PORTLAND — The Maine Outdoor Film Festival this summer will award cash prizes for Maine filmmakers: $500 for Best Maine Film and $500 for Best Maine Student Film.

The festival has three film categories: short (less than 12 minutes), short film (12:00 to 39:59), feature (40 minutes and longer). The only requirement is that entries must be an outdoor film.

“What qualifies as an outdoor film?” rhetorically asks MOFF director Nick Callanan. “This allows for pretty broad strokes: any project that centers on outdoor adventure, recreation, or conservation – is certainly in consideration. It could also apply to films created mostly outside, but the further the film deviates from themes related to outdoor sports or the natural world, the harder it is to be considered as… the best.”

Best Maine Student Film – Filmmaker Requirements
• Must be an outdoor film accepted by the 2021 Maine Outdoor Film Festival.
• The filmmaker or filmmakers must be students enrolled in a Maine high school/college or a student from Maine attending an out-of-state school in the ’20 or ’21 academic years.

Best Maine Film – Filmmaker Requirements
• Must be an outdoor film accepted by the 2021 Maine Outdoor Film Festival.
• The filmmaker or filmmakers must be year-round Maine residents as of Jan. 1, 2021.

The festival has awarded more than $5,000 to Maine filmmakers since 2017. Its final submission deadline is June 1. Accepted films will be announced on June 26. Award winners will be announced during the festival. MOFF 2021 Portland takes place from July 29 to Aug. 8 on the Eastern Promenade and online via MOFF’s virtual platform.

For more information on submitting a film, visit maineoutdoorfilmfestival.com/submit. For more information on the whole festival experience, visit vimeo.com/MOFF.

All festival events will follow the letter and spirit of all prevailing Maine CDC guidelines.

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