The 2017 San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition (SDUFEX) is calling for entries. The event will take place Friday and Saturday evenings, October 6th and 7th, 2017 at the Irwin M. Jacobs Qualcomm Hall in San Diego, California.

This is your opportunity to see your work projected in a High Definition format in a state of the art venue on a 30’ screen. An independent panel of distinguished judges will select the approximately 30 films to be shown during the two-night event. There is no entry fee! Filmmakers whose films are selected are encouraged to come to the show and introduce their film(s) in person on the night of the exhibition.

The top three films as selected by an audience vote each night will be awarded prizes. The film with the highest number of votes each night will be awarded cash prizes of $500, $250, and $100 respectively for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

Below are the 2017 SDUFEX Entry Guidelines and Rules:

SDUFEX will be utilizing FilmFreeway as our film submission portal. For those of you who might not be familiar with FilmFreeway, it is a website that facilitates film festivals … everything from film submissions, to judging, to promoting. It is free to use as a filmmaker submitting films. The website provides excellent directions on how to submit films, so click the button below and get started.

FilmFreeway submission requirements involve two parts. First part, sign up with FilmFreeway and “Add a Project.” This will include all the info on your film and a page where you will upload your film entry to FilmFreeway. (Do not submit a link to another site such as YouTube).

Second part, once you have completed your project info and film upload, you will then submit your project specifically to the San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition on Film Freeway.

The films should be submitted in 1920 by 1080 resolution with 20 – 30 Mbps encoding. Should your video be in 4K, please submit an HD (1920 by 1080) down-converted version of your video. If, for some reason you are not able to use FilmFreeway, please contact us via email for alternative submission methods.

You will be asked to provide relevant info, including the following:

1. The name of the film.
2. The name of the filmmaker(s).
3. A brief introduction of the film. (250 words or less)
4. A brief introduction of the filmmaker(s) (250 words or less)
5. A Contact email for the filmmaker(s)

By submitting the above information along with your film, to the 2017 San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition, you will be declaring that all the included information is true to the best of your knowledge, and that you have all legal rights–including legal rights to the music–to submit this film for public screening at the 2017 SDUFEX film exhibition. Your submission of the film is your affirmation to the truth of this declaration, in lieu of a signature.

Additional information, deadlines, and rules are listed below:

• Films must be submitted through FilmFreeway no later than June 25th 2017.
• Maximum of two films per filmmaker.
• Two categories of films will be considered:
  • 5 Minutes Max: Up to 5 minutes in length with at least 50% of the footage be shot underwater. The majority of films selected for SDUFEX will be in this category.
  • 10 Minutes Max: 5 to 10 minutes in length with at least 50% of the footage shot underwater. Films will only be selected for this category if they are narrated. We are looking for films that tell a story – we strongly encourage submissions with more substance in this category, and these will be judged accordingly.

Please note that only a maximum of two films in this category (up to 10 minutes) per evening may be selected, and so film makers will stand a much greater chance of being selected if they submit in the 5-minute category.

• Black Video Lead-In: Record or add a one (1) second black lead-in at the front of your video.
• You must have the legal right to use all visual footage, images, audio, and music contained in your film. You will be required to certify this in your entry email.
• Judges will not be permitted to submit films for consideration.
• Films that have previously been submitted to UFEX will not be considered unless significant changes have been made.
• The San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition reserves the right to use up to thirty seconds from your film(s) for the promotion of this event and future events. All rights will remain with the producers of the films.
• Based upon our experience, judges do not like watermarks that appear during the whole film. It is recommended that all credits and acknowledgements appear either at the beginning or end of your film.

Questions or Assistance: sdufexfilm@gmail.com.