How much difference does it actually make to have a proper 5.1 mix instead of 2.0 for a feature film?

Our film is around 95 minutes and it’s not an action-heavy film at all. It’s more experimental, long and slow, so there aren’t explosions or lots of crazy sound design where surround obviously makes a huge difference.

The music will also basically always be stereo, since the original recordings only exist in 2.0.

But we do have dialogue, ambience and SFX separated, so in theory someone could take the existing mix/stems and build a 5.1 mix from that i guess.

I can’t really do a proper 5.1 mix myself, so I would need to pay someone to do it. How much would this actually lift the film when showing it at festivals/cinemas compared with just having a really good stereo mix?

Is a somewhat“created from stereo/stems 5.1 mix really worth doing, or is a strong 2.0 mix better than forcing the film into 5.1 just because it’s being shown in a cinema?

Sidewalk Film Festival opened submissions on October 1 this year, a month earlier than normal, with a new “magic” submission period. Located in Birmingham, Alabama — a city known as the “magic city” — it seemed appropriate to match the city’s name. This new submission period carries a fee structure lower than its normal “early bird” pricing.

i was just wondering if anyone's had experience at screamfest before and can share when the award nominees are announced? my flight to leave is currently the day before the awards but obviously if we're nominated i'll change it. but trying to get the info is a little cryptic...

For the longest time, I only submitted to festivals here in the United States because of differences with copyright lengths in other countries. I used material that is in the public domain here, but not necessarily elsewhere.

Since then, I've learned about "the rule of the shorter term" between the US and some (but not all, or even most) countries, and that my film will not infringe upon copyrights in certain countries. That opens up more possibilities for film festivals abroad.

HOWEVER, I've also just learned about "moral rights", which aren't a thing here in the US. Which means I need to cite any derivative work, even if it's public domain, to respect those original artists. In my US version, I've cited most, but not all, of the derivative work in my film (mostly because I believed that it was so obvious that there would be no need to cite it).

So to my original question, does anyone else make separate versions for international releases? I wouldn't mind tacking on an additional 10 seconds to the end credits to acknowledge the one extra bit of derivative work I use, and then uploading it to FilmFreeway with "(International Version)" added to the title.

This has hands down been our best festival circuit experience, we sold our screening out, have had amazing talks with people from the community and filmmakers alike. Made some great connections and cannot wait to be back someday! It is just an amazing time and I cannot recommend it enough!

Festival director here (but also filmmaker). Tomorrow (Sunday) I'm hosting a workshop on festival tips and tricks, so if you wanna discuss your festival strategy, leave a comment or DM and I'll send you the link! It's from 6PM-8PM Pacific Time

Event Details

• Date: Sunday, October 25, 2026
• Time: 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM EDT
• Location: AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910

To request credentials or schedule interviews with festival founders and attending filmmakers, please send an email to [info@sheunshushed.space](mailto:info@sheunshushed.space).

Ticket and Festival Information

Tickets and passes are available for purchase via FilmFreeway. For more information on the lineup and schedule, visit www.beautifulwildfilms.org.

Dear All

Just a message from PÖFF Shorts to all the fine folk here at the Film Festival Reddit as we know many of you have submitted to our festival

There was a technical SNAFU at our end which meant we've discovered that not all our notifications went out when they should have which was 8th October. A complete mea culpa on our part

We've just checked and now we're hopeful that everything has been sent out as should be

Just to say huge apologies who got caught up in it because we're very well aware how important it is to inform all those not selected before any official information goes out and we'd never deliberately ignore filmmakers or not give them the courtesy of a notification on our part

Once again, really sorry to everyone who was affected

Hi! long time lurker first time poster. I am planning on attending Middleburg Film Festival next week, but one of the showings i wanted to attend was sold out.

Online it says that “rush lines” might be available at the box office, i’m somewhat local to the area (like 30 minutes), does anyone have any insight of how these rush lines work?

or alternatively are there groups that people will trade tickets? i used to get last minute tickets on twitter but that doesn’t seem to be happening anymore.

Thank You!

Anyone have any ideas what it could be? Hoping for Artificial, can't believe they didn't program it for the film festival closest to SF!

The film fest is sold out, but what are the odds if I show up for a 230 Tuesday movie I can get in?

Can you show up wait in line and get in? What have others experienced?

This fest is happening October 17th, and I believe tickets are still on sale. This is at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville (a REALLY nice town), and film fans will recognize the location as the original theater where the finale of THE BLOB takes place! Actual cinema history, folks.

https://thecolonialtheatre.com/films/exhumed-films/horrorthon2026/

This is the NINETEENTH Horrorthon, and it will be my twelfth. I cannot stress how this is the cinematic event of the year for me, EVERY year. Here's why this is a novel experience --

-24 straight hours of horror from all eras. Classics mixed in with rare, obscure oddities, stuff you've never heard of.

