Are you a college/university student or recent grad with a documentary film?
Submit your entry for Salem Film Fest 2024, taking place March 21-24, 2024 in Salem, MA. Mass Reality Check is a showcase for Massachusetts college students to present their short documentary and experimental documentary films. Open to current or 2023 college graduates who live in Massachusetts OR attended(ed) a Massachusetts college or university. Entries must be 25 minutes or less in duration.
The Mass Reality Check is a college doc shorts showcase for college and university students and recent graduates working in short documentary and experimental documentary film.
An industry jury will award software packages provided by Boris FX to the top three films. The first place winner will also be awarded "Mass Reality Check Best Short," and receive complimentary one-year memberships from Women in Film and Video New England (WIFVNE) and Mass Production Coalition (MPC). The first place winner will also meet individually after the festival with programming staff from Salem Film Fest and Women in Film and Video New England (WIFVNE), to get advice about filmmaking as a career and receive insights into funding and distribution, as well as other professional considerations.
Please note the following rules and guidelines for entry:
Submissions are FREE! There is no entry fee.
Films must have been completed in 2023 or 2024.
All forms of documentary are welcome.
No unauthorized use of copyrighted images or music is allowed.
Entries will be judged by a panel of filmmakers and industry professionals.
Festival tickets and prizes will be provided by Salem Film Fest and our sponsors.
Submission deadline is Friday, March 1, 2024.
Congratulations to all of our 2023 mass reality check film participants!
SAVED BY LOVE
Co-Directed and Produced by Valentyn Arden, Zack Furnari
Boston University
24 minutes
An American couple navigates the process of adopting a child from the Ukraine while also overcoming societal pressures surrounding their sexuality in the pursuit to create a family.
RED
Directed by Erielle Amboy
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
8 minutes
An experimental short film about an invasive seaweed species known as Dasysiphonia Japonica and its pollution of Popponesset. The filmmaker uses the seaweed species and ocean water to develop the film.
THE LONG HAUL
Directed by Claire Maske
Boston University
10 minutes
Julie Craven, a middle school principal in Cambridge, MA, struggles with a long covid diagnosis.
SH!T, PISS, AND KEVIN
Directed by Spencer Owens
Bridgewater State University
7 minutes
A recreation of three individuals’ most embarrassing stories.
IN COD WE TRUST
Directed by Raphaël Edwards, Eric Seonghoon Park
Boston University
18 minutes
Fishing has been a pillar of life in the community of Gloucester since the 1600s, but recent government mandated fishing quotas in response to environmental pressures have put in question the future of the industry.
GUND KWOK
Directed by Xudong Liu
Emerson College
18 minutes
Showcasing a folk dance that has been historically performed by men in Asia, GUND KWOK follows the first women-led Lion Dance troupe in the U.S as founder Cheng Imm Tan and fifteen women strive to break stereotypes about the strength and images of Asian women.
WANDERING FOR LIFE
Co-Directed by Claire Collins
Co-Directed and Edited by Abbey Frias
Produced by Aniyah Forney
Fitchburg State University
7 minutes
This short follows a man’s journey of living life on the road, redefining the meaning of home, happiness, and success.
Sponsored By:
