CALL TO ACTION: The African American Film Critics Association is excited to announced our second annual Social Justice Short Film Competition. Our goal is to provide a platform for emerging creatives to explore themes around social justice with original film shorts that highlight + offer solutions to issues pertaining to incarceration, the environment and sustainability, oppression, race and fascism, the arts animal rights, and lifestyles, corruption within the system and so much more. As a movement, social justice promotes a global culture where equalities achieved on all levels. Selected films will challenge societal structures in America on a macro and micro level and make the art of filmmaking an integral part of social change.
The competition will be conducted across the first half of the Annual American Diversity Calendar encompassing Black History, Women’s History, Asian Pacific Heritage and PRIDE MONTHS.
The theme for this year’s competition will focus on short films that address the environment, with content that amplifies and raise awareness to wide-ranging issues that include climate change, pollution, food instability and more. Selected films will examine these conditions and offer solutions on both a macro and micro scale while also demonstrating how the art of filmmaking plays an integral role in promoting social change.
Submissions for the AAFCA Social Justice Short Film Competition are due June 30, 2022. Three winners will be selected to receive a consultation with a key entertainment executive, a premiere of their film short on AAFCA’s Facebook and You Tube Channels and a one-year membership to Film Independent, plus a cash prize. Additionally, the grand prize winner receive an opportunity to meet with creative executives from Walmart and an ongoing mentoring opportunity with a director. A judging panel composed of select AAFCA members, film executives and Walmart creative executives, will vet the top ten finalists based on their Story, Creativity, Technical Merit, Entertainment Value and Adherence to Content Theme.
“We look forward to hearing from a variety of creative voices on how society can better address its many environmental issues,” says AAFCA president Gil Robertson. “Short films function as an important ‘testing ground’ for emerging filmmakers, which is why AAFCA, along with our sponsors at Walmart are thrilled to help introduce and amplify next-gen talent through our various platforms and expansive social networks. It is always an honor to help launch next-gen filmmakers who have an eye for making a larger social impact even as they nurture their own gifts.”
Please fill out the following form by June 30, 2022 for consideration: