MidAmerica Student Film Festival

Arts & Humanities

Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 7pm

Cunningham Center, Student Lounge

Free to MNU and high school students

Deadline: April 10th

Open to current MNU students and current high school students, the MidAmerica Film Festival offers young filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their unique voices and cinematic expressions in a setting meant to engage, encourage, and empower one another in a creative arts community.

Just want to watch the chosen films? The Film Festival is open and free to the public. All are welcome.

Submission categories: Comedy, Drama, and Documentary

Official Rules

Requirements for high school students may differ from those for college students. To ensure that your entry can be accepted, please make sure to reference the applicable requirements.

All submissions must run between three (3) and six (6) minutes in length, including credits.
All submissions must accompany a completed entry form.
Select the category (1- Comedy, 2- Drama, or 3- Documentary) that best fits your film.
All participants must either be a full-time student of MidAmerica Nazarene University (university category) or a current high school student (high school category).
Films must have been completed within the current school year of the festival.
By submitting to this festival, students give permission for their works to be shown live at the festival, MNU Digital Communication’s social media channels, YouTube page, and other official media expression.

The festival reserves the right to not screen all films received based on the number of entries submitted, quality of the work, adherence to the guidelines and code of conduct (see below), and/or the ethos of the entries.

Submission formats include a link to a digital download of the final video file attached to the submission form (via DropBox or Google Drive) or a flash drive containing the final video file in MP4 format or a DVD mailed to:

Professor Aaron Bohn
Digital Communications
MidAmerica Nazarene University
2030 E College Way
Olathe, KS 66062

All entries must be submitted and received by the approved deadlines to receive full consideration.

Films must be the original work of the applicants (including but not limited to all audio, video, poster art, music, sound effects, credits, etc.).

All films submitted must adhere to MNU’s student entertainment policies listed in the student handbook on page 7, point 9 “Entertainment”: MNU Student Handbook

If your film contains content that is not suitable for younger viewers, the filmmaker must identify this in their submission form.

Minimum Required Media Settings

MPEG-4 file (.mp4) with H.264 Codec
Video Resolution: 3840 X 2160p 24 fps (23.976)
Data rate: Target bitrate 20 Mbps, Max bitrate 24 Mbps (Using High encoding profile)
Audio: AAC codec, 320 kbps, 48kHz, Stereo

VIDEO: Basic Video Settings: Width: 1920 Height: 1080 Frame Rate: 23.976 Field Order: Progressive Aspect: Square Pixels (1.0) TV Standard: NTSC Render at Maximum Depth: This may be checked to render color at 32 bit for better compositing and visual effects. (Additional render time will be required. Use only as necessary.) Encoding Settings, Performance: Software Encoding (Computers with more robust graphics processing may give you the option for hardware encoding. It is recommended to use Software Encoding.) Encoding Settings, Profile: High Encoding Settings, Level: 4.2 Bitrate Encoding: VBR, 1 pass Target Bitrate [Mbps]: 20 Maximum Bitrate [Mbps]: 24

AUDIO: Audio Format Settings, Audio Format: AAC Basic Audio Settings, Audio Codec: AAC Basic Audio Settings, Sample Rate: 48000 Hz Basic Audio Settings, Channels: Stereo Basic Audio Settings, Audio Quality: High Bitrate Settings, Bitrate [kbps]: 320 Advanced Settings, Precedence: Bitrate

Digital Communication

Digital Communications enables students to discover their unique creative voices. It can guide them in utilizing technology best to facilitate their vision via hands-on experience and encourage them to express their creativity for the benefit of their culture and communities.

Theatre

At MNU we offer a comprehensive approach to theatrical training that stresses technical practices, performances, theater management, and academic courses to develop you as an artistic member of the performing arts. You’ll contribute to all productions, either as actors or as members of the crew.