UNLV FILM is excited to feature our Spring Flicks festival in late spring every year. Films are screened in FDH 109 (the Flora Dungan Humanities Building) on UNLV's Maryland campus. They are also made available for remote viewing by all participants.
Filmmaking teams submitting projects or bumpers to Spring Flicks must be led by UNLV students and/or alumni, though they may collaborate with individuals 18 years of age and older from outside of UNLV. The screenings for the festival are free and members of the public are welcome to attend.
Each film requires a $38.50 entry fee and a completed submission form, which requests a downloadable film link. Participants can work on as many projects as they wish, although no filmmaker may enter more than two (2) films with their name listed as director or co-director. (NOTE: If the entry fee is paid in person at the UNLV Performing Arts Center Box Office, it is $35.00).
Films can be no more than 12 minutes in length, including credits. All genres and/or styles are welcome. Films must be human created; any use of AI tools must be disclosed in the submission form. No fully AI-generated films will be accepted or screened.
All official entries MUST include the following elements:
- A creative title
- Burned-in, human-corrected, fully accurate captions for all dialogue and narratively significant sound effects; captions can be created by the filmmaking team or obtained via online captioning services such as rev.com (but should be reviewed and edited as needed before submitting your film)
- Complete and fully accurate credits, including the names and position(s) of all participant(s)
- Acknowledgment of UNLV FILM SPRING FLICKS with a three-second outro that can be downloaded from the submission form; the outro does NOT count toward the 12-minute duration of the film, which can be 12 minutes 3 seconds when the outro is added
- An official movie poster (16x20 inch pdf for each short entered)
Bumpers, which are short, creative clips of two minutes or less in duration that we insert into the festival program to provide dynamic transitions between official entries, are also welcome. They must be submitted one week ahead of the deadline for official entries. There is no fee to submit a Spring Flicks bumper.
Please Note: All filmmakers and attendees must adhere to the deadlines and policies of the festival and UNLV codes of conduct. UNLV is committed to providing a supportive environment free from harassment or discrimination.
Information on submitting to the current cycle of the festival is available at the links below.
Festival Rules
Overview, Fees, and Deadlines
The UNLV Department of Film hosts the annual Spring Flicks festival. All entry fees and submissions must be received no later than one week ahead of the festival screening dates. Each film must be no longer than twelve minutes in length, including credits; see details above. Screenings for an in-person audience will be held in FDH 109 on UNLV’s campus. Films will also be accessible online.
Teams must follow all UNLV guidelines related to health and safety during the production of Spring Flicks entries. Use of real firearms, ammunition, or explosive devices of any kind is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate disqualification.
A completed entry form constitutes the agreement of the participant(s) to be bound by these festival rules and any other rules posted on the Department of Film website or announced during the festival.
Failure to abide by any festival rules may result in disqualification from the festival at the sole discretion of the festival coordinator and/or the chair of the Department of Film, Heather Addison (heather.addison@unlv.edu).
NOTE: At the discretion of the coordinator(s), late entries or entries that exceed 12 minutes in length may be accepted for screening in the festival, though they may not be eligible for awards.
Selection of Winning Entries
Following the submission of film entries a week ahead of the planned screening dates, a panel of experts will judge the films, and the results will be announced in early May at the annual UNLV FILM Honors Celebration. The decision of the judges is final. (Note: The sole exception is audience awards, which will be determined each evening.)
As part of the submission process, participants must disclose whether the subject matter or content of their film is appropriate for an all-ages public screening, so that the festival coordinator(s) and judges can make a determination regarding a screening of the project.
Tentative List of Awards To Be Given:
Audience Award for Best Film, Voted by Audience Each Evening
Jury Award for Best Film: 1st Place, 2nd Place, and 3rd Place
Jury Award for Best Directing
Jury Award for Best Lead Performance
Jury Award for Best Supporting Performance
Jury Award for Best Screenplay
Jury Award for Best Cinematography
Jury Award for Best Production Design
Jury Award for Best Costumes
Jury Award for Best Sound
Jury Award for Best Original Music
Jury Award for Best Editing
Jury Award for Best Effects (SFX and/or VFX)
Use of Films and Intellectual Property Rights
Participants are solely responsible for protecting any intellectual property rights the participants may have in their contest entry, and are further solely responsible for obtaining permission, or otherwise complying with intellectual property laws pertaining to the film’s content (such as use of music, literary and other artistic expression of others). Participants, on behalf of themselves and their cast and crew, agree that the UNLV Department of Film is given non-exclusive express permission to make and maintain copies of films and to use the films, along with names of participants and winners, as part of advertising of the competition, and for other instructional, educational and historical purposes without any compensation to participants or their cast and crew.
Legal Issues
The festival is void where prohibited by law. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. All Participants, including cast and crew, assume liability for all costs, damages and injuries related in any way to participation in this contest, and agree to indemnify the contest director and the NSHE Board of Regents and UNLV from any and all such costs, damages and injuries, including any claims of violation of copyright law. UNLV will not be providing insurance for the Participants, or their cast and crew, and Participants are encouraged to obtain insurance on their own behalf. Participants, on behalf of themselves and their cast and crew, release the Board of Regents, UNLV and their respective employees, officers and agents, as well as the judges, from any and all liability from injury, cost and damage resulting from participation in the contest. Participants agree that they will not use any cast and crew members unless the cast and crew members have reviewed these Festival Rules and have agreed to their terms.