A practical guide to film festival submissions, written by festival organizers.
Learn how to choose the right festivals, avoid common mistakes, and submit your film with intention instead of guesswork.
Where to Submit Your Film
How Film Submissions Work
Submitting to festivals is more than filling out a form.
It’s how films find audiences, start conversations, and connect filmmakers with each other.
Festivals bring people into the same room.
You meet other filmmakers, programmers, and audiences who care about the work.
The goal is to submit to festivals that fit your film and help it move forward.
Choose Your Film Type
Select your film type to see submission advice and recommended festivals.
Built by Festival Organizers
This guide is run by people who actively program and run film festivals.
We review thousands of submissions every year across shorts, documentaries, horror, experimental, and micro short films.
We’ve seen what works, what gets overlooked, and what actually helps a film move forward.
The goal is to submit where your film belongs.
Why Film Festivals Matter
Film festivals give films a real place to live.
They create shared experiences with an audience and other filmmakers.
A strong festival screening can open doors.
It leads to conversations, feedback, and connections that don’t happen online.
The right festival doesn’t just show your film.
It connects you to people who can help shape what comes next.
Film Festival Red Flags
Not all festivals operate the same way.
Some screen films publicly, engage real audiences and give real awards - other’s do not.
Knowing the red flags helps filmmakers avoid wasting time, money, and energy.
This guide explains what to look for and how legitimate festivals usually operate.