Superfest International Disability Film Festival

SUPERFEST SUBMISSION TIPS


What are my chances of winning a SUPERFEST award?


Essentially, your chances vary each year in relation to how many entries we receive, their quality and the number of awards available.

We look at a wide variety of material and over the years top honors have been awarded to documentaries, public service announcements (PSAs), dramatizations, industrials, satires, shorts and experimental films.

The SUPERFEST credo is "art takes risks" and therefore, judging criteria are calibrated to reward creativity more than production budgets. We are looking for memorable work that embodies artistry, technical competence and content that advances disability culture.

So that you can better understand what we are looking for, below is a synopsis of the evaluation criteria provided to assist the three tiers of volunteer judges working for SUPERFEST.

Each entry is evaluated in the following areas: Content, Presentation, Cinematography, Technical Considerations, Creativity, and Character Representation. Judges are also asked to rate work for its "Accessiblity to All Audiences" and whether it "Promotes Disability Acceptance." These last two criteria are weighted more heavily than the others because they are critical to improving disability images and advancing disability culture.

Here are a few examples of what judges might look for:

Content Fresh ideas and images, understandable, accurate information, relevancy, true to life, substantiation of controversial material

Presentation Well edited for length and pace, clear point of view, content appropriate for intended audience, presentation appropriate to subject and purpose

Cinematography Clear, sharp photography, Camera style fits treatment

Technical Considerations Consistent sound level, Clean edits, Graphics (e.g., maps, charts) add but don't overwhelm, Captioning provided, Audio description provided

Creativity Innovation, artistry, stunning images, poetic, unique perspectives, making it wow, taking us places we haven't been

Character Representation Diverse, Multi-dimensional, Engaging, Choice of who to feature, Choice of what part of person's life to feature, Performance (i.e., directing, acting)

Accessible to All Audiences Understandable by people not in the disability movement or field

Promotes Disability Acceptance Shows people with disabilities in every day life, Does not "pity or pedestal" (neither patronizes nor deifies), Avoids stereotypes (e.g., victims, superheros), Represents diversity (e.g., age, ethnicity, gender, disability type)

For additional information regarding submitting films, please contact us at [email protected].

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