How to submit your film to a festival for the first time

Submitting for the first time is mostly a confidence problem rather than a technical one. Here is the plain version.

Pick the right category

Read the category list properly and enter the one your film actually is, not the one you wish it were. A strong short entered as a feature does itself no favours. If your film sits between two categories, pick the one that describes what an audience will experience.

Do not over explain

Your synopsis is not a defence. Say what the film is, clearly, in a few sentences. Judges are watching the film, not marking your paperwork.

Check the file before you send it

Watch your own export the whole way through, on a screen you did not edit on, with the sound on something other than your good headphones. Subtitles burned in and legible if the film is not in English. This catches more problems than any other single habit.

Being new is not a disadvantage

There is a First Time Filmmaker award for a reason. Our archives are full of people whose first festival was this one.

Where to submit

Submissions are handled through FilmFreeway, with FestHome as a secondary route. Entries for the current cycle are closed. The next call for entries will be announced on the newsletter before anywhere else, so join it if you want the earliest warning.

What selected filmmakers receive is set out on the submit page.