A low-budget moviegoer can easily spend thousands of dollars on movie tickets. Wouldn’t it be great to have a current list of movies (or almost free) with no submission fees? Getting a laurel wreath doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars.
When someone mentions the film festival, they usually work for me to come up with . a good festival that I have not yet heard of. In the past ten years I have published over ten films. At this time it was common for me to submit each film to the top five tiers of film-1 film and then another 5-10 local or tier 2 film festivals. In 2006 I published six short films. In that year, it was customary for me to spend on the film festival submission calendar, which I used to submit no less than four films at a time. You don’t have to be a mathematician to see how much money I spent on film festival fees over the year.
But last year things changed. I wrote, directed, cast and produced a Bulgarian micro-feature called “The Resurrection of Rogers”. RSR was going to be a web series, but my editor and I really liked what was done with the design organically. The film nature falls into the rhythm and gradation of a neo-noir action feature compelling. The only concern was this: we made this 100-minute film for next to no money, and only on the blood, sweat, tears, talents and contributions of everyone involved. I wasn’t going to spend more money on the movies than the movies cost. I thought there were a few film festivals that didn’t charge for submission and I started my search.
What I found was a bunch of “free movie festival” boards with information and web links. That’s when I decided to dig even deeper and simply research, identify and create my own list of “free film festivals”. I’m sure I’d find five, maybe ten days off and it wouldn’t be bad. Imagine adding ten festival laurels to your movie site – and costing you no money! But my research took me one step further. I have over thirty listings of free (or almost free) movie festivals with no (or super low) submission fees. Most importantly, these festivals are not just local, or even just in the United States. This list includes no-fee film festivals in the United, Canada, the United Kingdom and even France!
I provide the list, but YOU must complete your due diligence. Five film festivals have submission fees of $10. Basically, bring a lunch to work for two days or stop shopping for Starbucks coffee for a week and you’re done! Other festivals accept some types of movies like horror or murder movies. Some of the free film festivals are only free on the album if you send in your film by the first or regular deadlines. My films have been screened at FREE film festivals in Britain, Italy and Canada.
Go ahead, submit your video and report back here with updates in the comment section. It can’t hurt to add a few more laurels to your film!
Angel’s List of Free Film Festivals.
1. Portobello Film Festival (United Kingdom) – http://www.portobellofilmfestival.com/
2. Wreck Beach Festival (Canada) – http://www.domecountry.com/
3. http://www.stonybrookfilmfestival.com/
4. http://www.enzedff.co.nz/ NZ Film Festival Trust (New Zealand)
5. African Diaspora Film Festivals – http://nyadiff.org/
6. http://www.tromadance.com/
7. http://www.salemfilmfestival.com/2011/index.html
8. http://2011.noisepop.com/contact
9. http://www.freerangefilm.com/submission.html (book about $10)
10. http://www.greatriverfilmfestival.com/submit.html
11. http://www.lidf.co.uk/ docs only
12. http://flywayfilmfestival.org/
13. http://www.loisaidacortos.com/ Latino-themed films
14. http://www.filmlinc.com/pages/new-york-film-festival
15. http://www.anightmaretoremember.com/home.html horror
16. http://www.sansevieria.net/filmfestival/
17. Arizona State University Art Museum Film Festival – http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu/ filmfest/index.php (takes 10 minutes or less)
18. Calgary International Film Festival (Canada) – http://www.calgaryfilm.com/
19. http://www.marbellafilmfestival.com/ (FREE Early Bird submissions only)
20. http://www.trinidadandtobagofilmfestival.com/ (free if mailed, $10 per WAB)
21. http://www.regentparkfilmfestival.com/ (Toronto)
22. http://www.cornwallfilmfestival.com/ (free early submission)
23. BFI London Film Festival – http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/
24. http://rooftopfilms.com/ (not free but super cheap, even for late submissions)
25. http://www.killerfilmfest.com/ – horror only
26. http://lightscamerahelp.org/entry Nonprofilt Festival
27. Argentorati International Film Festival (France) – http://strasbourgfilmfest.com/submissions.html
28. http://festival.oneforestfilms.com/
29. http://encounters-festival.org.uk small fee
30. London Underground Film Festival – http://www.londonundergroundfilmfestival.org.uk/
31. Toronto Urban Film Festival – http://www.torontourbanfilmfestival.com/submit
32. Monument Valley Film Festival – http://www.monumentvalleyfilmfest.com/
Good luck!