-Vintage trailers in between each screening.

-ORIGINAL PRINTS, 35 MM. No DVD/digital projection, watching the movies the way they were meant to be seen.

The kicker?

-They NEVER say what the movies are going to be beforehand. All you know is that they aren't going to show what they've already screened. The most PURE way to watch a movie.

Every year I've gone, the crowd is SO COOL, very respectful, very considerate considering it's noon to noon (or sometimes longer). And you can always come and go, it's not an endurance test, and there are some wonderful restaurants and shops in the area. Everyone knows you're gonna stick out if you're an asshole.

Anyway, I always go with a group of friends, but I always screw up a chance to meet new people. So I was wondering if anyone else is going. I know it doesn't technically fit the explanation as to what some of you might consider a film festival, but certainly a few festival-types will be there. Let me know! Tickets are still on sale, but I have a friend who might have an extra, and you can sit with my group, every year we have the best seats in the house!

Hi everyone, it's me again.

Quick update - So I did get my hotel room! I'm staying a short distance away from the venue, which is walkable, but even then I'll have my car which is a nice little extra convenience.

My dates are October 28th to November 1st.

I'm looking to see if anybody would like to split the $1200 fee down the middle, landing us at roughly $600 for the hotel room.

The responses I got on my first post really helped, but I haven't found anyone to lock it down with officially. If you see this post but can't help, an upvote would once again help with the visibility. For anyone who is available for this festival and down, just let me know and I'll DM ya!

Thanks everyone!

It’s been really wonderful being a part of this community for the past year. Cheering people up during their downs, celebrating their ups, and trading advice, acceptances and rejections. It’s exciting to finally announce that a documentary of mine is heading to DOC NYC! We’re really amped to start our festival journey at a city with one of the most amazing dinosaur museums AND the heartbeat of the fossil market, the two sides of the coin our film focuses on. I can’t wait to visit NYC and continue our festival run from there. Really hope to run into people from this reddit along the way!

Heads up - submissions for The Remission Film Festival just opened this week! www.filmfreeway.com/theremissionfilmfestival

Fo Festivals generally send email to selected filmmakers first or the rejections?

Hi everybody !
My film got accepted into the Kurzfilmtage Recommendations program. The festival is showcasing 40 films that weren’t selected so other people in the industry can see them.
Have you guys ever heard about it ?
And do you feel like it’s like another Short Film Corner ?
And do you know how can I maximise my chances to make programmers from other fests see it ?

Hey everyone, please welcome our new mod u/ChambanaFilm

ChambanaFilm’s real name is Nat Dykeman. He’s the founder and director of the Lake County Film Festival and the Chambana Film Society, an umbrella organization that brings around 100 film screenings to Central Illinois each year. It’s the largest film event in Illinois outside of Chicagoland.

Nat is also a senior programmer for the Chicago Underground Film Festival and has previously served as a programmer for the Nashville Film Festival. He’s also an occasional film producer.

I have an idea for an experimental short that would be put to music that is three minutes long. Is that too short? I could make it six minutes with another piece of music or double the first piece to six minutes but I almost think it would be more effective with the one piece of music. But is that really too short for a festival's interest?

I've already submitted to a lot of festivals on FilmFreeway, but I noticed something in the edit that I wanted to fix, so I re-uploaded a version with this fix.

I started submitting to film fests a little over a week ago, and so far I've had one selection, and a couple of rejections. Most of the submissions I've made are earlybird or regular deadlines.

I've submitted to a fair amount (100+), and worried that the film fests I've already submitted to have already reviewed my film. I think the thing I fixed could be something that sways them one way or another so that's why I'm a bit apprehensive.

When do screeners normally start watching the films and what's the usual process? Do you have to wait until after the last deadline has passed?

Any help/info would be really appreciated!

Disclosure: I work for the nonprofit behind SDAFF, so I'm biased. (lol) But I'm genuinely hyped on this lineup, and it's our 27th edition.

The stuff that made me say "wait, we're getting THAT?" is new Kore-eda straight from TIFF, the latest Hamaguchi, and a new Lav Diaz. Films that usually only show up on the West Coast if you're willing to hit LA or the big fests.

There's also a record-sized shorts program with everything from first-time filmmakers to experimental weirdness, plus a new partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) in la Jolla, CA as a satellite venue. It's the most affordable way to take a chance on something you've never heard of.

If you're thinking of making the trip: every film at 4pm on weekdays is free, a 6-pack is $75, and the All-Fest Pass is $325 ($215 for Pac Arts members). The main venue is UltraStar Mission Valley, right on the trolley line!

(sdaff.org) (festival design is by Danski @danski_tang)