Top 20 International Film Festivals Give The Opportunity To Short Film Submission

Estimated read time 10 min read
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Top 20 International film festivals events list – First of all we need to find the answer to this basic question:

Why do we need to submit our short film into film festival events?

Here’s the answer: International Film festivals are an amazing explore new opportunity to broaden exposure for your independent film and also for you as an artist. Many filmmakers submit their short films to upcoming film festivals but often never attend the screenings in person. Here are the prime 6 reasons to submit and attend the film festival events.

  1. Networking – Get connect with hyper-local film talents.
  2. Win Awards – Either cash prize or trophy will help you and your team motivated to the next level in film making process.
  3. Short film Distribution – You will get the opportunity to meet film distributors in your city or globally.
  4. Engage in Q&A – Post short film screening, try to attend, and face upcoming and professional filmmaking talents questions to help you mature & improve your film skill set as well as public speaking skill.
  5. Get Short film Review – Film festival event organizers encourage filmmakers to get their films reviewed. It makes short film festival organizer’s life easy and helps them to quickly shortlist and get the opportunity to select your short film in priority.
  6. Enjoy Movie buff feedback – After a short film screening, the audience will give their generic comments that will help you to improve at the same time, when the audience will get excited with your film scenes. Don’t miss it.

Top 20 International film festival events list

  1. Sundance Film Festival
    • A nonprofit organization, Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for independent artists to create and present original, authentic new work. Founded by Robert Redford in 1981 in the mountains of Sundance, Utah, the Institute is an internationally recognized resource for thousands of artists. Submit your short film now for 2021.
  2. Tribeca Film Festival
    • Tribeca Film Festival is one of the top 20 international film festivals for independent filmmaking, creative expression, and immersive entertainment, Tribeca supports emerging and established voices, discovers award-winning filmmakers, curates innovative and interactive experiences and introduces new technology and ideas through panels, premieres, exhibitions, and live performances. Submit your short film to this Tribeca film festival via the film freeway.
  3. New York Film Festival
    • The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is one of the top 20 international film festivals and produced every fall by Film at Lincoln Center featuring work from celebrated filmmakers as well as new talent from around the world. Submit your short film to thisNewyork film festival via the film freeway.
  4. French Film Festival 2021
    • The French film festival is one of the top 20 international film festivals created to celebrate the art of filmmaking and to honor the filmmakers who make it all possible. The France International Film Festival will have its first edition in November 2021 and aims to promote French and World Cinema. Held in the city of PARIS, the Festival will award the best films with a certificate and trophy. Submit your short film to this french film festival via the film freeway.
  5. Toronto Film Festival 2021
    • The Toronto International Film Festival® ranks among the most prestigious international film festivals in the world. For 10 days, film lovers, filmmakers, industry professionals, and media watch the best in new cinema from established masters and new talent. As one of the world’s most important cultural events, the Festival consistently strives to set the standard for excellence in film programming. Films are selected on the basis of quality and originality. Preference is given to premieres. The Festival also promotes contacts between industry professionals to assist in the development of the Canadian motion-picture industry. Submit your short film to this Toronto film festival via the film freeway.
  6. Telluride Film Festival 2021
    • Telluride Film Festival is one of the top 20 international film festivals, not just a picture show. It is Tributes to luminaries who’ve propelled the medium forward; it is candid discussions with a film’s creator or the historian who champions it; it is discovering that the person in line behind you made the film you just enjoyed; it is engaging in lively debate with every manner of film lover in the summer sun of a Colorado afternoon, always minutes away from a new exhibition. Our audiences were the first in the world to laugh with JUNO, to observe THE LIVES OF OTHERS, to visit BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, to learn the secret of THE CRYING GAME, to experience BLUE VELVET, and to witness THE CIVIL WAR. We resurrected the silent epic NAPOLEON, and highlighted the genius of animator Chuck Jones. Submit your short film to this telluride film festival.
  7. True False Film Festival
    • True/False offers a heightened long weekend of creative placemaking in which filmmakers, artists, musicians and others remake the mid-sized college town of Columbia, Missouri, into a one-of-a-kind utopia. The transformative, rambunctious, ecstatic experience of T/F creates a cathartic journey that invites participants to do nothing less than to re-imagine reality. Submit your short film to this true false film festival.
