Background
The Z-Fest Film Festival is an annual Twin Cities based contest-style film festival that features original, seven-minute, short films made by local filmmakers. The contest typically starts in the fall and culminates in screenings and an awards gala in late March.
Our Mission
Z-Fest is different from most film festivals.
While most film festivals are focused on showing films, Z-Fest’s number one goal is to encourage local filmmaking.
Along the way there are several other benefits that emerge:
- education
- networking
- mentorship
- awareness
- community
- inclusion
On top of all that, we also have helped to create an amazing catalog of Minnesota-made short films.
A lot of Z-Fest films go on to screen locally and nationally at other film festivals.
Our formal mission statement is to promote, elevate, and showcase entertaining Minnesota-made short films.
We do this by encouraging a team approach to filmmaking: old and young, industry veterans alongside students and first time filmmakers.
About The Festival
- Z-Fest is a film festival hosted by Z Systems and sponsored by numerous companies and organizations in Twin Cities and greater Minnesota area.
- Each team must produce a seven-minute short film that is produced exclusively for Z-Fest. The genre and subject matter of the film are at the discretion of the teams, provided the content of the film adheres to the Z-Fest film content guidelines.
- In addition to the films, all teams are given the opportunity to submit a 30-second trailer, which is posted on YouTube. A tally of YouTube ‘likes’ is taken for a fixed period of time. The trailers that receive the top three most ‘likes’ on their trailers all receive cash prizes.
- All accepted films are judged by a panel of individuals from around the country, most with connections to the Minnesota film community.
- All films submitted to Z-Fest are shown on the big screen in a movie theater, provided they adhere to the Z-Fest film content and turn-in format guidelines. The top films are screened at a final “Best of Fest” event. All screenings will be open to the public.
- The Best of Fest screening is followed by the Awards Gala and Ceremony. Films receive awards for excellence in selected categories and genres such as best actor/actress, best comedy, best screenplay, best prop, etc. In addition to a certificate of award, various award winners receive merchandise or cash prizes.
Sponsors
Z-fest wouldn’t exist without our generous sponsors. Please patronize their businesses whenever possible. Click here to see a list of our current sponsors.
Click here if you’d like to get more information about becoming a sponsor.
Z-Fest Film Festival is a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) corporation.