Film festival requirements checklist
Create a profile for your film on several festival submission platforms, such as FilmFreeway, It’s free to do this. You will be asked for some or all of the following:
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Cast credits
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Crew credits (especially main crew: director, producer, writer, director of photography, sound recordist, production designer, costume designer – add others that are especially relevant to the film, e.g. lead animator, VFX designer, music)
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Brief crew biographies for main crew, heads of department
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Still photos from the film (colour at 300 dpi, jpg or tif format) – at least 5
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Behind-the scenes still photos of the production (colour at 300 dpi, jpg or tif format), including director and crew
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Logline for the film – one or two sentences that describe the film and its theme
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Synopses of the film in several lengths (in English and original language): short – 1/2 page or less, medium – 2/3, 1 page long
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Brief biography of the director
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Filmography of the director
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Photograph of the director (colour at 300 dpi, jpg or tif format)
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Director’s statement (500 words)
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Dialogue list in English and original language (with time code)
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Country of production
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Year of production
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Exact running time
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List of festivals participated in so far
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Positive reviews of the film if available
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Poster (300 dpi)
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Trailer
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File of film for publicity clip use, e.g. mp4 (have versions with and without English subtitles if not in English)
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Website url, social media pages
As much of this as possible should also be available as an EPK (electronic press kit). Many festival submission platforms allow for online submission of an EPK. Some festivals will only ask for an EPK if your film is selected. Alternatively, much of the information in the list above can be uploaded via festival submission platforms.
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Film for submission –
Some festivals require that all projects be submitted via a password-protected streaming URL link, e.g. Vimeo, YouTube.
Others will accept a film uploaded through a submission platform or the festival’s website.
Some festivals will accept a DVD and may specify the region and file format. DVDs must be labelled with title, production company name, phone number and address, director’s name, length in minutes, and submission platform tracking number if applicable. Submitted DVDs are unlikely to be returned.
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Film for screening if selected –
Different festivals have different requirements. For example, this is for the Tribeca Film Festival: (i) one (1) exhibition copy (technical specifications must be confirmed by the Festival in advance) of the invited work; (ii) a backup copy or copies, as required by the technical department; and (iii) additional exhibition copies, if requested by the Festival (to allow for multiple screenings at more than one venue). It is recommended that you ship all exhibition copies via courier in order to permit the tracking of your project once it leaves your hands.
Other festivals require a DCP of the film, with a DVD or Blu-ray as a backup.
All links, DCPs and DVDs should be tested before sending them to a festival.
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Rights clearance – Most festivals’ rules and regulations have a clause like this:
All rights, permissions and clearances must be obtained prior to submission and applicants must ensure that they have the right to submit the work with regard to third parties connected to the production of the film in question. By entering your work, you agree to this and the responsibilities involved. The festival assumes no liability for violation of copyright law.
This applies to any music, video or film footage, copyrighted images or archive material used in the film.
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Proof of student status - if submitting to a festival’s student film category, you may be required to provide valid proof of your student status if selected (showing that you are currently a student or were during the making of the film). This can be a copy of your student ID card or a letter from a staff member.
20,000 Species of Bees and Smoke Sauna Sisterhood will be Captioned Screenings (CS)
Subtitled screenings that display the dialogue as well as additional auditory information on the screen.
Live captions will display spoken dialogue in real-time. will be added to any Facebook Live interviews & events with closed captions and a downloadable text file will be added after the event.
Have a specific
question?
If you have a specific question or have special requirements, please feel free to ask through our form or email info@mormediacharity.org.