FAQs Eye2Eye Emerging and Student Film Awards and Showcase:

Q. Do I have to be a student to apply for the Film Forward award?

A. No. The Film Forward awards are open to emerging filmmakers of any age from any country. This includes students, but being a student is not a requirement.

Q. What does ‘emerging filmmaker’ mean?

A. A filmmaker with little experience as a filmmaker is ‘emerging’ or growing into becoming professional: someone who has a dream, a camera, and a story to tell. Filmmakers in a college or university film school or the equivalent such as a privately operated film school, or a film cooperative, will generally be emerging. Filmmakers may have earned income from no more than one major film or broadcast.

Q. What are the qualifications needed to apply for the Bob Johnston Memorial award?

A. You must be resident in Ontario. You must be enrolled, or have been offered a place in an Ontario college or university film school in eastern Ontario. (Defined as including the Greater Toronto Area and east to the Quebec border.) You must be at least 18yrs old by the submission deadline, of 14th of April, 2023, or include a support letter signed by your parent or guardian along with your submission.

Q. Can I submit my movie for screening in the program separate from the Award categories?

A1. If the question is about submitting a film for the general program in Eye2Eye, the answer is: Eye2Eye is a curated festival which does not solicit submissions from filmmakers.

A2. If the question is about submitting an emergent or student film for the Showcase without wishing to be considered for awards, the answer is: there is no category for films that do not wish to be in the running for awards. The films that go forward into the Showcase screening at the Eye2Eye Festival are recognized by Eye2Eye as ‘Finalists’. Some of the Finalists become award winners.

Q. Can I submit a film I made last year?

A. Yes, provided that you qualify today as an emerging filmmaker. (Please read carefully the document: EMERGING FILMMAKER AWARDS ELIGIBILITY). Emerging filmmakers can submit a film made in the five years 2019 to 2023.