Film Festival

The UOWD x Media Team Film Festival is the inaugural Film Festival organized by the UOWD Media Team. This festival showcases the creative talents of students – both in Dubai and Internationally – in the form of short films and advertising shorts. Making videos, telling stories using the medium of screens, and bringing your creativity to the world has never been easier – iPhones, YouTube, TikTok, IG, etc. allow anyone to create and share content. But at the same time, going from content creator to film maker, director, producer, editor, scriptwriter, etc., has never been more challenging. This festival is a chance to show your talents – working together in a small team to produce a short film or advertising short.

All submissions will go through a selection process, and films that are chosen for the final round will be screened at the Film Festival before a panel of judges and public audience.

Prizes will be given to all finalists, with a grand prize given to the best overall film and to the best advertising short.

Film Festival Event Date

Saturday, 18 November 2023 | 5:30pm – 8:30pm | UOWD Building, Lecture Theatre, Dubai Knowledge Park

Eligibility Requirements

Age Groups:
University Students (18-30) & High School Students (16-18). Teams must indicate their school(s) in the entry form.
Categories:
UAE resident (University & High School) and International (University & High School)
Submission type:
Short Film (7-10 minutes) OR Advertising Short (less than 1 minute)
Individuals OR Teams can ONLY submit in one category
Either as a UAE resident or International participant
Teams can be a maximum of 4 people
(individuals cannot work on more than 1 team/submission)

Final date for submission Monday, 30 October 2023

Registration closed

To reserve your seat for the inaugural of UOWD Film Festival, click here

Submission Requirements:

Short film (UAE resident & International)
Advertising Short (UAE resident & International)

Short film (UAE resident & International)

Short Film Submissions must be uploaded online and include:

Entry Form
1 minute trailer (HD)
The full film (HD)
Film treatment (max 1000 words)
3 Screen Shots from the film (HD)
2 Posters of the Film (high resolution) (27” x 40”, 300 dpi)
Pictures (high resolution) and short biographies (100-200 words) of all team members

Short Films should be less than 10 minutes in length and submitted to one of the following Genres:

Comedy
Drama
Horror
Romance
Sci-Fi

All entries must be original work, done by the group

All content must be original or have written permission to be used in the production of the film – copyright protected material is not allowed to be used

If video, images or other content are used from another person, evidence of
permission for use must be provided and acknowledged in the film credits. This is
strictly enforced.

Non-English films must have English subtitles.

Short Films will be judged on the following:

Content

Storytelling
Artistic & Visual Appeal
Continuity
Originality
Creativity

Technical

Editing
Audio/Sound Editing
Film Focus & Lighting
Effects

Advertising Short (UAE resident & International)

Advertising Shorts should be less than 1 minute in length and can be about any product/service the team chooses. Advertisements should be a new, original video advertisement for an existing product or service, but should not reimagine the product/service itself.

Advertising Short Submissions must be uploaded online and include:

Entry Form
The Full Advertisement
3 Screen Shots from the video AD (HD)
Pictures (high resolution) and short biographies (100-200 words) of all team members

Advertising Shorts will be judged on the following:

Content

Creativity
Originality
Artistic & Visual Appeal

Technical

Editing
Audio/Sound Editing
Film Focus & Lighting
Effects

The following types of content are not acceptable:

Sexual scenes and nudity
Very strong violence
Strong horror
Overly indecent language or behavior

Selection Process

Entries will be subject to preview by a committee constituted by the Festival. The committee will select 6 (3 from the UAE resident category and 3 International) short film finalists and 6 (3 from the UAE resident category and 3 international) advertising short finalists to be screened at the festival.

No person in any way connected with the production or commercial exploitation of a competitive entry will be a member of the jury. All Members of the jury will refrain from releasing any articles or reviews to the press concerning the films submitted for their judgement until after the jury’s decisions have been formally published/ declared.

The Festival organizers reserve the right to invite films they consider suitable for the film festival