The MBC Short Film Festival 2022 is a celebration of Filipino creativity. Now on its second year, MSFF 2022 is open to amateur and professional filmmakers whose works depict acts of kindness and compassion as the country continues to thrive despite the hardships brought about by the pandemic.
The festival has three categories:
- Short Feature
- Animation
- Documentary
MSFF 2022 is also the central activity of this year’s 83rd anniversary celebration of DZRH, MBC’s flagship station.
• Open to amateur and professional Filipino filmmakers nationwide
• A film must be a maximum of 20 minutes long; • Dialogue may be in English or Pilipino/regional dialect, with English subtitles;
• The works must revolve around human interest stories, underscoring acts of kindness and compassion.
• Maximum of three submissions per filmmaker but only one entry per producer is allowed in the Final Screening. Should a producer have multiple entries that will qualify, the film with the highest score will advance to the Final Screening as determined by the jury
• Previous entries to other competitions are allowed to join. • Films entered in the 2021 MSFF are not allowed to join.
• Entries that qualify for the Final Screening must adhere to the following guidelines set by MBC:
(a) Child safety. Content must not sexualize minors, nor must contain activities which could endanger or potentially inflict harm, or which would amount to cyberbullying and harassments involving minors. Contents targeting minors but contain sexual themes, violence, and obscene themes are not allowed.
(b) Nudity, sexual and excessively violent content. Films with nudity nor excessive violence, blood, and gory content shall not be allowed. Explicit content meant to be sexually gratifying nor sexually explicit content featuring minors and content that sexually exploits minors shall also not be allowed.
(c) Suicide and harm. MBC values mental health and the well-being of everyone. As such, no material shall promote suicide or self-harm, or anything that is intended to shock or disgust, or poses a considerable risk to viewers.
(d) Profanity and vulgarity. Materials shall be available for public viewing in the digital platforms of MBC. The Use of sexually explicit language or narratives and/or excessive profanity in the video material shall not be allowed
Likewise, since the materials will be available for public viewing, particularly on YouTube, films must not only adhere to the YouTube Guidelines, but also to existing laws, rules, and regulations of the Philippine Government.
*Please click here: https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/policies/community-guidelines/ for guidance and clarification.
1. Short Feature: Must be able to tell a fictional story using actors in certain locales or sets, with or without costumes. It could be romance, drama, action, comedy, etc.
2. Documentary: Non-fictional film, intended to document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record. As a “creative treatment of actuality,” it may present life as it is, caught unawares, or in the process, even provide a persuasive opinion or message along with the facts it presents.
3. Animation: A film in which characters’ performances are created using a frame by frame technique involving animation through drawings, computer graphics, photographs of static objects, including all techniques other than continuous filming of live-action images.
• All entries must be submitted together with the Application Form via www.mbcfilmfest.com and must include the following:
o Duly-completed application form o Final work in HD mp4 format, with watermark, properly labeled with the title, production company address and contact numbers, production date, director’s name and running time that should not exceed 20 minutes, inclusive of credit titles; with English subtitles if in the vernacular; (link of the MSFF watermark should be included)
o one (1) trailer of not more than one minute in length
o one (1) digital poster
o eight (8) captioned production stills in jpeg format to be used for promotional purposes;
o Soft copy of synopsis in English;
o Final editing script
o Soft copy of brief résumé / bio-data and two (2) high resolution jpg photos of the filmmaker(s)
o Soft copy of the cast and production personnel credited for the film, along with their functions
o Deadline for submission of completed requirements is May 20, 2022
o Questions/queries: email address ([email protected])
- Submissions shall go through a Pre-screening committee
- After pre-screening, a separate set of Judges will choose a maximum of five (5) entries per genre for the Final Screening and will be publicly announced on July 2, 2022
- Final roster of festival entries will be shown nationwide over MBC digital platforms with the option to air it on MBC’s Cable TV and Free to Air TV channels from July 15- August 5, 2022
- The category winners and the Grand Prix winner will be chosen by the Final Jury members
- Awarding of the category winners and the Grand Prix winner will be on August 6, 2022
- It is the sole responsibility of the entity or entities claiming ownership of the submitted work to secure licensing and/or permission from the trademark or copyright holders of materials in question. This includes music, stock images/footage, or any other elements that could violate an existing legal trademark or copyright
- Music used in any entry must be original, licensed or in the public domain;
- Filmmaker/production company retains ownership of the work, and all rights due herein;
- Filmmaker grants MBC the right to extract excerpts from the film to be used as promotional materials in various MBC platforms
- MBC reserves the right to exhibit the film in any of its platforms, including its social media platforms, or that of its affiliates commencing on the date of the semi-final screening and even after the competition until August 5, 2023, and at no additional cost.
