.
No, to be eligible for International Competition, your film must be available in English, either with audio or subtitles. That's all !
To summarize:
- Your film is only available in French = national competition
- Your film is only available in English = international competition
- Your film is available in French and English (audio or subtitles) = both competitions
For more information, please visit this page.
You can customize the thumbnail of your movie. The format is relatively free but the recommended resolution is 1 440 x 680 (with a minimum width of 640 pixels).
- Minimum dimensions: 640 x 360 pixels
- Maximum dimensions: 5000 pixels
- Maximum file size: 10 MB
- File format: JPG, PNG or GIF
- Colorimetry: No CMYK - Only grayscale, 8-bit palette or RGB depending on the file format
You can download the logo and the official poster in our press area.