2026 UKY Film Festival Details

• Dress to impress at this Blue Carpet Event!

• Date and Time: April 30th at 7:00PM

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: April 12 at 11:59PM (SUBMIT HERE)

• Film’s director or lead producer must be enrolled in the Fall 2025/Spring 2026 school year.

• Submitted films must not exceed 10mins (including credits).

• Full submission criteria can be viewed in the submission portal.

Film Categories and Descriptions

ANIMATION

An animated film is defined as a motion picture in which movement and characters’ performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique. Some of the techniques of animating films include but are not limited to hand-drawn animation, computer animation, stop-motion, clay animation, pixilation, cutout animation, pinscreen, camera multiple pass imagery, kaleidoscopic effects created frame-by-frame, and drawing on the film frame itself.

DOCUMENTARY

A nonfiction motion picture dealing creatively with cultural, artistic, historical, social, scientific, economic or other subjects. It may be photographed in actual occurrence, or may employ partial reenactment, stock footage, stills, animation, stop-motion or other techniques, as long as the emphasis is on fact and not on fiction.

EXPERIMENTAL/ART

A film that primarily explores the medium of film or video itself, they are not fundamentally narrative, and/or their dominant element is abstraction or artistic expression.

FICTION

A live action film uses imagery created primarily through practical photographic techniques used to capture physical actors, props, sets, and locations.

Judging and Scoring

All submitted films will be screened by the UK Film Festival Selection Committee. Film selected to show at the festival will be forwarded to an award winning panel of local industry professionals to be scored. Films are scored on a scale of 1-10 in the following...

• Overall Quality - Directing, Editing, Production Value and Overall Execution

• Story/Theme - Writing, Story Elements and Structure, Theme

• Visual Elements - Cinematography, Visual Effects, Production Design

• Audible Elements - Sound Design, Sound Effects, Dialogue Quality, Music

• Character Development and Performances - Performance of the film entire cast, Character Depth

2026 Awards - Sponsored by: Courage Media

Category Awards:

• Best Narrative Film - Awarded to the narrative fiction film with the highest combined judges scores.

• Best Experimental Film - Awarded to the experimental film with the highest combined judges scores.

• Best Documentary - Awarded to the documentary film with the highest combined judges scores.

• Best Animation - Best animated film with the highest combined judge scores.

Technical Achievement Awards (NEW):

• Best Writing - Awarded to the film with the highest combined judges scores in the Story/Theme scoring category.

• Best Cinematography - Awarded to the film with the highest combined judges scores in the Visual Element scoring category.

• Best Sound Design - Awarded to the film with the highest combined judges scores in the Audible Elements scoring category.

• Best Performance - Awarded to the film with the highest combined judges scores in the Character Development and Performance scoring category.

Additional Honors:

• Audience Choice - Selected by the live viewing audience the night of the show.

• Honorable Mention - Award determined by the selection committee for a film that does not receive an award in another category.  

Sponsors/Partners:

• Media Depot

• Courage Media

• The Media Collaboratory