Deadline for 2013 submissions: NOT YET OPEN

However, we are excited to announce that this year’s theme will be: NON-ANTHROPOMORPHIC ROBOTS! More details to come, until then, peruse the submissions details from last year below. The 2012 theme was: Are Robots Man’s New Best Friend?

Human soldiers have literally braved gunfire to protect machines on the frontline that had saved their lives dozens of times.  Elderly people may gain back late-life autonomy and independence because of the services robots can provide. Where do these new friendships live up expectation? Where do they fall short? Expose us to the unexpected.

Please submit your outstanding, dazzling, hilarious or thought-provoking short film! Films should be between one to eight minutes long. JUST ONE REQUIREMENT: please feature a robot as one of the main characters or framing devices of the narrative. No limit on what kind of film you can submit, but here are some samples:

• A Comedic Robot in everyday human settings
• Dramatic Storytelling related to this year’s theme
• Anything celebrating robot & human futures
• Military robot love stories
• Machines that catalyze connections between people
• New explorations of performance, art and culture creation
• Ethical explorations of innovation
• Research Robot Bloopers
• Animation and computer graphics welcome!

Extra credit for exploring new frontiers, memes and societal contexts for your mighty mechanicals.  You do not need to use a real robot, but keep in mind, you will need to be able to attend the event with or as your robot to be eligible for the red carpet award ceremony bot-Oscars, aka, ‘Botskers.’  There will be an online showcase too, however, so don’t hold back. (Need more inspiration? Scroll down to the themes on our about page.)

 

Online Submission Guidelines:

1) You must hold applicable rights to the content in your film, and you must be authorized to grant permission for its exhibition at the Festival.

2) You must pay a submission fee of $20. Please record the confirmation number for reference.

 

Film Title

 

3) Create a Title and Artist Statement (200 words or less) describing your film and its context within this year’s theme.

4) Your film should meet the HD standards outlined in http://vimeo.com/help/compression, regardless of where you host it.

• Preferred resolution is 1280×720
• That said, If your film has already been made, or if you lack the tools to meet these standards, that’s OK.

5) Please upload your video film to http://vimeo.com and note the URL.

• If you do not want the film to be publicly available before the festival, set the video to be “Password protected” when uploading.  We will not share your film.
• You should check “Allow other people to download the source video” when uploading.  If you’d rather not do that, be aware that we will need to acquire the original video file if your film is selected.
• If you prefer to use a different hosting site (e.g. DropBox, YouTube, Blip.tv, etc.), that’s ok — but see the previous comment.

6) Please email ALL of the following to submit@robotfilmfestival.com– do not use this email address for anything but submissions!!

• Paypal Confirmation Number
• Video URL
• Title of Film
• Artist Statement (200 words or less)
• Director Credits (five names or less)
• Availability to Attend Festival
• Contact information (name, email, location)
• Personal website/twitter (optional)

 

Postal Service Submission Instructions

Note: We are not responsible if your film is lost or damaged in the mail, insurance and tracking numbers recommended.

1) Follow instructions 1-4 above

2) Mail your film to:

3) Don’t forget email ALL of the following to submit@robotfilmfestival.com– do not use this email address for anything but submissions!!

• Paypal Confirmation Number
• Indication that film is on the way (including Tracking Number)
• Title of Film
• Artist Statement (200 words or less)
• Director Credits (five names or less)
• Availability to Attend Festival
• Contact information (name, email, location)
• Personal website/twitter (optional)

 

Questions? Contact info@robotfilmfestival.com