  8. SXSW Film Festival
    • The SXSW Film Festival is the only place in the world bringing together creative people from so many different industries, making the SXSW Film Festival an unparalleled experience at the forefront of discovery, creativity, and innovation. Entries closed for 2021.
  9. Berlinale Film Festival
    • The Berlin Independent Film Festival is at the epicenter for low-budget filmmaking in Europe. While the Berlin Independent Film Festival is not connected with the Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale), BIFF runs at the same time, and not far from the European Film Market and draws on all the film industry power gathered in Berlin for those events. Submit your short film to this Berlinale film festival
  10. American Black Film Festival
    • The American Black Film Festival is an annual event dedicated to recognizing Black talent and showcasing quality film and television content by and about people of African descent. Dedicated to the belief that diverse artists deserve the same opportunities as their mainstream counterparts, ABFF founder Jeff Friday conceived the festival in 1997 as a vehicle to strengthen the Black entertainment community by fostering resource sharing, education, and artistic collaboration. Submit your short film to this American Black film festival via the film freeway.
  11. Black Star Film Festival
    • The Blackstar Film Festival is an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and of global indigenous communities, showcasing films by Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists from around the world. Submit your short film to this Black star film festival via the film freeway.
  12. Brooklyn Film Festival
    • BFF is a 10-day International-competitive festival. BFF’s mission is to provide a forum to advance public interest in film; to support every year a new generation of filmmakers with a unique vision; to draw worldwide attention to Brooklyn as a center for cinema, and to promote artistic excellence and creative freedom of artists without censure. BFF accepts submissions in six categories: Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Short Narrative, Short Documentary, Experimental, and Animation. Submit your short film to this Brooklyn film festival via filmfreeway.
  13. New York International Children’s Film Festival
  14. Cannes Film Festival
    • Founded in 2014 in the world’s most important film destination, the Cannes Short Film Festival celebrates the best of international indie short filmmaking. CSFF brings together filmmakers from around the world for an amazing presentation of cinematic excellence and exciting innovation. Screening more than fifty short films, the 2021 CSFF is will be the 8th sensational annual event dedicated to short filmmaking, from Aug 16 to 23. Submit your short film to this Cannes film festival via filmfreeway.
  15. Palm Springs International ShortFest
    • The Palm Springs International ShortFest is one of the largest showcases of short-form cinema in North America. The seven-day competitive festival is Academy Award, BAFTA and Goya-qualifying, screening annually more than 330 shorts from approximately 60 countries. ShortFest accepts submissions up to 40 minutes in duration, in the form of both fiction and non-fiction shorts. Categories include Animation, Documentary, and Live Action. Submit your short film to this Palm Springs International Shortfest via filmfreeway.
  16. Venice Film Festival
    • Venice Shorts is a monthly competition and an annual festival dedicated to short films of all genres from U.S. and international filmmakers. All the monthly award winners can be further selected for the annual festival and screening with cash awards and promotions. The annual festival will take place in late spring. Submit your short film to this Venice Short FilmFestival via filmfreeway.
  17. Austin Film Festival
    • At Austin Film Festival, it is our ongoing mission to champion the work of writers and filmmakers, and this goal has never felt as urgent as it does today. Our film competition has grown year after year and so have our efforts to serve as an avenue into the ever-evolving entertainment industry. Submit your short film to this Austin Short FilmFestival via filmfreeway.
  18. BFI London Film Festival
  19. Edinburgh International Film Festival
    • One of the UK’s strongest short film programs & dedicated to short film and film-makers, with awards, trophies & cash prizes for Best Film, Best Animation & Best Scottish Short. Max Length 25 minutes, international films welcomed, all genres eligible. The final deadline for submissions is Monday, June 21st, 2021. Submit your short film to this Edinburgh Short FilmFestival via filmfreeway.
  20. Hamptons International Film Festival
    • The Hamptons International Film Festival takes place annually in October, with a number of additional events held year-round in New York City and the Hamptons. Named one of MovieMaker Magazine’s 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World, as well as one of 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee, HIFF, is the premiere film event on New York State’s east end and an intimate showcase of some of the year’s best offerings in contemporary cinema. Submit your short film to this Hamptions Short FilmFestival via filmfreeway.

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