Southern Shorts Awards

In Recognition of Quality Filmcraft

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Enter your short film because:

It's a quarterly competition & festival for films under 30 minutes.

ALL entries receive a scoresheet.

The festival is free online and the awards presentation is live-streamed on Zoom.

ALL films are scored by 3 judges.

Cast & crew may receive individual awards.

Call for Entries — 17 categories

Action / Adventure AI Films Animation Comedy Documentary Drama Fan Films Horror Mystery / Thriller Musicals Puppetry Science Fiction / Fantasy Student Web Series / Webisode Western Made in Georgia Review Only

Made by filmmakers for filmmakers — see what entrants say on FilmFreeway, or browse our archive of award-winning shorts.

Cast & crew awards require nomination and a minimum aggregate score of 7 out of 10 from all three judges.

Please note: We do not grant waivers or discounts. Always include festival fees in your film's budget — this is an essential marketing cost.

Recognition

Earned. Not handed out.

Every film is scored on 10 criteria by industry professionals. Awards follow from the score, not from categories or quotas.

70–79

Award of Merit

Solid craft demonstrated across the scoring criteria.

80–89

Award of Excellence

Exceptional work with clear command of the medium.

90–95

Award of Distinction

Near-flawless filmmaking. A rare score.

96–100

The Orson Award

Our highest honor. Reserved for films that change how a judge sees the craft.

I'm a filmmaker.

Submit through FilmFreeway. Our judges watch every film, score all 10 criteria, and send you detailed written feedback alongside your certificate.

Professional judges with IMDB credits
Scored on 10 specific criteria
Written feedback on every submission
Certificates for all award levels
No completion deadline — enter any film

Submit on FilmFreeway

I'm a film lover.

Browse our archive of past festivals and discover award-winning short films from filmmakers around the world. Festivals run quarterly — Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Complete archive since 2015
Spring, Summer, and Fall festivals
Award winners in 17 categories
Film screenings and livestreams
Judge profiles and scoring breakdowns

Browse Festivals

Our goal is to recognize filmmakers whose short films demonstrate their ability to produce well-crafted motion pictures.

About the festival

We are proud to announce that we are a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of Southern Shorts Awards must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Donate via Fractured Atlas