Independent Schools Victoria’s Student Film Festival is back for 2026 and it’s set to be bigger and better than ever! Entries are now open, and will close on Friday 11 September 2026. Winners will be announced at our showcase screening at ACMI on Wednesday 4 November 2026.
The competition celebrates learning across the curriculum through the exciting and dynamic medium of short film.
Through film, students can tell stories, investigate ideas, document learning in any area of study and express the complexity of their thinking through a range of genres and technical approaches.
With the creative use of technology, they can integrate their own personal perspectives into the broader social dimension of their emerging world view, exploring the diverse and challenging issues of our time.
Check out the winners from last year’s festival.
- Early Years: Prep–Year 2
- Junior Years: 3–6
- Middle Years: 7–10
- Year 11
- Year 12
The competition is open to all Victorian primary and secondary students, across all sectors, and participants can submit as many films as they like.
Submissions are open to all year levels and can be created by individual film makers or as class projects.
Here are the time limits for each category:
- Prep – Year 6: 5 minutes
- Year 7 – Year 10: 8 minutes
- Year 11 – Year 12: 10 minutes.
Entries closed on Friday 11 September 2026. Shortlisted entries will be notified in Term 4, ahead of our showcase screening at ACMI on Wednesday 4 November 2026.
In the production of any short films for this film festival, students should access any musical soundtracks through royalty-free sources or create their own original music for use.
If students are using music from other sources, they must provide evidence of permission granted by all writers of music, lyrics, performers and publishers for any recording used.
For full high definition video submissions:
- Broadcast standard: NTSC
- Aspect ratio: 16:9
- Size: HD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
- Video codec: H264
- Bitrate: 10Mbps or higher
- Audio: 44.1kHz/16bit minimum
- Format: .mp4
Selected films will be showcased at an in-person screening at ACMI on Wednesday 4 November 2026.
The films will be judged by a panel from ISV, including representatives from ACMI.
Prizes will be awarded on the night for creative and technical expertise in each year level category, as well as an overall People’s Choice award.
Contact us at artslearningfestival@is.vic.edu.au, or call ISV on (03) 9825 7200.
You can also find our Terms and Conditions here.
