Enter A Film Festival Where Every Film Is Under 18 Seconds

Giphy, the online GIF search engine and library, is launching a film festival and contest dedicated to micro-shorts.

They key rule of Giphy Film Fest: films must be 18 seconds or less. The goal of the festival, Giphy says, is to prove that audiovisual storytelling doesn’t have to be feature-length or even short length; micro-films can be just as compelling, entertaining, and creative as any other film entering more famous film festivals.

One grand prize winner will receive $10,000, plus a five-year Squarespace website subscription, and the opportunity to guest curate an official playlist on Spotify.

Films must be loopable content, and they can also contain sound. Submissions are divided into the following categories: Narrative, Stop Motion, Animated, Experimental, Wild Card/Other. Each filmmaker can submit up to three pieces of work per category.

The judging panel includes Mukunda Angulo (artist and filmmaker), Alex Bodman (Spotify global creative director), Brooke Keesling (director of communications and culture at The Animation Guild), Mona Panchal (vice president of digital at Topic), Joe Pera (comedian, actor, and writer), Julia Rothman (co-founder at Women Who Draw), and Rajendra Roy (The Celeste Bartos chief curator of film at the Museum of Modern Art), among others.

Finalists submissions will be screened at an invite-only event at the Metrograph Theater in New York City on Thursday, November 8th. For those who aren’t invited to the event, films will also be viewable online. The grand prize winner will be announced at the event.

The deadline to submit a film is September 27.

The festival is open only to U.S. residents age 18 and older. Full details on rules and submissions can be found at GiphyFilmFest.com.