The 2019 US International Film & Video Festival (FilmFest) has begun accepting entries. Productions for all venues are eligible for submission in Corporate, Education, Entertainment, Documentary and Student categories.
Awards include Gold Camera, Silver Screen, Certificate for Creative Excellence, Student Award Certificate and Best of Festival (Grand Prix). A special IQ One World Award is granted to a production that best exhibits cinematic excellence and innovative storytelling based on universal themes of humanity. This award is sponsored and presented by the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers (IQ) as a way to support and improve international communications.
All FilmFest entries must have been produced or released between Sept. 1, 2017, and March 1, 2019, and cannot have previously been submitted into the Festival.
In 2018, 109 awards were presented in the general competition. Grand Prix winners came from Russia, Canada and Hong Kong.
US International Film & Video Festival emphasizes its judging process, which evaluates each entry on its own merits and does not require winners in all categories. Under this system, the top award in a category is not necessarily a Gold Camera First Place, and more than one Gold, Silver or Certificate may be awarded in a category. The competition has a long history, having gotten its start in Chicago in 1967.
Winners are announced in May. Full information on the competition and a look at past winners can be found at www.filmfestawards.com.