Animation - Any length

Narrative Feature - Longer than 45 Minutes

Narrative Short - Less than 45 Minutes

Documentary Feature - Longer than 45 minutes

Documentary Short - Less than 45 minutes

HEARTLAND STUDENT SHORT - Less than 45 minutes

Cash awards/trophies are expected to be given for best in each category. Additional awards may be added at the discretion of the festival staff and judges. Scholarships/cash awards/trophies will be given for best Heartland Student Short the Andy Entwistle Spirit Award and the Dandelion Award for Local Women in Film.

The Heartland Student Short category is open to Kansas and Missouri area Middle and High School students (grades 6-12). Submissions for students is free but an access code will be needed, email the festival at firstcityfilm@gmail.com for more information.

Submissions for the Heartland Student Short category need to be in by Feb. 11, 2022.

Submissions are accepted only through electronic submission via FilmFreeway.

Student filmmakers pose with local filmmaker Caleb Vetter (far left) and Ben Schatzel (far right) after the First City Student Short screenings and awards March 22, 2018. Vetter also served as a judge for the student films.

The Andy Entwistle Spirit Award is for first time filmmakers over 40 years old at the time of submission. The 'first time filmmaker' can be the screenwriter, director or producer of a feature or short film. Interpretation of 'First time filmmaker' is at the discretion of the festival committee. To be considered for the Andy Entwistle Spirit Award, e-mail the festival staff at firstcityfilm@gmail.com AFTER submitting through FilmFreeway.

The award is named for Andy Entwistle, who picked up and moved to Leavenworth from New York state after meeting his future wife, Tisha, during a class in Maryland. Upon arriving in Leavenworth, at the age of 47, Andy immediately got involved in the local community theater and church choir and eventually had a small role in a local independent film. Andy did all of this at the request of his new wife, and all of it was completely new to him.

A beloved member of the Leavenworth/Lansing/Fort Leavenworth community, Andy approached every new adventure with a spirit of joy that was contagious to those around him. His kind smile and ability to ask 'just the right questions' to get people to talk about themselves, made everyone feel like Andy was genuinely interested and cared about them - because he did.

Andy was often heard telling Tisha to "be light of heart," because that is how he lived his own life.

Andy passed away suddenly on March 31, 2015.

This award is in his honor and is a way to recognize a filmmaker who maybe jumped into film making a little later in life than others, but with no less joy.

First City Film Festival Director Tisha Swart-Entwistle poses with the 2018 Andy Entwistle Spirit Award Recipient Eric Willis during the awards ceremony March 23, 2018 at the Riverfront Community Center in Leavenworth, Kan.

Sponsored by the Women's Division of the Leavenworth-Lansing Chamber of Commerce, the Dandelion Award for Local Women in Film is a way to honor a woman involved in the local independent film industry who embodies the spirit of the dandelion. To nominate a filmmaker for the Dandelion Award, e-mail the festival staff at firstcityfilm@gmail.com.

Dandelions can thrive in difficult conditions, symbolizing the ability to rise above life’s challenges.

Dandelions have one of the longest flowering seasons of any plant. It is often the first flower we see in spring, and the last flower we see in summer - reminding us of our mothers and grandmothers who rose before dawn and were the last to sleep at the end of the day.

Found essentially everywhere, the dandelion adapts to its surroundings. If you mow over it, it will return over and over - just a little shorter each time until your blades can’t touch it.

Every part of the dandelion is useful, as either food or medicine. It is also used to make beer, wine and dye for food and fabric.

The dandelion is often the first flower a child will pick to give to a parent or someone they love.

Maybe most symbolically, the dandelion is the flower we choose to whisper the wishes of our hearts to.

Despite all of this, sometime in history, someone decided that the dandelion was a weed.