Student Documentary Competition

Entries will be accepted from November 15 – December 15 and winners will be showcased during an awards ceremony at the BEA Convention in Las Vegas in April. The Student Documentary competition accepts entries in the following categories:

  • Micro-Documentary: 5:00-14:59 including all credits A micro-documentary covers a subject matter that suits an unconventionally short running time but accommodates newer trends in documentary production. It follows the fundamental tenet of documentary as “the creative treatment of reality” and a nonfiction storytelling and employs a variety of expressive methods uniquely configured to fit a topic within a short amount of time. Not only can it attempt to capture emphatic moments in a continuing story, but it can also get experimental in its use of audio-visual expressions and narratives.
  • Short-Form Documentary: 15:00-39:59 including all credits A nonfiction video story with a social, cultural, biographical, informative, historical, philosophical, scientific, or other subject matter.
  • Documentary Feature: 40:00 & longer including all credits A nonfiction video story with a social, cultural, biographical, informative, historical, philosophical, scientific, or other subject matter.

Submission Requirements:

Promotional videos are not allowed. Therefore, a sponsor/funding source of a submitted documentary cannot also be its subject (e.g. a historical documentary about your school cannot be funded by your school). This includes ‘in-kind’ support beyond what is normally offered other outside documentaries.

To be eligible, the ENTIRE piece must be submitted for review. No partial submissions are allowed.”

The Competition Chair has the right to either reject or re-assigned an entry that does not meet these guidelines.

Please read the Student Competition Rules to verify that your entry meets all eligibility requirements for submission.