Call for Entries: Beamin’ Suns Short Film Festival 2025

Filmmakers at any stage of their career—from anywhere in the world—are warmly invited to submit short films that think outside the box and tell stories in unexpected ways. We’re looking for bold, creative and experimental projects that surprise us. Whether your film is a personal confession, abstract art, or something entirely unclassifiable, submit it. Every submission is reviewed by our Curatorial Panel for its power to spark thought, start conversation, or resonate long after the final frame. This Festival celebrates unique voices, daring ideas, and the transformative magic of storytelling in all its forms.

You can submit your short films via the button below. To ensure your application meets our Festival guidelines and is successfully submitted, please read the guidelines below carefully before completing the application form.

1. Guidelines: Categories

1.1. The theme, genre, and filmmaking technique are open. All forms of storytelling are welcome—surprise us with yours!

1.2. Our Curatorial Panel reviews all submissions, selects works for the Festival, and assigns them to competition categories where they’ll compete for awards.

1.3. The nominated works will compete in the following six categories:

• Best Cinematography

• Best Lead Performance or Best Supporting Performance 

• Best Original Score or Best Original Song or Best Sound Design

• Best Editing

• Best Directing

• Best Video Art

1.4. You’re welcome to suggest a category for your short film, but the final nomination in competition sections will be decided by our Curatorial Panel.

1.5. Only the winning films in each category will be showcased and awarded on Festival’s day on July 18, 2025, at Shedhalle Tübingen e.V. – Forum für zeitgenössische Künste.

2. Guidelines: Rules & Terms

2.1. Beamin’ Suns Short Film Festival accepts submissions exclusively via this Google Form. Short film submissions via Google Drive or other cloud storage links are accepted. Please ensure that the sharing settings allow the file to be viewed without requesting access—otherwise, the submission will be disqualified.

2.2. Submission to the Festival is free of charge.

2.3. The submission period opens on 25.04.2025 at 00:00 and closes on 27.06.2025 at 23:59. The early bird deadline is on 23.05.2025 at 23:59, followed by the regular deadline on 27.06.2025 at 23:59.

2.4. All participants must be at least 18 years of age or older by the submission date.

2.5. The Festival accepts individual and institutional entries (e.g. production companies, distribution agencies, film academies, national film institutes, television networks, creative collectives and more).

2.6. Works with previous screenings at other festivals, as well as private, industry, and press screenings, or online availability on free-access websites or platforms are eligible for submission.

2.7. Every submission must include the following information:

• Title of the work

• A synopsis of the work

• Year of production

• Runtime

• Country of origin

• Country of filming

• Language

• Director’s full name

• Credits

• If available, a list of previous festival screenings and awards

2.8. Each director may submit up to two short films. All entries must have been produced within the last two years — between January 1, 2022, and the end of the submission period.

2.9. Submitted works must be no longer than 15 minutes.

2.10. All films not in English must have English subtitles burned into the file. If your film is multilingual, English subtitles must still be provided for all non-English scenes.

2.11. The Festival appoints a Curatorial Panel to review submissions for screenings and competition.

2.12. Every submission will be reviewed in full. Nominated filmmakers will receive notifications via email. To avoid missing updates, double-check that the email address you provide is accurate.

2.13. Decisions by the Curatorial Panel are final and not subject to feedback.

2.14. The list of nominated films will be announced on the Festival’s official website and social media channels.

2.15. Nominated filmmakers must be prepared to provide the following:

• A screening copy of the film in popular digital format. For non-English films, English subtitles must be burned into the file.

• A poster

• A trailer

• 6 stills

• A director’s photo

• Film synopsis

• Depending on the category in which a film is nominated, additional information and materials may be required.

2.16. Once nominated and the screening copy is submitted, films cannot be removed from the Festival competition.

2.17. The Festival does not pay any screening fees.

2.18. Submitted films must be the original work of the entrants and must not violate any copyrights or other third-party rights. Entrants confirm that they have obtained all necessary copyright permissions for music, sound, images, and any other content included in their films.

2.19. By submitting their films, all entrants agree, if selected and awarded, to grant the Beamin’ Suns Short Film Festival permission to showcase their films at the Festival, which will be held on July 18, 2025, at Shedhalle Tübingen e.V. – Forum für zeitgenössische Künste.

2.20. Beamin’ Suns Short Film Festival reserves the right to use still images, trailers, and other excerpts from selected works for promotional purposes across its website, event venues, and social media.

2.21. Beamin’ Suns Short Film Festival reserves the right to change, cancel, or reschedule the dates, venue, awards, and categories without prior consent or notification to the contestants.

2.22. Beamin’ Suns Short Film Festival reserves the right to make exceptions and address any issues not covered by these guidelines.

2.23. Beamin’ Suns Short Film Festival reserves the right to cancel a submission and take appropriate action in cases of guideline violations, inappropriate behavior, aggression, intolerance, or any actions that harm the Festival’s reputation or disrupt its proceedings.

2.24. By submitting your short film to Beamin’ Suns Short Film Festival, you confirm that you have read and agree to the Festival’s guidelines.

2.25. For questions about Festival guidelines, please contact us at beamin.suns@gmail.com.

3. Guidelines: Data Protection Notice

3.1. By submitting your short film through this Google Form, you consent to the collection and processing of your personal data by Beamin’ Suns Short Film Festival. The information provided will be used solely for the purpose of processing your submission and communicating with you regarding the Festival.

3.2. Data collected: The personal data collected includes, but is not limited to, your name, email address, film details, and other relevant information you provide in the application form.

3.3. How your data will be used: Your data will only be used to evaluate your submission, notify you about the selection results, and communicate about the Festival. It will not be shared with third parties unless necessary for festival operations.

3.4. Data retention: Your personal data will be stored securely and retained for no longer than necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined above. After the Festival, your data will be deleted.

3.5. Your rights: You have the right to access, correct, or request the deletion of your personal data at any time. You may also withdraw your consent for data processing, although this may impact your submission to the festival.

3.6. This processing is done in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

3.7. For questions or concerns about how your data is handled, please contact us at beamin.suns@gmail.com.