What is the NSFA?
The NSFA, short for the National Student Film Association, is the biggest organisation in the UK to promote and widen exposure of student film making. It was founded on the 16th June 2009 by a group of film students from five different universities who felt that the time had come for a new organisation that would connect student film societies, festivals and film makers all around the UK.
The NSFA is split in two parts: film making and film distribution. We actively seek to help student film makers to make new films by promoting cooperation and collaboration at a national level and by working with student film events to improve the quality of talks and workshops they are able to offer. Secondly, we also try to generate new venues for the screening of student films, as well as supporting existing avenues and communicating with students film makers to encourage wider distribution of their work.
Joining the NSFA
You can join the NSFA in two ways and both are absolutely free! As an individual, you can become an Associate Member, which means that you are going to receive emails from us, can actively use our film festival database on the website, submit films to the annual National Student Film Festival, Screentest, and get invited to our Annual General Meeting. Associate membership is open to anybody which means that you can also join us if you are not a student (any more).
Secondly, you can also join us as part of a Member Group. A member group can either be your local university film society, a film course or a student film festival group. As a whole, a member group can vote at the AGM and even put a proposal forward to host Screentest in the following year.
The government of the NSFA
The NSFA is governed by a council which meets at least once per year and is elected democratically at the Annual General Meeting. Council members serve one year term and may be re-elected once. At any time, there are no more than two council members who belong to the same university. The council consists of the following seven positions: Chairperson, Vice Chairperson for Participation & Membership, Secretary, Treasurer, Marketing & Publicity Officer, Film Exhibition Liaison and Film Production Liaison. If you would like to get involved with the Council, just have a look at the relevant section on the right!
The National Student Film Festival, Screentest, and the NSFAwards
Every year in February, the NSFA, in conjunction with a UK University, organises the National Student Film Festival, also called Screentest. Screentest has been based in Bristol in the past years but, from 2011 on, will move around the country to emphasis the festival’s national character. Over the course of a weekend, there are student film screenings, workshops, networking opportunities and an Award ceremony at which the organisation hands out the National Student Film Awards in ten categories. The AGM also takes place at Screentest.