The Backlight Student Film Festival, the University of Georgia-held movie festival, has set its 2025 dates for March 29-30.
According to a press release, this is the fourth year of the two-day student short film festival. The event is set to include screenings from student filmmakers, an industry panel, a red carpet, a mixer and an awards ceremony.
“Our mission is to empower the Georgia entertainment industry by providing an outlet for this community to rally behind Georgia’s diverse collection of young talent,” said Julia Turner, the festival’s director of press and accreditation, in an email. “We hope by uniting studios, production companies, financiers, and film offices with our students, we can help to generate more above-the-line opportunities for Georgia creatives and foster continued growth in the larger industry.”
This year, the festival is accepting submissions from undergraduate and graduate students at colleges and universities across the state of Georgia. Backlight accepts films in two categories: short-form (under 10 minutes) and mid-length (10-30 minutes). The 2024 festival took place in April and had an 8% acceptance rate with over 100 submissions from 11 different colleges and universities.
The early bird submission deadline for the festival is Dec. 31. The final deadline is Feb. 14, 2025.
