Are you a high school filmmaker? Submit your original work for consideration to be presented at The Saul Zaentz High School Film Festival, in Baltimore, Maryland.

The deadline is Monday, May 20, for Marylanders' submissions to be considered in The Saul Zaentz High School Film Festival, a collaborative effort of Johns Hopkins University and The Baltimore School of the Arts.

Held June 7-9 in the heart of Baltimore, Maryland's district, this first annual three-day film festival and contest welcomes entries from outstanding high school filmmakers all over the world and will offer winners generous cash awards, prizes, and most of all, recognition. In addition, informative workshops will be held by some of the film industry’s best.

Entrants must be under the age of 18 and be enrolled in high school. While the deadline for all entries was May 15, Maryland high schoolers have until May 20.

Due to the generosity of The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund, all submissions are free.

“You don't make movies to be art movies. You make movies that move you emotionally because if you're going to commit five years of your life to a movie, you need something to keep you going.” – Saul Zaentz

Student filmmakers and educators will enjoy the chosen high schoolers’ film screenings, as well as workshops (Screenwriting, Documentary Filmmaking, The After-Effects and Post-Production, to name a few), meals, and an awards ceremony, held at the beautifully restored Parkway Theatre, the historic Charles Theatre, and John Hopkins University’s MICA Film Centre. For the full schedule of events and film screenings, click here.

Courtesy of Instagram

Cash awards will be given to each of the winners with the best film in the following categories: Documentary Short, Narrative Short, Animation, Advocacy, The Mix, and Film with a Budget of Under $250. Also, prizes will be given to selected filmmakers whose work has been accepted to the festival.

In conjunction with the festival, Maryland student filmmakers will have a special screening and awards.

Your creative juices are going to flow during this amazing festival, while immersed in these historical buildings and surrounded by the unique art and other filmmakers from different schools, states, and countries. Making this opportunity even more rewarding is that after an exciting day of absorbing the festival’s screenings, workshops, and networking opportunities, you can relax and enjoy the literary-themed, boutique Hotel Indigo, whose restaurant is named “Poets Modern Cocktails & Eats."

All students who are accepted to the festival may attend all events at no cost. Travel and accommodations are the filmmakers' and their families' financial responsibility; however, need-based travel assistance is available to those who qualify.

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About the Sponsors:

The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media Studies at Johns Hopkins University: The mission of this Foundation is for Baltimore-based innovators to write, develop, design, and produce groundbreaking projects that will advance the art and craft of audiovisual media. If you can dream it, they want to see it: narrative film, experimental film, episodic content, technological advances, immersive media, and beyond. And now they are reaching out beyond Baltimore by offering this amazing opportunity for high school filmmakers to submit their dreams to The Saul Zaentz Film Festival.

The Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA): For the fifth consecutive year, BSA is ranked  No. 1 of 38 high schools in the Baltimore City Public Schools, 23rd in the state of Maryland, and placed in the top 5 percent nationwide, earning distinction as one of America’s Best High Schools.  BSA combines a pre-professional training in the arts along with a complete academic curriculum preparing students for college. They offer programs in dance, film, music, stage design and production, theatre, and the visual arts.

Courtesy of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance

Johns Hopkins University, Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Program in Film and Media Studies: The program boasts an undergraduate major and a minor in film and media, with two tracks to choose from. One is a film and video production track, and the other is a critical media studies track. Students can choose from a broad range of small, hands-on courses that combine theory and practice in film, television, popular culture, and new media taught by renowned faculty who include award-winning filmmakers, screenwriters, animators, sound designers, composers, and film critics, historians, and theorists.

For more information, visit the film festival's website, or register and submit your original work by May 20. 

Do you know an aspiring filmmaker that's still in high school? Share this opportunity with them ASAP!