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ATTENTION ALL MA STUDENT FILMMAKERS!

The Berkshire International Film Festival announces the creation of the nexGEN Film Competition for students across the Commonwealth of MA.  The competition aims to discover emerging student filmmakers and provide them a voice.  BIFF wants to highlight their talent in a festival setting and perhaps provide them with mentoring and job opportunities in a tough industry.

BIFF aims to help students get into film programs in college or use their film as their calling card for a career in the industry.

We also aim to give them a platform not only to showcase their talents, but also attend our Filmmaker Summit to meet and network with professionals in the film business.

The competition is open to all student filmmakers currently in high school or college in the Commonwealth of MA.

BIFF will present 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners for both narrative and documentary films.  All six films will be presented at the 2024 film festival.  The 1st place winners will be invited to attend the festival in person as our guest.

Films requirements for submission:

  • MUST be a high school or undergraduate college student in the Commonwealth of MA
  • MUST be shorter than 15 minutes
  • MUST be completed by March 31, 2024
  • MUST be produced and directed by a student who is attending a high school, college or university
  • MUST own or have cleared all rights of the submitted materials, including music

To enter the competition, click here and then click on the Submit on FilmFreeway button.

To receive a waiver for the submission fee, please email info@biffma.org.

Enter Competition

The Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) is for filmmakers and film lovers alike to be entertained, educated and inspired.

BIFF celebrates independent film and recognizes and pays tribute to accomplished artists on both sides of the camera in the international, national and regional film community. We provide filmmakers, producers, directors, writers and actors an environment to collaborate, present their work, and interact with each other and with film audiences. Our priorities are to showcase the most challenging and topically relevant documentaries each year and provide a platform for Berkshire filmmakers.

We have honored or had special events with Arthur Penn, Kevin Bacon, Philippe Petit, Kathleen Kennedy, Patricia Clarkson, Douglas Trumbull, Marina Abramovic, Gregory Crewdson, Darlene Love, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Yo-Yo Ma, Sheila Nevins, Mariel Hemingway, John Landis, Karen Allen, Bruce Dern, Paul Krugman, Darlene Love, Conrad Anker, John Carroll Lynch, Kent Jones, Charles Randolph, Christopher Plummer,  Rachel Weisz, Alfre Woodard, Ruth Reichl, Stephen Lang and Martin Scorsese.