Watersprite 2026 JUDGING GUIDANCE & MARK SCHEME
Thank you for joining us at Watersprite to judge submissions for our 2026 Festival!
Watersprite is the world’s largest international student film festival. With submissions from over 100 countries, Watersprite seeks to provide a creative, vibrant, and inclusive space for the filmmakers of the next generation. This page will give you some tips and guidance on how to judge films. You will find useful information on awards, eligible films, and things to look out for! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email Isaac (Head of Awards) at awards@watersprite.org.uk! A plaintext version of this page is also available here.
We hope you enjoy viewing the films!
TRAINING VIDEO
This video covers how to set up your FilmFreeway account, how to access your assigned films and how to fill out the judging form. Once you’ve watched it, keep scrolling for more detailed information!
FILM ALLOCATION
You will have been assigned a batch of films to view and rate on FilmFreeway. It is vital that you rate all the films you have been assigned to ensure our judging is as fair as possible! If you do not think you can rate the films in time, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can assign them to a different judge.
If you finish your batch early, feel free to get in touch with us and we’ll assign you some more!
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When you signed up to be a judge, we asked you whether there were any content notices you wanted to avoid. We have done our best to ensure the films you have been allocated are appropriate for your viewing. However, we cannot guarantee this, since these content notices are self-reported by filmmakers. If you encounter films or scenes that cause you distress, please make sure to flag them to us so we are aware and can alert any additional viewers and/or, in certain cases, remove them from consideration!
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Please remember that you are not allowed to be a judge if you have submitted a film yourself or if you have participated in a film submitted to the festival. Equally, if you know anyone who has submitted a film to the festival, please let us know so that we make sure not to assign you those films.
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You may need to turn on subtitles in the bottom right of the video player. If there are definitely no subtitles in the video, leave a comment in the technical issues box or send us an email!
JUDGING FORM
Once you log into FilmFreeway, you will be able to watch and rate the films that have been assigned to you. You may want to watch a few of your assigned films and make careful notes before begining to rate them.
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Just because you don’t like the story or style, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t warrant entry into the festival. This is especially important as we are an international film festival, as you will likely be exposed to stories / fictional worlds that you may not be familiar with or that don’t resonate with you personally.
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Was there anything in particular you didn’t like about the film? Why? Give as detailed feedback as possible.
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We like to find films that take a creative, original approach to filmmaking and we acknowledge that style is ever-changing. We also feature films that are less polished but may encompass other factors, such as uniqueness of voice and originality of story/style. We are searching for emerging filmmakers!
Ratings
In the Ratings section of the judging form, you judge films according to a range of technical categories, as well as providing an Overall Rating. The technical score are used to determine the winners of the technical categories and the overall rating is used to determine the winners of the genre categories.
Watersprite’s criteria for judging is “excellence in executing its creative function”. In other words, you must assess how well something, or someone, has fulfilled its creative role and intention. If a director wants to be unconventional, how successfully have they done this? If the production designer wants to pay homage to the Golden Age of Hollywood, how successfully have they done this?
Overall Rating
As well as a technical rating for each film, you must also provide an Overall Rating, used to determine the winners of the genre categories. Please give each film an overall rating using the box on the top left of the judging form. Note that this is separate to the “average rating” automatically calculated by FilmFreeway. The genre of the film is listed under “Category” underneath the film.
If you are unfamiliar with experimental films, please feel free to check out the Aesthetica Short Film Festival where you can find modern examples of experimental films.
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Does the plot capture your attention? Do the events and characters resonate with the viewer?
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Is the animation style unique and expressive? Is it aesthetically pleasing - if not, is this a deliberate stylistic choice to create a certain mood for the film? Does the animation style suit the content of the film?
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Does it have a clear view on a topic? Does it convey a message that is meaningful or provocative? Does it make you see this topic in a new light?
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Does the film break away from cinematic conventions and/or explore non-narrative forms of cinema? Does it present unusual or groundbreaking aesthetic or technical elements? Does it expand the language of cinema?
Note that experimental films generally do not follow predictable narrative form. They allow for ambiguity and complexity of thought and use abstraction or lyricism in their execution.
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Overall vision and its execution, visual style and ability to work with character/actors.
Always relevant.
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Shot composition and lighting; camera movement; and lighting colour.
Likely not relevant for 2D animation.
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Sensitivity to the nature of the leading character e.g. through believability, physicality, facial expressions and diction. Voice acting will not be considered.
Likely not relevant for Documentary or Animation films.
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Technical assembly of the film e.g. transition and pacing of cuts and scenes.
Always relevant.
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World design e.g. set, locations and props. Also applies to character design when rating a stop-motion animation.
Likely not relevant for 2D animation.
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Suitability of the score to the style and content of the film.
Not relevant if there is no score, or if score is not original (if the submitter did not put “Yes” for the relevant question in the Custom Form under the film).
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Quality and relevance of the costumes in the film.
Likely not relevant for Animation or Documentary.
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Atmosphere, sound effects, sound quality and synchronisation.
Only not relevant if the film has no sound.
TECHNICAL RATINGS
Please give a rating for every relevant technical aspect of the film using the mark scheme below. In order to understand the technical categories, it may help you to take a look at the Oscars’ series, The Art of….
Do not provide a score for categories which are not relevant, as this will affect the film’s average score. Leave the category at 0 stars if it is not relevant to the film.
The mark scheme below is a set of guidelines and examples that can be used when rating technical categories, although it is by no means prescriptive. The mark scheme is designed to provide suggestions, not specialised criteria. When rating a film, please above all consider the Watersprite general criteria: excellence in executing its creative function.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Apart from giving the film an overall rating and technical scores, the judging form asks for a few additional comments. These are used to help us with the technicalities of the judging process, as well as determine the winner of the Social Impact Award.
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This box is for your detailed feedback about the film. These will be read by the Awards Team when determining the shortlist, so feel free to elaborate as much as you’d like on what you enjoyed about the films!
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Use this box to nominate films for the Social Impact Award. This is awarded to a film of any genre which raises awareness of an issue and allows viewers to reflect on the importance and impact of the topic presented. When considering whether to nominate a film for the Social Impact award, look for films that centre on a significant issue and meaningfully address it. The audience should be prompted to think differently or more deeply about this issue, on which the film takes a persuasive, nuanced, and coherent stance. The importance of the issue should be clear, the film should be interesting, and the audience may even be encouraged to take action for change.
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We also ask you to highlight if the film features meaningful representations of any of the following: LGBTQIA+ characters/stories, actors/characters of colour, female actors/characters, characters with additional needs/disabilities, actors/characters from any other underrepresented group (e.g. Gypsy/Roma/ Traveller community). This is because we want the festival to be as diverse, inclusive and representative as possible. We particularly want to include films that feature meaningful representations of these actors/characters/ stories in line with the BFI’s Diversity Standards, which can be found here:
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Finally, we ask you to make a note of any technical errors you spot during your viewings. This will help us determine whether or not a film should progress to the next stage of judging but also gives us the chance to provide filmmakers with an opportunity to resolve certain issues that distract from the quality of their films. These might include issues with:
Subtitles - e.g. no subtitles, problems with translation or timings (note: you may need to turn on subtitles in the bottom right of the video player)
Audio - e.g if some parts are too loud/too quiet, out of sync
Technical errors - e.g. the film not playing properly, stopping halfway,
Genre - e.g. submitted to the wrong category