The deadline for entries was Monday 13 June 2022, 5.00pm BST
We want to see great films – it doesn’t matter what your budget is or what genre you’re working in. The competition is open to anyone from anywhere in the world, and entry is absolutely free – but there is ONE simple rule:
Your film MUST be 90 seconds or less in duration.
If your films are longer than 90 seconds, you can enter a film to Encounters Film Festival.
Read full entry requirements →
… because it will challenge you to think creatively and to cut ruthlessly. More importantly, it will get you and your work noticed.
“Winning the DepicT! Main Award with Fabulous last year really gave me and the team a huge boost and we are now building on this success. We are using the prize money for our next project, so that we can take our filmmaking to the next level. My advice to anyone entering DepicT! is to have a lot of fun but also use it to hone your skills and challenge yourself.” Main Depict Award 2020 winner James Skinner for Fabulous
“Constraint is a very useful tool for creativity. Forcing yourself to tell a story in 90 seconds makes you lose all extraneous or self indulgent elements. I think a big problem with short films is they are often not very short! I love the 90 second format.”
Ninian Doff of DepicT! 2013 fame – he scooped both the Main DepicT! Award and The Shooting People RPS Audience Award with comedic gem Cool Unicorn Bruv
“I never dreamed that a 90 sec short made on an impulse like mine could take me so far and open doors to exciting, new opportunities.”
2018 British Special Mention Award winner Aimie Willemse for Echo
All shortlisted films get:
DepicT! Showcase 2019 at Encounters Film Festival
£1500 cash + Lifetime membership to Shooting People
Supported by The Royal Photographic Society and Aardman Animations.
£1000 cash
Supported by The Royal Photographic Society
A special package of support which will both promote the winning 90-second film and further develop the filmmaker’s skills including:
Supported by BAFTA, BFI NETWORK & NFTS
A mentoring session with Channel 4 Random Acts commissioning editor Shaminder Nahal.
Supported by Channel 4
Encounters Film Festival (Bristol, UK) is the UK’s longest running competitive short film and animation festival. It presents one of the world’s best-known showcases and meeting points for emerging talent, and seeks to promote the importance of short film as a means to develop the next generation of filmmakers and animators. Encounters is also a gateway to the world’s most prestigious short film and animation awards: the BAFTAs, the Oscars®, the European Film Awards and the Cartoon d’Or.
“Much has changed in the worlds of short and animated film-making in the past 20 years – digital has transformed the industry, short-film debutants have become major directors – but this festival has remained Britain’s premier destination for both.”
Steve Rose, The Guardian on Encounters Film Festival