WATERVILLE — The Maine Student Film & Video Festival will kick off its 39th annual season with several changes that will open the doors for more student filmmakers to take part in the state’s premiere multimedia event for young people.

Submissions can be entered anytime before June 1. Films will be judged in three categories: narrative (fiction), documentary, and creative, a category that will include stop-motion, music video, art film, experimental, and other genres that don’t fit the narrative or documentary categories.

The festival is open to filmmakers a19 and younger in grades K-12 and, each year, draws entries from students around the state. Entries will be judged by a panel of filmmakers, media professionals and educators, and are evaluated on the basis of originality, content, style and technique. Films are reviewed by the following divisions: pre-teen, (grades K-6), junior (grades 7-8) and senior (grades 9-12). This year, entries in the junior and senior divisions will be judged based on genre with separate winners for each category, depending on submissions.

For group productions, the age of the oldest authoring member of the group determines in which division the movie will be judged. There is no age limit for actors, documentary subjects, or musicians who may appear in the production.

Each year the MSFVF selects award winners and finalists whose films are then screened at the festival’s Public Screening & Awards Presentation, which is held in conjunction with the Maine International Film Festival in Waterville. This year’s screening will be at 12:30 p.m. July 16 at the Waterville Opera House.

Prizes include $500 in cash awards furnished by Maine Public Broadcasting Network, a one-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud with video editing software, including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Premiere Pro, and full festival passes to the Maine International Film Festival. In addition, all finalists receive certificates of achievement, and winners in all divisions receive trophies.

Founded by the Maine Alliance for Media Arts, the Maine Student Film & Video Festival is presented by the Maine Film Center, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to enrich, educate, and entertain the community through film and art.

For more information, visit http://www.msfvf.com.

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