March On!™ Festival 2026   |  September 29 - October 6, 2026   |  Celebrating 250 Years of Democarcy: The Unfinished Story      

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Debuting in 2016, the Student and Emerging Filmmaker Competitions give filmmakers the opportunity to use cinematic storytelling to answer important themes like “what’s your civil right?” and “speaking truth to power.” The annual short film competition receives over 150 submissions from across the world. An esteemed jury of civil rights, industry leaders, and established filmmakers select the winners, and the shortlisted films are screened during the festival. Now in their tenth year, the competitions have continued to attract industry supporters, including a diverse portfolio of funders. Prizes for the competitions this are funded in part by the generosity of Deborah Zipser and Craig Emanuel.

2026 Competitions

October 4, 2026

Late Submissions Now Open

The March On! Festival strives to increase awareness of the events and heroes of the Civil Rights Era and inspire renewed passion for activism. The festival uses the power of film, music, and the arts to share these important stories.

The Festival continues its Competitions for Emerging and Student filmmakers to submit short form content, both narrative and documentary, which focuses on civil rights movements, the civil rights era and social justice issues.

2025 Film Competition Finalists

Student Narrative Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 24 mins The early days of the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian children displaced by the conflict are brought to a Russian elementary school. One of them turns out to be the long-lost nephew of Victoria, a music teacher of Ukrainian descent. Victoria awakens from the slumber of Russian propaganda and begins a desperate fight to save the boy.
Student Narrative Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 20 mins Alice Ye, Sarah Zhou. A homeless mother faces impossible choices as she fights to protect her daughter's innocence while struggling to secure shelter and survive on New York City's unforgiving streets.
Student Narrative Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 16 mins On May 21, 1990, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) stormed the DC campus of the National Institutes of Health to protest the lack of available drugs to treat AIDS. From his office, Dr. Anthony Fauci watches as the activists march around his building, chanting and shouting for his resignation. Meanwhile, a young gay filmmaker captures the events of the protest while attempting to deliver an important package to Fauci. As tensions rise and the demonstrations threaten to upend the scientists' work, Dr. Fauci is forced to reckon with his power and privilege.
Student Documentary Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 09 mins The high and low points surrounding the newly burgeoning culture of skateboarding in Lagos. From winning hundreds of thousands in prize money, to board seizure for "civil disobedience," the life of a skater in Lagos is anything but uneventful.
Student Documentary Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 19 mins The first Black collegiate polo team at Morehouse College chases national USPA certification, training a rag-tag team of charismatic cowboys into pioneering polo stars.
Student Documentary Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 21 mins Jeffery Campbell has served 24 years of a 47 year sentence for a crime he knows he didn’t commit. Accused and charged for murder, he was incarcerated in 2001, leaving behind three young daughters and his mother. Determined to reunite with his family, he applies for two legal processes that could bring him closer to freedom.
Emerging Narrative Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 13 mins Michelle, a 10-year-old survivor of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, attempts to escape both her past and her new home when she learns that her new “family” is not what they seem.
Emerging Narrative Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 12 mins A young Filipina filmmaker attempts to overwrite a painful memory of her mother with a perfect narrative.
Emerging Narrative Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 24 mins A college basketball star is called to stand for social justice by an activist who is forced to work with police to alleviate racial tensions in their city.
Emerging Documentary Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 21 mins Teaching America is a short documentary exploring the battle around the teaching of African-American history and studies from inside the classroom, focusing on the transformative journeys of the Arkansas teachers, students and families who are part of the very first, inaugural classes of students taking Advanced Placement African-American Studies nationwide.
Emerging Documentary Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 20 mins An immigrant mother emerges as a community leader during the historic campaign to end the sharing of the Philadelphia police database with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Expanding Sanctuary tells a rarely told story about a Latinx immigrant community’s successful journey to change legislation and protect families.
Emerging Documentary Film Competition Finalist 2025 | 16 mins Love Souley, Tristan Daley, Carter M. Stewart As the year concludes for Mohammed Schools of Atlanta, Principal Khalil reflects on the 90 year legacy of his great-grandmother building the first Muslim private school system in the country.

The March On! Student and Emerging Filmmaker Competitions will select 12 finalists:

Three Student Filmmakers and three Emerging Filmmakers in each category: Narrative Short and Documentary Short.

Shortlisted Films Will Receive:

  • A dedicated festival screening (in person and virtual)
  • Full access to all festival programming
  • Recognition across festival communications, including the official press release, website, email marketing, and social media
  • The opportunity to have their film shared with national social justice organizations for potential use in organizing and advocacy efforts


From the 12 finalists, March On! will present four Jury Awards:

  • Student Narrative Winner
  • Student Documentary Short Winner
  • Emerging Narrative Winner
  • Emerging Documentary Winner


The Four Jury Award Winners Will Receive:

  • A $2,000 cash award
  • Up to $1,400 in travel support
  • A dedicated festival screening (in person and virtual)
  • One Gala ticket
  • Full festival access for up to two guests
  • Prominent recognition across festival communications, including the official press release, website, email marketing, and social media
  • The opportunity to have their film shared with national social justice organizations for potential use in organizing and advocacy efforts

 

Grand Prize Winner

From the four Jury Award winners, March On! will select one Grand Prize Winner, who will also receive:

  • Featured recognition across festival communications, including the official press release, website, email marketing, and social media
  • A post-festival collaboration with March On! that includes a film discussion and impact guide, technical assistance, and a co-hosted public program

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

  • Films must have been completed after September 1, 2023
  • Entries must be completed – including Vimeo link and payment – by the deadline date
  • Films may not have been released theatrically or aired on television in the U.S. prior to the festival.  If the film has been screened online, the filmmaker is required to include this information in the film’s submission materials
  • STUDENTS: must be currently enrolled in school, or have graduated within 6 months of the Festival
  • EMERGING ARTISTS: must have made their first film no earlier than 5 years before 2026.


SUBMISSION PROCEDURE:


Applicants will be notified of the festival’s decision by early August.

Opal Hope Bennett

Emerging & Student Filmmaker
Competitions Director

Opal H. Bennett is the Emmy-winning Executive Producer at POV Shorts and Senior Producer at POV. Under her curation, POV Shorts won the 2020 and 2022 IDA Award for Best Short Form Series and the series broadcast the 2021 News & Documentary Emmy winner for Short Documentary, The Love Bugs.

Previously, Opal was Shorts Programmer and Director of Artist Development at DOC NYC and Senior Programmer at Athena Film Festival. Prior to that, Opal also worked with Nantucket Film Festival, Aspen ShortsFest, Tribeca Film Festival and consulted for The Gotham (formerly IFP). She is a Programming Consultant for March On!. Opal is a member of the AMPAS Documentary branch. She has served on juries for SxSW, HotDocs, Aspen & Palm Springs ShortsFests, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Seattle International Film Festivals and IndieMemphis Film Festival among others. She has also served on the shorts selection committees for Cinema Eye Honors and the IDA. Opal has participated on various selection committees for film programming and grants.

A Columbia Law grad, Opal holds a Masters in Media Studies from the London School of Economics, and received her B.A. from New York University.