👉👉👉👉👉👉 Festival Entry Portals 👉👉👉👉👉👉
Upload your stills, biog, film, cast and crew info, trailer, and usually a screener to these portals, and then you enter most film festivals from within these platforms.
They all work a little differently. Set your film up on more than one of these.
FILM FREEWAY https://filmfreeway.com
SHORT FILM DEPOT: https://shortfilmdepot.com
FESTHOME: https://filmmakers.festhome.com/home-filmmakers
EVENTIVAL: https://www.eventival.com
👉👉👉👉👉👉 Festival Lists 👉👉👉👉👉👉
Here are some great lists to cross-check when trying to work out if a festival is legit or not - an/d or whether it’s a good fest that carries any weight:
SHORT FILM CONFERENCE - the festivals listed here are members and they subscribe to a set of ethics.
https://www.shortfilmconference.com/members/#
AACTA ACCREDITATION FACT SHEET (hasn’t been updated since 2022):
TALKING SHORTS - a fantastic website, but also a great list:
https://talkingshorts.com/category/industry/festivals
FESTIVAL SCOPE - great list:
https://pro.festivalscope.com/festivals
SHOW ME SHORTS (New Zealand) - the best 1-3 fests for each country.
https://www.showmeshorts.co.nz/education/festival-list
SHOW ME SHORTS also offers a bunch of other great resources. They also offer a film festival service and a free festival tracking template.
https://www.showmeshorts.co.nz/education/filmmaker-resources
FREE TO ENTER FESTIVALS - always check options you might be eligible for.
https://filmfestivalsecrets.com/extras/no-fee
THE 50 BEST FILM FESTIVALS - Top 50 festivals around the world
https://www.finalcutmagazine.com/best-film-festivals
MOVIEMAKER MAGAZINE publishes these two lists each year:
50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee
25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World
EXPERIMENTAL FILM FESTIVALS
https://expcinema.org/site/en/directory/festivals
FOR ANIMATIONS
Note many animation festivals require direct submissions
https://www.animation-festivals.com
FRAME iO’s - 2024 BEST FESTIVALS - a great list
https://blog.frame.io/2024/02/06/film-festivals-what-has-changed-and-what-to-expect-in-2024
FILM ITALIA’S List of: BEST FESTIVALS FOR SHORTS:
https://filmitalia.org/en/festivalsidx/2/
FEST AGENT - has a FABULOUS summary about each festival:
EVENTIVAL’s CLIENT LIST is pretty impressive.
https://www.eventival.com/en/clients
You can also check SCREEN AUSTRALIA’s FESTIVAL PROFILES - some of this info is out of date now, but it’s still a great list of the best festivals:
https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/festivals-and-markets/festival-profiles
This is a very short list of festivals that SCREEN AUSTRALIA will pay Australian filmmakers a travel grant to attend - but it must be for your INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE.
https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/funding-and-support/online/marketing/festivals-and-awards
This is what VICSCREEN considers to be a ‘major festival’ for the sake of funding eligibility, but also for travel grant assistance - premiere status not required.
If you’re a Victorian filmmaker and you get into one of these festivals, apply for a Travel Grant ASAP.
INDIGENOUS and FIRST NATIONS festivals
https://imaginenative.org/year-round/indigenous-festivals
There are others around, this list isn't that comprehensive but it's a start.
QUEER / LBGTQI+ festivals
The most current and comprehensive list seems to be the AI response that's generated by searching 'best LGBT film festivals’ in Google!
Film image by Gerd Altmann, sourced by paid donation on Pixabay