BIFA 2023 Short Film Entries

RULES & ELIGIBILITY

This page is best viewed on a laptop or desktop – phones and tablets may distort or omit parts of the tables. A PDF of this information is available to download here.

Timeline

To see the full awards timeline, click here
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ENTRY DEADLINES & FEES

Entries for short films will remain free until Friday 4 August. Thereafter, each film entry will incur an entry fee at the following rates*:

	Dates	Entry fee – short films
Entry deadline 1	4 August	Free
Entry deadline 2	11 August	£20
Entry deadline 3	25 August	£40

*These prices exclude VAT

In the event that an entry cannot be completed before the entry fees are applicable (e.g. if confirmation of a qualifying festival screening comes after 4 August), entrants are advised to submit an entry before the 4 August free entry deadline with the qualifying festival / release field left blank to avoid the entry fees. An update on any qualifying screenings can then be sent to BIFA to confirm the film’s eligibility. This must be received by the final entry deadline.

In the event that an entrant cannot afford the entry fee, they are encouraged to contact BIFA on entry@bifa.film to discuss the possibility of a fee reduction or waiver.
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VOTING & ADJUDICATION PROCESS

More details about the BIFA voting and adjudication process can be found here.

FILM eligibility requirements

In all cases, final decisions about a film’s eligibility rest with BIFA’s Nomination Committee. Under exceptional circumstances, inclusion and consideration of films which do not strictly comply with the below criteria will be subject to the discretion of the Committee. If you have questions about your film’s eligibility, please contact BIFA on entry@bifa.film.

independent

Short films entered into BIFA generally qualify as independent, however the Nomination Committee may ask for more information about films that are produced as campaign films or branded content by commercial companies in order to make a determination about eligibility.

In general, films will usually qualify as independent where there is no involvement in the production or financing of a film by a major studio.

BIFA considers the following ten companies to be ‘major studios’*:
20^th Century Fox/Disney, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros

*studios may be added to this list at any time

UK NAtionality – Films

BIFA considers a film to be ‘British*’ if the writer(s), director and originating producer(s) are British

Where this is not the case, films are assessed by BIFA’s nomination committee, who take into account the following factors:

Whether the film was originated by a British production company or individual(s)
The creative contribution from the UK (eg. key creative team, lead cast and HoDs)
UK funding source(s)
Where each stage of production took place

Films that are not originated by a UK production company or individual(s) are unlikely to be eligible.

For student films, where the film school is listed as the main production company or funding source, BIFA will take the creative contribution from the UK as the main qualifier of Britishness.

Where an individual must be British to qualify for an award, such as in the debut categories, or for the purposes of identifying the nationality of a film, we may ask entrants if they or others who worked on a film have a British passport or the right to hold one, or if they have achieved ‘settled status’ by living in the UK for more than five years. BIFA’s Nomination Committee may, at its discretion, accept individuals as ‘British’ if they have not lived in the UK for more than five years or do not have settled status but have demonstrably been living and working in the UK for a considerable period of time and intend to do so in the future. If you are unsure, please use this test: https://www.gov.uk/check-british-citizen and get in touch with us on entry@bifa.film.

*Throughout the rules, when using the term ‘British’, BIFA is referring to the UK and British Crown dependencies Jersey and Guernsey (The Channel Islands) and the Isle of Man.

BFI DIVERSITY STANDARDS

In 2023 the BFI launched updated Diversity Standards criteria. Meeting the Standards now requires passing three of the five Standards. Standards C and E are mandatory for all (some concessions may be made for smaller projects).

Short films entered to the Best British Short Film award must be assessed against the BFI’s new criteria and should fill in the mandatory elements for Standards they wish to meet as fully as possible. There is no requirement for short films to meet the Standards, simply to be assessed against them.

You can find out more about the BFI Diversity Standards here

Films that have already been assessed against the Standards (either pre or post update) do not need to be re-assessed. If your film has not already been assessed against the standards, the deadline for completing the form is Friday 25th August. We will send this form to you after your entry has been submitted.

FILM RELEASE REQUIREMENTS

This year, the eligibility period is 1 November 2022 to 30 November 2023..

BRITISH SHORTS

Must have been completed on or after 1 May 2022
Must be under 40 minutes in running time
Must be narrative, experimental, documentary or animation. Music videos and fashion films are usually ineligible, but may be included at the discretion of the Nomination Committee and Shorts Subgroup where the film has sufficient narrative elements. To request an exception, please contact entry@bifa.film
Must:
- Screen, or have been scheduled to screen at an in-person screening, as part of the official selection at one or more* of BIFA’s qualifying festivals for short films during the eligibility period of 1 November 2022 to 30 November 2023.

Screen on one of BIFA’s recognised online channels during the eligibility period

Have won an award from one of BIFA’s qualifying awards organisations during the eligibility period

Short films that have won awards which are not on the qualifying festivals / awards list may still be entered but their acceptance to the BIFA competition is at the discretion of the Nomination Committee.

*Please note: BIFA Qualifying Festivals for short film now fall into two categories:

A (primarily international festivals)
B (primarily British festivals)

From 2023, to qualify for BIFA, short films must have screened at at least one festival from list A, or at least two festivals from list B. You can see the full list of qualifying festivals for short films here

Once entered, a short film can be withdrawn up to Monday 5 September. Short films that are withdrawn at this point can be entered in the subsequent year, if they fulfil all eligibility criteria for that year. Otherwise, previously entered films are not eligible.

category rules

Credits and eligibility decisions are based on the credits featured on exhibited prints of the film.

The named nominee(s) for Best British Short Film are fully credited writers, producers and directors. Co-directors and co-writers are only eligible where there are no lead directors.

Other producer credits, such as Associate, Executive, etc. are not eligible for this award.

One award trophy will be issued for this category. Where multiple nominees have been accepted by BIFA, additional trophies can be purchased in the event of an award win.

BIFA aims to include all nominees at events held to celebrate the nominees and to announce the winners but unfortunately this is not always possible. Confirmation of which nominees will be offered complimentary tickets to BIFA events will be issued in mid-October, when longlists are announced and shared with entrants.

Qualifying festivals and awards for british short films

We have produced a set of standards which we expect our qualifying festivals and awards bodies to meet.

If you would like to read more about our review and standards, or apply for BIFA Short Film Qualifying status for your festival, click here

You can see the full list of qualifying festivals, awards bodies and online channels for shorts here.
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access to Entered films

From this year onwards, all entrants must provide BIFA voters with online access to their entered films. In-person screening can be organised at the discretion of the entrant, in addition to online access.

Where adequate access to films has not been provided by the 9 September deadline, entry to BIFA will be rescinded and the film will be removed from contention.

access requirements:

Mandatory:
all screeners should be provided with closed caption subtitles
Preferred:
Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) and audio description should be included in screeners where possible

how to Enter

Short film entries to BIFA can be made by a film’s distributor or another representative, such as the producer, director, a sales agent or a festivals/awards advisor. If duplicate entries are made, BIFA will contact the entrants to clarify which one to proceed with.

It is the entrant’s responsibility to ensure that all information submitted is accurate and complete as no changes can be made once voting is open.

All decisions made by BIFA and its Board and Committees are final and no correspondence will be entered into as to why particular entries were or were not nominated.