How To Apply

PLEASE NOTE THE RULE CHANGES FOR THIS YEAR: 

• Students who are in certificate programs where a final film is made are now eligible for the competition.  
• The accreditation requirement for schools has been removed.
• Waiver and Film Festival Qualifying have been removed as alternate ways to qualify. Only capstone, thesis and intermediate level films are eligible for the competition.

STUDENT ELIGIBILITY

The director(s) of a submitted film must be a post-secondary student enrolled (full-time or part-time) in a degree or certificate-granting program when the film was made. High school/secondary students and younger are not eligible to submit.

FILM ELIGIBILITY

1. Only films that are undergraduate intermediate level or capstone films, or graduate school intermediate level or thesis films are eligible for entry. For associate degree and certificate programs, only final film projects are eligible. Students may submit these films directly to the competition.

a. Intermediate level means films completed in your second-to-final year (i.e., a junior-level class) for undergraduate students and second year or later for graduate school students.

2. A film must have been made as part of a student’s coursework or graduation requirement.

3. All films must be no longer than 40 minutes including opening and closing credits.

4. Student directors are only allowed to submit one film per competition year.

5. Films must have been completed and submitted for final credit/grading between June 2, 2024 and May 18, 2025, and within one year of the student’s graduation date.

6. Do not submit works in progress.  Films may not be altered once submitted for Student Academy Award consideration.

7. Films cannot have been entered in any previous SAA competitions. Making changes to a film submitted in a previous year, even significant changes, does not make the film eligible again.

8. Films submitted for the Academy Awards competition (regardless of the outcome) are not eligible for entry into any subsequent SAA competition.

9. Films (including any still images) must not display any festival laurels, or awards won.

10. All films submitted must be in English, subtitled in English, or dubbed in English. All films are encouraged to include closed captioning in English. All films that advance to the finals are required to have closed captioning in English.

11. Music videos, TV and web series episodes, advertising films, promotional films, and films made as works for hire are not eligible.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

1. The SAAs honor up to three credited directors. If your film has more than three directors, please submit the names of up to three who are the most responsible for creative direction of the project. If there are any credit discrepancies or controversies, the Academy will insist that credits be settled before the film may be considered for an award. The Academy will not be bound by any contract or agreement relating to the sharing or giving of credit, and reserves the right to make its own determination of credit for purposes of SAA consideration.

2. Entry forms and films must be submitted digitally via FilmFreeway.com

3. Upon submission, entries shall be verified for eligibility and category.

4. Films must be viewable on FilmFreeway. They can either be uploaded as a video file or pasted as a URL from Vimeo or YouTube only. If one of the latter, please enable your privacy settings to allow your film to be embedded

5. You must supply your faculty advisor's name and email when asked. Do not provide your email in lieu of theirs. They will be contacted to verify your film and student status.

6. Each film must be submitted to one category only. If a film is determined to be in an incorrect category, it will be reassigned to the correct category.

7. Films advancing to the semifinal round of judging will be asked for the below additional formats. Preferred media specs can be found by visiting the following page: Technical Specifications. Any hard media provided will be returned to the entrant after the competition ends. 

a. VIDEO FILE: Please send a muxed A/V file in adherence to our VIDEO and AUDIO specifications.
b. VTT TIMED TEXT (CC + Subtitles): Every film is required to upload a corresponding English closed caption Web-VTT file, though you may also be asked to submit an English subtitle Web-VTT (depending on the content of your film). Please view THIS CHART to determine the type of VTT you must send with your film. For further information on the Web-VTT format, please click here.
c. DCP: Please send in adherence to our DCP specifications.
d. ENGLISH AUDIO DESCRIPTION: If available, please deliver an audio description file in adherence with our AUDIO DESCRIPTION SPEC.

8. Failure to satisfy all the entry requirements will result in disqualification.

PUBLICITY

1. Student Academy Award participants may only promote their status in the competition within the explicit guidelines provided by the Academy.

2. Promoting any film entered into the SAA competition to Academy members (either by the filmmaker or by a third party, sometimes referred to as campaigning) while the SAA competition is active is not allowed, and will be considered cause for disqualification.

MISCELLANEOUS

1. Student Academy Award-winning films are eligible for entry into the following year's Academy Awards competition, provided the films satisfy all criteria for the Academy Award category for which they are entered.

2. If the eligibility and/or category of any entry is questioned, the Academy reserves the right to make a determination as the SAA Executive Committee may deem appropriate at its discretion.

3. The Academy reserves the right to amend or modify any procedure, process, or rule, as may be considered necessary by the SAA Executive Committee for the proper conduct of the Student Academy Awards or to adhere to any standards set forth by the Academy.

