Big Syn Institute and London’s Piccadilly Lights, are inviting 5 min shorts (up to 5 min max) or 59 sec social media videos to be screened on Piccadilly Lights as part of the 2023 Big Syn International Film Festival. Winning films will be screened in full at the Piccadilly Lights in November 2023.
The entries could be stories or opinions of change, resilience and adaptability covering all major global or local issues such as climate change, poverty, cost of living crisis, war, injustice, discrimination, disability, mental health, and many more. Individuals (13+ yrs), filmmakers, schools, students, organisations, families, charities, neighbourhoods and communities can submit 5 min short films and/or 59 sec social media videos until 30th September. Public voting starts in October 2023. Please follow us on social media to stay updated.
Please go through the detailed information about submitting entries and social media engagement required for public voting of entries for choosing winners.
Both categories involve elements of public voting and the judging panel’s selections in determining the final winners, so, please share your films with the world to win the prize.
IMPORTANT: The Piccadilly Lights Screen has no audio. So, please ensure all entries have closed caption subtitles or text overlay if it has any dialogues in it. If you need some help or guidance with these, please feel free to contact us here before you submit your films.
5 min shorts (up to 5 mins max)
For all submissions of this category, please follow the instructions below after you have submitted your entry/entries (using option A or B below) to receive the attention of the Grand Jury and public support, to maximise your chances of winning.
The winners are selected by the Grand Jury of the Piccadilly Lights Spotlight Prize.
After you have submitted your entry using either options (A or B) below, please could you;
1. Follow the social media accounts of Piccadilly Lights and Big Syn International Film Festival to stay updated about screening and voting schedules:
Instagram: @piccadillylights & @bigsyn_film_festival
Twitter: @PicLights & @londonbigsynff
Facebook: @PiccadillyLightsW1 & @londonbigsynfilmfest
2. Upload a 59 sec short clip of your 5 min short film on your Instagram account, use hashtags #piccadillyspotlight and #bigsynfilmfest23 and tag @piccadillylights & @bigsyn_film_festival in the comments/caption of the post. Ask your friends and followers to like the clips to get attention of Piccadilly Lights Spotlight Prize Grand Jury.
Please submit your films as applicable below: Option A or B;
A) If you are a professional filmmaker and have a FilmFreeway.com account, please use the link below to submit your 5 min short for the Piccadilly Lights Spotlight Prize. Please ensure you follow the instructions above as well.
B) If you do not have a FilmFreeway.com account please submit your 5 min short using the PayPal form below.
Please ensure you follow the instructions above as well. Please leave a space between the links of your video/s when submitting multiple videos using the form below.
59 sec social media videos
For all submissions of this category, please follow the instructions below after you have submitted your entry/entries to maximise chances of winning.
The winners will be selected by public voting.
Shortlisted videos will be published on the Instagram account of Piccadilly lights and/or Big Syn International Film Festival. The most liked videos will be the winners.
After you have submitted your entry, please could you;
1. Follow the following social media accounts of Piccadilly Lights and Big Syn International Film Festival to stay updated about screening and voting schedules:
Instagram: @piccadillylights & @bigsyn_film_festival
Twitter: @PicLights & @londonbigsynff
Facebook: @PiccadillyLightsW1 & @londonbigsynfilmfest
2. Post the social media video/s on Instagram and announce your participation for the Piccadilly Lights Spotlight Prize.
Use hashtags #piccadillyspotlight and #bigsynfilmfest23 and tag followers and supporters in comments of the post asking them to follow Piccadilly Lights and Big Syn International Film Festival’s Instagram accounts so that they can vote for the video/s when voting opens in October 2023. More the supporters tagged and asked to follow the accounts, more are the chances to get votes and win the category.
Please ask your followers and friends to repost and share your post cross-platform.
Please leave a space between the links of your video/s in the form below when submitting multiple videos.