Entries are now closed: the entry deadline was Thursday 4 June 2020, 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.
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.
“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
“There’s something about the 90 second format – longer than a commercial, but shorter than [most] shorts – that seems to bring out a really high level of invention and experimentation.”
2012 winner Mole Hill (The Fat Cat)
“DepicT! is special – I’ve always felt that if I can’t do it in 90 seconds, what makes me think I can do it 90 minutes!”
DepicT! Royal Photographic Society Cinematography Award winner in 2014 Adam DJ Laity (The Peace of Wild Things)
All shortlisted films get:
DepicT! Showcase 2015 at Encounters Short Film & Animation 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