We'll continue to update these questions as they come in. Feel free to submit your own to areyoudaft@hotmail.com
Festival Changes beginning for 2027 Submissions
Based upon teacher survey responses and board discussion the following festival changes were approved.
- Increased $15 fee per entry but we've kept bulk purchase and membership deals the same
- "Official Selection" replaces "Best of Show" entries selected for festival screening
- "Best of" trophy awards will still be presented the day of the festival (eg Best Music Video, etc.)
- "Outstanding" award-level added for certificates/program
- Customized rubrics per genre - to be designed by teachers at the October teacher symposium
- Genre-specific judges will be recruited
- News/Sports Reels added (2 min maximum) - Replaces "Studio/Anchor" category
- News/Sports stand-up packages will remain
- New "Vertical Content" category added
- Clarification for "Partnership Projects": Submitters can provide more detail on outside student assistance (gear, facilities, personnel)
- Optional special awards to be announced at festival (possible Best Acting, Cinematography, etc.)
Film Freeway Questions
Q. Film Freeway has a lot of info-boxes when you've uploaded a film, do these need to be completed?
A. Nope. Just the required ones. After you've uploaded your entry, you can select our festival and that will take you to our set of required questions (student names, school, checkboxes for copyright understanding, etc.).
Q. Does each student have to create an account on Film Freeway or can one teacher enter all of his/her entries for the students?
A. A teacher can submit all his/her student entries if that's easier.
Q. I noticed that you are now using FilmFreeway to enter the videos. It states that this is free to enter. Is there no cost this year to entry the videos?
A. There is a $15 fee once you select our festival. (Film Freeway has a free upload and students can select from hundreds of festivals to enter—some are free.) If you’ve got an institutional level membership, you do get 5 entries with it. A single membership gives you one free entry. Memberships can be purchased at this link.
Q. I am trying to enter multiple student projects from my FilmFreeway account but keep getting the error message:
A. On the Film Freeway form there are two places that "Student Film" can be checked; be sure to check both of the boxes.
Content Questions
Q. Could You please elaborate on “excessive violent content” and “Mature subject matter”? Would this include: Aliens Suspense Monsters Blood Guns Space. Does my film have to be “kid friendly”? What, do you think, is the age range for the audience?
A. Our general rule of them is a PG-13 rating, language and content that would be okay in a school without a permission slip required from parents. Aliens, suspense, monsters, space are okay. Guns and blood probably not—more off-camera kind of areas for these. We often have K-8 siblings in attendance at the high school portion of the festival.
Q. I've create a classic Western short film that involves classic rifles and pistols with no blood violence. Would that be acceptable?
A. You can certainly enter the film and if the judges feel that the genre of the Western works for your film, they may move it on to the second round of judges if they feel that it may qualify for Best of Show. But DAFT reserves the final right to not exhibit films it determines to be inappropriate for the final Best of Show screenings at the DIA in April.
Q. There is a student film I would like to submit but in the beginning a boy is singing to a song that is copyrighted. Would this not be accepted because of that?
A. Great question! Copyrighted material can be submitted, we just can’t move it as far as Best of Show. But the students may get an Excellence and some great feedback from the judges either way. A couple options also might be to have the judges only judge the portion that is after the song and we’d only use that truncated version at the DIA if it does get to Best of Show level.
Q. If I were to make a trailer for my film, could my trailer count as a narrative film for the competition?
A. You can submit it in that category--or Experimental/Other. Trailers are acceptable as narrative film submissions--particularly if they tell a bit of the story.
Q. Can my students submit ads? If so, what category might that be?
A. Our catch-all category is "Experimental."
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