Film Festival Submissions — Materials, Premiere Rules, Subtitles and Timing

1. 01Build a target listPick festivals that fit your film’s length, genre and completion date and list them in a table. Give columns to the festival name, category, deadline, notification date, premiere requirements, fee and required materials.
2. 02Set the orderPut festivals with strict premiere requirements first, and line up the next submissions around notification dates.
3. 03Make materials onceKeep the synopsis, stills and director bio in one folder so you only need to adapt them for each festival.
4. 04Keep a submission logRecord the confirmation email, payment receipt, and the screener link and password you submitted in the same table.

Eligibility (year of completion, running time, country of production), deadlines and notification dates differ by festival and can change from year to year. Go by this year’s official rules, not last year’s information.

Premiere status can be a condition of selection or simply give you an edge. Screenings at other festivals, online releases or paid previews can cost you premiere status, so while you wait for results, decide where to show the film by checking it against those rules. When in doubt, asking the festival office directly is the surest answer.

• Screener — a private online link and password, whether downloads are allowed, and a watermark if needed
• Synopsis — a one- or two-sentence short version and a long version of a paragraph or more, in English and your original language
• Stills — several images that represent the film, as high-resolution originals
• Director bio — biography, filmography, headshot and director’s statement
• Credits — key crew and cast names spelled consistently in English
• Technical details — running time, aspect ratio, sound format, year and country of production, screening format
• Subtitles — a screener with English subtitles, and subtitle files for screenings

Good stills can only really be taken on set. Assign a stills photographer during shoot planning and you’ll rarely have to pull frames from the footage later for festivals and publicity.

• Line length — No more than two lines on screen, with short lines that are easy to read.
• Reading speed — Condense fast dialogue while keeping the meaning. Don’t let subtitles linger after the speech ends.
• Consistency — Spell character names, place names and forms of address the same way throughout.
• Review — After translation, have a native speaker of the target language read it once more.

Screeners for programmers often have subtitles burned in, while screening copies may require separate subtitle files. Formats differ by festival, so check as soon as you hear you’ve been selected.

Submission fees differ by festival, and even within one festival by deadline; some charge nothing. Add a budget line for submission fees, screening copies and subtitle translation in advance. If you’re selected, you’ll need to send the screening copy, subtitle files, publicity materials and guest information on a tight deadline, so preparing them early makes life easier.

• Invitation terms — Get the number of screenings, whether there’s a screening fee, and which guests are covered (travel and accommodation) in writing.
• Screening copy — Make it in the format the festival requires, and confirm the tech check schedule at the venue before the screening.
• Publicity — Send the stills and synopsis for festival materials once, as final versions, to avoid confusion.