We are close to bidding 2021 an emphatic farewell. It was a trying year, but inspiring too. While the times continue to remain uncertain with the new variant, there is a poignant need to keep the show running; for art’s sake, for hope’s sake. For a few, these would seem hollow words with losses they endured. But, there is no denying the countless, awe-inspiring moments that lifted our spirits. One such would be from the filmmakers and content creators. Filmmakers from across the globe entertained the world with their amazing content. And, we at Indie Shorts Mag, were fortunate enough to review and promote some of them.
Today, I am excited to announce the second season of the Short of the Year Awards. Last year we launched Short of the Year (SOTY) Awards 2020 with the vision to celebrate short films and documentaries that we reviewed in 2020. SOTY Awards 2021 follows a similar suit. It will celebrate short films and documentaries we reviewed from December 2020 to November 2021.
During this timeframe, we reviewed and published 211 films in total. All of which will automatically be considered to compete in the following eligible categories except for the Audience Choice Awards.
- Best Short Film (Short of the Year)
- Best Documentary
- Best Music Video
- Best Direction
- Best Editing
- Best Cinematography
- Best Music
- Best Screenplay
Similar to the previous year’s Audience Choice Awards, this year too, it will be an opt-in only and the films that opt-in to compete in this category will have to be public. That is, films that are password-protected, private, behind a paywall, etc., cannot opt-in for SOTY 2021 Audience Choice Awards. The Audience Choice Awards winners are decided based on the number of votes a film gets during the voting period.
One of the most received feedbacks last year regarding the Audience Choice Awards voting were the duplicate and fraudulent votes. Even though we had one of the best solutions to track them, we ourselves weren’t wholly satisfied with the effectiveness of it, as we knew there is no dearth to smart chaps who can and will bypass our system. While last year the votes were tracked based on IP addresses alone, this year we are excited to announce a system that will verify the votes by emailing the voters. Every individual voting this year will have to verify the votes by clicking a link that is sent to their email address. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the filmmakers that reached out to us last year with this particular suggestion.
If you are the creator of one of the 211 films we reviewed from December 2020 to November 2021, you can submit your film for the Audience Choice Awards here. Please make sure you upload your film on YouTube and share the link as the System we use doesn’t support Vimeo or other links yet (my apologies for that!). You can upload the film on YouTube and keep it unlisted.
Audience Choice Awards submission closes on 10th December 2021 and voting begins on 11th December 2021. Voting will close on 25th December 2021. This year one of the voters is set to win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Nominees of the awards will be announced on 20th December 2021 followed by the Winner announcement on 31st December 2021.
We will be reaching out to all the 211 films we reviewed this year with a special invite.
If you have any questions, visit the Short of the Year Awards 2021 website and fill in the contact form. Our team will get in touch as soon as possible.
Thanks to all the filmmakers for such an amazing year and we hope SOTY Awards 2021 gives your film the exposure it deserves.
