About The Festival

"Free 4 All Film and Animation Fest" is the initiative of the Fairfax Academy's Professional Graphics Studio and in conjunction with MHz Cable NETWORK “National Shortie Awards” to sponsor a area-wide high school student film and animation festival. The idea was to have a venue for local student filmmakers and animators to see and share the work of others. It is hoped that the festival will highlight the best of our high school student filmmakers and animators and give opportunity to view the creativity and skill of young filmmakers and animators as it expands to other counties over the years.

How the Festival Works

Students are asked to choose a category in which to submit a film or animation. The entries are then sent out to a team of judges, usually local professional artist, filmmakers, media experts, and animators. The judges score the entries in a particular entry category and the five highest rated films in each category are presented on the night of the festival.

At the conclusion of the screenings, the Best of Show in Animation and Film/Video will be announced and awarded a prize. A People's Choice award plaque will be awarded by audience vote to one Animation short and one Film/Video work. Certificates of Participation will be presented to the students. The Best of Show award winners will receive special recognition at the National 7th Annual MHz NETWORK “Shortie Awards” – Student Film & News Festival at their public celebration on Sunday, June 1, 2008 at the Jack Morton Auditorium in Washington, D.C. We have a new award category, Demo Reels, which was design for students to compile their best works into a short multimedia presentation.

(All entries into the Free 4 All Film and Animation Fest will also receive automatic entry in to the national Shortie Awards, so students can win on the local and/or national level. Please see www.mhznetworks.org/eat/filmfestival for more information.)

This Years Event

This year the festival will be held on Friday, May 16th. The venue will be in the auditorium at Fairfax High School. The festival will begin at 4:30 pm and usually last for a little over two hours. The admission is free.   Please invite your friends and family to join us in this exciting evening of entertainment.

The high school is located at 3501 Rebel Run, Fairfax City, between Route 50 and Old Lee Hwy.