How much it costs for a short film to enter festivals
In this article, we decided to leave speculation aside and prepared a calculator to estimate how much it will cost to promote a short film at festivals in 2024.
Let’s imagine that we are captured by an ambitious goal and submit a movie with the hope of entering the film market. To do so, we must submit film to festivals, the selection and winning of which makes a case for distribution.
But let’s be realistic. The distribution system is mainly designed for a full-length movie. Accordingly, this will most likely be an intermediate stage in our film career.
Submitting a film to qualified festivals
The first step is the selection of our film for one of the qualifying festivals. We are talking about film festivals accredited by the International Federation of Films Producers Associations (FIAPF), the American Film Academy (Oscar list). The thing is that the list of festivals of the American Film Academy, as a rule, also includes FIAPF, BAFTA, European Film Award festivals. The list is updated and includes more than 160 festivals. Participation in the programs of the Academy festivals gives you the opportunity to qualify for the Oscars.
The topic of “The Best” arises with the issue of choice in the context of supply and demand. What does “the best” mean in the rich palette of film festivals today? Let’s break down what the criteria might be in the ranking. What types and kinds of film festivals play this game. This article targets filmmakers, festival organizers, and agents. (THE BEST FILM FESTIVALS’ CINEMASCOPE Read more…)
We are going to the website of International Federation of Films Producers Associations. One of the conditions of accreditation in the federation is the participation of festival programs in the film market. Currently, 24 festivals with short film programs are accredited there.
We have made a table of available FIAPF festivals that accept short films in international sections, as well as the entry fee. The point is that promoting a short film may involve applying to dozens of festivals, if not hundreds. In this case, the cost of promotion becomes a significant part of the film’s budget. The variability in submission fees of one festival is due to early or late deadlines, different categories and sections for short films.
| Festival de Cannes | free |
| Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival | free |
| International Short Film Festival Oberhausen | free |
| Zinebi (Bilbao) | free |
| Mar del Plata International Film Festival | free |
| Cinema Jove | free |
| Festival de Cine Global Dominicano | free |
| Fajr International Film Festival | free |
| Busan International Film Festival | 8-11 eur |
| Tampere Film Festival | 10-14 eur |
| Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival | 12 eur |
| Warsaw Film Festival | 15-20 eur |
| Krakow International Film Festival | 15-30 eur |
| Molodist – Kyiv International Film Festival | 15-30 eur |
| Sydney Film Festival | 36-55 usd |
| Locarno Film Festival | 35-75 chf |
| Rome Film Fest | 60-100 eur |
| Toronto International Film Festival | 65-95 usd |
| San Sebastian International Film Festival | 70 eur |
| Berlin International Film Festival | 75 eur |
As you can see, the budget for promoting a short film at the above FIAPF festivals alone will be 400-600 usd. We did not take into account specialized festivals, such as animation, documentary or thematic films. For example, Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalunya (45 eur) or Kitzbühel Film Festival (27-90 eur) for young directors.
Of course, this is by no means the entire list of major festivals. For example, Sundance is not on the FIAPF list, but it is on the list of the American Film Academy, which includes the widest range of festivals, including FIAPF or BAFTA.
We analyzed the submission fees for accredited festivals. To do so, we used Filmfreeway’s search filter for 202 qualified festivals and over 13,000 non-qualified festivals with both open and closed entries. For submission fees, we used $5 increments scale: 0-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc. We ended up with a chart like this. It is not 100% accurate, but reflects a general picture.
For instance, if our budget for promotion at qualified festivals is $800, we can submit to 20% of those festivals (41 qualified festivals on Filmfreeway) with a submission fee of $20. But in that case we won’t be able to try our luck at Sundance, where it costs between $45 and $85 to submit a short film.
The most expensive submission fee for a short film we recorded at British Urban Film Festival (120 GBP) and Cleveland International Film Festival (150 USD).
Very often, the question arises about the average budget for a short film. What is its cost, if we are talking about indie filmmaking? To answer this question, we used about 1.5 thousand short films from all over the world… AVERAGE BUDGET FOR SHORT FILM Read more…)
The cost of applying to all qualified festivals can exceed the average budget of a short film several times over. At the same time, the likelihood of selection to the most prestigious film festivals is often comparable to hitting the lottery. Thousands and thousands of films are submitted to such festivals, and the programs are often compiled of films not submitted through open call. The total program list of accredited festivals includes hundreds of short films, but hundreds of thousands of works are filmed each year. At the same time, most often authors do not have the financial resources to actively promote themselves at major festivals.
Because of this, participation in non-qualifying festivals remains an important part of a film’s life. We take into account the much lower cost and much greater likelihood of a film being selected for programs. We should highlight non-qualifying festivals that provide short films quality screening at movie theaters. Such festivals may be popular in their region, so you won’t see empty seats. A large number of participating filmmakers come to them. The organizers, volunteers love their work and create a real celebration of cinema.
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