Ratings Guidelines

College Films

SCENE FIRST accepts unrated films in the college division. However, for gratuitous scenes and extremes in violence, nudity/sex, language and drug use, SCENE FIRST judges may exclude an entry from festival consideration.

High School Films

The following guidelines further clarify the PG-13 rating for SCENE FIRST high school entries, allowing students to edit their films for consideration.

Drugs/Alcohol: Normal use (or effects of use) is permitted within the confines of age-appropriate behavior. Excessive use (explicit shooting up of drugs, crazed binges, overt underage abuse) will disqualify an entry.

Nudity/Sex: If nudity is sexually oriented, the film will NOT qualify. For sexual scenes and content, use of reaction shots or teasing the audience with sound and, as with violence, showing the aftermath of an encounter is permitted.

Language: A film may use a single harsh sexually-derived word, though only as an expletive, not within a sexual context (i.e., a character, frustrated with a situation can mutter “f**k” or “s**t”). If more than one such expletive or one use of these words in a sexual context, the film will not qualify.

Violence: If violence is too rough or persistent, the film will not qualify. As an example, filmmakers should focus on the aftermath of violence or use sound and quick-cut edits instead of showing explicit/overt scenes, allowing viewers’ minds to fill in the missing pieces. Films will be disqualified if they show anything overt like chainsaws ripping into bodies, knives, hatchets or swords impaling people, or a shotgun blasting off a person’s arm.

If you have questions about your film's content as it pertains to qualifying for SCENE FIRST, please contact us.