- Entries that have been featured in other local and international festivals and competitions are qualified to join;
- Revised versions of an existing film, or a film submitted under a different title shall be disqualified;
- Films entered in the 2021 MSFF shall not be qualified.
- Employees of MBC and its affiliates are disqualified from joining the competition;
- If the production team includes several individuals, they must assign a single representative to act on their behalf. All official communication shall be addressed to the representative;
- MBC will not be liable for any controversy regarding the sharing of awards/prizes/incentives among the members of the group of the production team.
- Films will be judged on originality and creativity, storytelling, technical qualities, as well as on effectiveness of the message and the ability of the filmmaker to reach, engage, and entertain the viewing audience.
CATEGORIES: Short Feature and Documentary
Storytelling (30%)
o Does the story have a clear structure and plot?
o Are the characters adequately developed and relevant?
o Is the story original and engaging?
o Are the images arranged logically and effectively in a way that fits the film?
o Does the film have pace and continuity?
Creativity and Originality (30%)
o Do the writing and direction use imaginative and creative ways to convey the theme?
o Does the film exhibit originality?
o Does the film display innovative ideas or story telling techniques?
Engagement(20%)
o How strongly does this entry stimulate thoughts and ideas?
o Does the film provoke an emotional response?
Cinematography (10%)
o Is the camera steady and are the shots framed and focused?
o Are close-ups and camera angles used to add meaning to the story?
o Are the lighting and camera positioning visually effective?
Editing (5%)
o Does the editing help to clarify and enhance the pacing and flow of the story?
o Are transitions smooth and well-paced or distracting?
o Are the opening titles and closing credits appealing and easy to read?
Audio, Music, Sound Effects (5%)
o Do the audio and soundtrack complement the story?
o Is the dialogue and/or narration clear and easy to understand?
o If there are sound effects, are they appropriate to the story or do they detract?
TOTAL -- 100%
CATEGORIES: Animation
Storytelling (30%)
o Does the story have a clear structure and plot?
o Are the characters adequately developed and relevant?
o Is the story original and engaging?
o Are the images arranged logically and effectively in a way that fits the film?
o Does the film have pace and continuity?
Creativity and Originality (30%)
o Do the writing and direction use imaginative and creative ways to convey the theme?
o Does the film exhibit originality?
o Does the film display innovative ideas or story telling techniques?
Engagement(20%)
o How strongly does this entry stimulate thoughts and ideas?
o Does the film provoke an emotional response?
CG Rendering (10%)
o Is the artwork compelling and does it carry the film's message through?
o Do the design, composition, and color tones add up to a high aesthetic quality?
o Do the complexity and level of digital technology used compliment the concept of the film?
o Does the film show visual balance of the various elements used?
Editing (5%)
o Does the editing help to clarify and enhance the pacing and flow of the story?
o Are transitions smooth and well-paced or distracting?
o Are the opening titles and closing credits appealing and easy to read?
Audio, Music, Sound Effects (5%)
o Do the audio and soundtrack complement the story?
o Is the dialogue and/or narration clear and easy to understand?
o If there are sound effects, are they appropriate to the story or do they detract?
TOTAL -- 100%
- The films that qualify for the Final Screening (maximum of 5 per genre) will automatically be given P20,000.00 and certificate as Finalist
- One winner per category/genre will be chosen to receive P100,000.00
- A participant with entries in the different categories is allowed to win multiple times
- The Grand Prix winner to be selected among the category winners will receive additional P100,000.00
- The film with the most number of votes for Viewers’ Choice will receive P25,000.00
- Prizes are net of tax.
The competition will be held under the supervision of the Department of Trade and Industry, Per DTI Fair Trade Permit No. FTEB-136202 Series of 2022 | Promo Duration is from February 7 to May 20, 2022
1. When applicable, the filming of all entries must follow safety protocols as mandated by the IATF and FDCP.
2. For previous works, it should be explicitly stated when the film was produced prior to the restrictions.