A team film-making competition in which a school or college crew submits a short fictional film, judged as one entry in a festival’s wider film strand.
Film – Short Film is the fictional entry in a festival’s film strand. The “Film -” prefix matters: it tells entrants and judges that this is one genre among several film categories, sitting beside screen dance, screen narrative, screen verse, documentary and advert, rather than a stand-alone multimedia item. A crew writes, shoots and edits a brief story with characters and an outcome, and hands the finished film in ahead of the festival.
In eTalenter’s Kenya schools drama festival template it is a Team entry open to both genders, offered in all five age groups from Pre-Primary through Primary, Junior School and Secondary to Tertiary, in English and marked out of 100. The template sets no running-time limit for it, so an organiser should publish one before entries open. The festival itself is judged genre by genre, each with its own marking scheme, and the template’s Evidence only prints the full breakdown for Play, so the film scheme here is the organiser’s to define.
Because the work is finished before judging day, the competition is decided in the screening room and in the rules around submission: file format, hand-in date, maximum length, whether music or footage from elsewhere is permitted, and who must appear in the credits. Entrants in the youngest groups will naturally keep to one location and a handful of actors; older groups can attempt a tighter script, planned coverage and a considered edit.
Organisers include it in a drama festival because it lets students who write, direct or edit take part alongside those who act on stage, and because the same school can enter film in the same programme as its live theatre. It also gives the festival a body of recorded work that can be re-screened at later rounds.
Where Film – Short Film is run
In eTalenter’s data, this exact item title appears on the Kenya schools drama festival template, where it opens a six-item film strand, and it is scored there as a Team item out of 100 in each of five age groups. A closely related item called Short Film, without the prefix, is carried by other templates and has its own page. This page makes no wider claim than the Kenya template supports.
- Kenya
Key facts
- Team entry, open to both genders
- Five age groups: Pre-Primary, Primary, Junior School, Secondary and Tertiary
- Marked out of 100 on the template; the breakdown for film is not printed in the source, so organisers set it
- No running-time limit is set on the template, so publish your own maximum
- English is the template language
- Submitted in advance and screened to the panel, not performed live
- One of six film-strand items: short film, screen dance, screen narrative, screen verse, documentary and advert
On eTalenter, Film – Short Film is filed under Off Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Film – Short Film is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100.
What judges look at in Film – Short Film
What a Film – Short Film panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Idea and script: one clear situation with a start, a turning point and a close, rather than a string of loosely linked scenes
- Direction: whether choices of location, pace and performance look deliberate and hold together as a single film
- Acting: natural, believable performances from a team that clearly understood its characters
- Camera and light: steady framing in which the action is visible, with no distracting wobble or shadow
- Sound and editing: dialogue that can be heard, music that supports rather than drowns, and cuts that keep the story moving
- Fit to the brief: running time, format and any theme or content rules set by the organiser
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Film – Short Film under Scoring Setup, or start from the judging and scoring guide.
How to prepare for Film – Short Film
How entrants and their teachers usually get Film – Short Film right on the day:
- Pick a story that suits your age group: Pre-Primary and Primary crews do best with a single location and a very simple event
- Write a one-page script and a shot list before filming, so each scene has a purpose
- Film in daylight where you can and test the audio first; distant or windy speech is hard to recover in the edit
- Rehearse the actors for several days before the camera runs, and let them play it naturally
- Allow as much time for editing as for shooting, and cut anything that does not move the story
- Check the organiser’s file format and deadline, then play the exported file on another device before handing it in
- Give every crew member a defined job (writer, director, camera, sound, editor) so the Team entry has no gaps
Ready-made event templates that include Film – Short Film
Open any template to preview it in eTalenter and install it as a live, editable event.
| Template | Category | Score label | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya National Drama and Film Festival | Off Stage | Marks | 5 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Film – Short Film judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
What is the difference between Film – Short Film and Film – Documentary?
Short Film tells an invented story with characters and a plot; Documentary shows real people, places and events. The Kenya template lists them as separate film-strand items so each is judged on its own purpose.
Is Film – Short Film an individual or team entry?
On the Kenya schools drama festival template it is a Team item, offered to both genders in all five age groups.
How long can the film be?
The template sets no time limit, so the organiser should announce a maximum running time and entrants should finish comfortably inside it.
Is this the same as the Short Film item on other templates?
It is the same kind of competition, but the Kenya version is one genre inside a film strand with its own entries. The unprefixed Short Film page covers the version carried by other templates.
Want the full judging picture? Read the judging and scoring guide, or browse every off stage competition item.
Try Film – Short Film in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Film – Short Film, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
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