4. While there currently aren’t any rules against using AI, if you use AI in your film it should be to enhance the project and not to replace any human creativity.

5. The Academy is not responsible for late or missing entries.

6. The decisions of the Academy regarding any matter relating to the SAA will be final and binding in all respects.

ANIMATION - Animated films may present an original narrative story, an existing story or fable, or an exploration of a mood or thought.  Either comical or serious, they usually fall into one of two general fields -- character animation or abstract animation.  Various techniques include cel animation, computer animation, clay animation, stop-motion, pixilation, cut-out pins, camera multiple-pass imagery, kaleidoscope effects, and drawing on the film frame itself.  Winning Animation films are chosen by judging the product as a whole, as well as the artistic and technical skill of the filmmaker in whatever motif or animation technique the student has chosen.

DOCUMENTARY - Documentary films are nonfiction visual essays that seek to present historical subjects, current social or political issues, or specific human experiences in such a way as to have a dramatic impact upon the viewing audience.  Documentaries may be filmed in the cinéma vérité style where camera and microphone merely record the event without injecting the comments or subjective conclusions of the filmmaker, or may be a reenactment.  In the latter case, the distinction between dramatic and documentary film lies in the fact that while dramatic film is fictional, documentary film deals with factual situations and circumstances.  Winning films in this category are chosen on the basis of artistic technique, as well as the ability of the documentarian to fashion reality into a film essay which leaves the audience better informed and/or moved.

NARRATIVE - Narrative films strive to portray life, a character or a narrative story much the same way a novel does, but within the context of an audiovisual medium.  Past narrative films by students have included, but were not limited to, dramas, comedies, musicals, and many other story oriented genres.  Winning entries in this and all other categories reflect the merit of the film when viewed as a whole, as well as the professional execution of its component parts, such as script, dialogue, direction, cinematography, lighting, acting, editing and scoring.  Narrative category films may be adaptations of existing pieces of literature or original stories written by the student filmmaker.

ALTERNATIVE/EXPERIMENTAL – Alternative/Experimental films challenge traditional cinematic boundaries and conventions of expression. They employ unusual or groundbreaking aesthetic and technical elements. Generally, they do not follow conventional or predictable narrative form.  They allow for ambiguity and complexity of thought, and use abstraction or lyricism in their execution. Alternative/Experimental films often expand the language of cinema.

Note to entrants: This category is not meant to be a “catch all” category for films that have unusual narratives or structure.

1. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences shall judge entries on the basis of originality, entertainment, and production quality without regard to cost of production or subject matter. Entries shall be judged only within their respective category.

2. All stages of judging, including Preliminary, Semifinal, and Final rounds, shall be overseen by the members of the Academy.

3. Preliminary entries will be judged via their online digital submission.  At this stage, the Academy has the option to re-categorize the entry into a more suitable category. Filmmakers will be notified of advancement to the semifinals in July.

4. Semifinalist entries shall be judged online only. Filmmakers will be notified of advancement to the finals in August.

5. Finalist entries shall be judged online only.  Final ballots will be tabulated by the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers and filmmakers in each category will be notified of their final status in September.

6. Presentation of the Gold, Silver and Bronze award winners in each category will be made at the Student Academy Awards Ceremony on October 6, 2025.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards (which include cash grants of $5000, $3000 and $2000, respectively) may be given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in recognition of outstanding achievements in student filmmaking in each of four categories: Narrative, Documentary, Animation, or Alternative/Experimental

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THE BASICS
 

How much does it cost to submit my film?
Nothing. The SAAs are free to enter.

I am a high school student, can I submit?
No, we only accept submissions from students attending a post-secondary school, like a college or university.

I am a part-time student, can I submit?
Yes, as long as you are studying for a degree and meet all the other eligibility requirements.

Can I submit more than one film?
No, you can only submit one film.

Is there a minimum running time for short films?
No, there is no minimum, as long as it runs no more than 40 minutes including credits.

ELIGIBILITY

Please note: Only films that are undergraduate intermediate level or capstone films, or graduate school intermediate level or thesis films are eligible for entry. For associate degree and certificate programs, only final film projects are eligible.

Intermediate means films completed in your second-to-final year (i.e., a junior-level class) for undergraduate students and second year or later for graduate school students.

If I shoot my own short film with my friends outside of my coursework, can I enter this into the SAAs?
No. Films must have been made within the curricular structure of the teaching institution.

Is the completion date the day we finished shooting, the day we finished the edit, or the date it was submitted for grading?
The date you submitted for grading.

But what if the film I submitted to my school was a rough cut and the final edit was completed later?
Enter the completion date, as the date you finished the final rough cut. The film will still be eligible as long as it was completed within the qualifying dates and you are still a student or graduated within the qualifying dates.

What if not all of the crew are students?
As long as the director is a student, it will be eligible.

What if I am not a filmmaking student specifically but I have made a short film?
As long as the film was made as part of your coursework and you were graded/received credit, you don’t have to be studying in a filmmaking program to qualify.

What if I have more than 3 directors?
As per our rules, the SAAs honor up to three credited directors. If your film has more than three directors, please submit the names of up to three who are the most responsible for creative content. Credits must be settled before the film is considered for an award.

What if I wrote the script as part of my course, but the film was made independently?
The film must have been produced and completed as part of your course so this would not meet our eligibility requirements.

I completed my film after I graduated, can I still submit?
You have up to a year after graduation to submit your film, provided it was completed within the eligibility dates and you meet the rest of the eligibility requirements.

I submitted my film last year, but it didn’t get through to the next round, can I resubmit this year?
No. Films can only be entered once. Your film will be disqualified if it was entered and judged in a previous SAA competition.

If my film premiered at a film festival can I still submit?
Yes. There are no rules regarding previous screenings of your film theatrically or online.

If my film is, or has been, streaming online, is it eligible?
Yes. There are no rules regarding previous screenings of your film theatrically or online.

What if my parent is an Academy member, can I still submit?
Yes. If you have a family member or friend who is an Academy member, this does not disqualify you from the competition.

What if my film is in another language besides English?
All entries submitted must be in English, subtitled in English, or dubbed in English.

ONLINE SUBMISSION PROCESS (FILMFREEWAY)

Why do you need my faculty advisor’s details?
We verify all submissions with your faculty advisor to ensure you meet all our eligibility requirements. If you do not provide contact details for your faculty advisor or they are unable to verify your film, your submission will be disqualified.

If I am having problems uploading to FilmFreeway, will you accept submissions via another method?
No. All film submissions must be done through FilmFreeway.

What if I submit my film to the wrong category?
Please read the category descriptions carefully. As per our rules, a film can only be submitted to one category. However, if you do submit to a category, we feel is not accurate we reserve the right to move it to one more suited to your film. 

My film has been disqualified. How do I find out the reason for this?
You will have received an email from FilmFreeway detailing the reason. If you have not received this, please check your junk mail or your profile on FilmFreeway.

My film has been disqualified. Can I resubmit?
If you have identified the reason for your disqualification and it was a genuine error, you may resubmit. This will still count as the first submission so make sure you answer ‘no’ to the question of whether your film has been previously submitted to the SAAs.

How do I change my privacy settings in Vimeo so that my film will play in FilmFreeway?
If you are linking your video via Vimeo, be sure to update your settings in Vimeo to allow for embedding. Your video will still be password protected. Embedding simply allows the Vimeo video player to be displayed within the FilmFreeway interface. To allow embedding, go to your video in your Vimeo account, click 'Settings' > 'Privacy' > 'Where Can This Video be Embedded?' > 'Anywhere'

Can I submit via Vimeo or YouTube?
Yes. FilmFreeway seamlessly integrates with both Vimeo and YouTube. To submit with Vimeo or YouTube, go to 'My Projects' > 'Project File', then enter your video URL and password. You can update this link at any time.

Can I replace or update my film with a new version?
This may be possible if the judging process has not yet begun. Please contact us to determine if this is possible. If you replace or update your film when the judging process is underway, you risk being disqualified.

I have missed the submission deadline date. Can I have a waiver code?
Waiver codes are only released if you have a genuine reason for missing the deadline. Please email saa@oscars.org to determine if you can qualify for one.

If I have any technical questions regarding FilmFreeway, who should I contact?
support@filmfreeway.com
Phone: +1 604.229.0600
Toll free: +1 800.840.8870

If I have any questions regarding eligibility or the rules, which have not been covered in the FAQs, who should I contact?
saa@oscars.org

COMPETITION PROCESS

How many rounds are there in the competition?
Three: Preliminary, Semifinals, Finals.

Do the judges see my FilmFreeway profile, digital press kit, or personal details?
No. The judges have access to your film only.

AFTER THE COMPETITION

Does each member of my team receive the prize money?
The credited director of the film will receive the prize money. If there is more than one (three max), the money can be equally split.

Can I receive individual feedback on my film?
No. Unfortunately, due to the thousands of entries we received, it is not possible to provide feedback.

When will I receive my competition laurels?
After the competition has ended and the ceremony has taken place