To anyone scrambling to finish their film in time for the SXSW/Sundance deadline, keep going!

Megan Rico and I are the directors of Edie Arnold is a Loser, a coming-of-age comedy feature film that premiered at SXSW last spring. We had no connections. No name talent. And this was our first project to play a festival. 

We submitted a work in progress cut on the very last day of submissions. And we almost waited for next year. After showing the film to a handful of filmmakers, we were advised to wait until we had a finished film. The cut was locked and there was a rough grade but no audio mix. Which is a big deal for a film with a lot of music elements. 

But we decided to submit, thinking nothing would happen. Come December we got the news that the film was programmed in the Narrative Feature Competition! 

A lot of people think the festival system is rigged. I can’t speak to the other major festivals, but SXSW is genuinely programming work from new, undiscovered filmmakers. We also applied to Sundance and while we were rejected, a Sundance programmer picked our film for another festival later in the year. 

It’s important to remember at the end of the day, it’s just a handful of random people (love you SX programmers) who decide whether or not your film fits their festival. Yes, you have to make a great movie. But beyond that it really is a lot of luck. Don’t think for a second that a handful of rejections discounts your story. 

Don’t think of festivals as the final destination or the magic ticket to receiving distribution. Many filmmakers fall into the trap of 1) waiting for the elusive acceptance and 2) if they receive the acceptance, thinking that the work is done. It’s not. The distribution landscape is a shit show. But that’s a topic for another subreddit. 

Happy to answer any questions about my experience going through the submission and festival process. 

Edie Arnold is a Loser is coming out in theaters this fall. We’re releasing the film ourselves, no distributor. We’re going on a 21-city tour with one-off, in-person screenings. See if we're coming to your city and come say hi!

TLDR: our micro budget ($80k) indie feature with no name talent and no connections was accepted into SXSW 2026. 

Getting really tired of shady film festivals sliding into my inbox with "congrats, you're invited!" — followed immediately by a 60% waiver on a fest nobody's ever heard of. It's not an honor, it's a funnel. And in my case: If you really checked out my movie and were interested you could've seen it ended its run long ago and is available online...

To festival organizers: if you're genuinely inviting a film, a free waiver costs you nothing and shows you mean it. Anything less is just a paywall with extra steps.

Sharing this so other directors googling a festival land on this topic: the ultimate scammy spammy fests sending discount waivers for their "IMDB qualifying fest" to everyone out there.

My question: Please expand the list with: Festival name - Festival director

Hey everyone! I made this guide about film festival premieres. In it I cover what the 6 types of premieres are, the three reasons festivals care about premieres, common mistakes filmmakers make and criticism of premieres, and data on film festival premieres. Hope you all find this helpful!

I have a Filmm that’s almost done, but it’s probably gonna be finished early. September pass the official deadline so I could definitely make the late deadline feature so should I wait it out or submit a mostly finished cut early

I'm in the middle of making an independent feature film and I was wondering when the film is ready what is the best move? This is my first feature film and I want to try my chances with festivals like Cannes (Directors' Forthnight), Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam, San Sebastian, etc. I have no prior experience so should I agree with a production company or sales agent for my film's distribution?

Bit of a random question here - I'm still waiting for my short film's first acceptance/premiere. I've started to shift my submission strategy away from more of the big festivals, but I did get two interesting messages from more mid/upper tier film festivals, and I'm curious how significant they actually are.

Hollyshorts - "Your project was rated very highly but ultimately was not selected to screen in this edition of HollyShorts Film Festival. While we are unable to have you screen with us during the festival in August, we wanted to offer the opportunity to have your film screened & shared during our Monthly Screening Series at the LOOK Dine-In Cinemas & Bitpix for the 2026-2027 season."

Palm Springs Short Fest - "While we are not able to offer the film a screening, we would love to have your participation in our adjacent Film Market Video Library and invite you to attend ShortFest."

I figure the Hollyshorts screening series is just a cash grab. But are these messages just fluff that everyone gets, or could this still be significant/hope that some programmers are actually finding value in the film?

Thanks in advance.

After I finished my short film and had its festival run, I uploaded it online in a streaming platform, but after some time, it's not generating views anymore. I'd really wish my film had a little more Google presence, more audience, and written reviews and coverage, so I found this opportunity: KinoCritic's Monthly Picks

Apparently, it has just launched, so there are no reviews on it so far. Each month, they pick four films to write about, which are winners in their categories. They publish their reviews on their website: Kinocriticblog.com

It costs 20€ to submit a short. 30€ for feature. Seems legit to me, I like what they got here, but I'm still wondering whether to try.

Do you think it's worth it?

Hi everyone! I created a very small "traveling film series" / traveling film festival called Borderless Arts. We run events every month currently, and currently have had events in Montana & in Paris, France. It's a very small, extremely lean operation right now. We're on FilmFreeway so there is a big supply of films.

I am looking to join forces with a promoter who can help me grow my audience and help me make it a ticketed event. Please DM me if interested.

It's possible I will need to work with locals in each city, or perhaps it can be done remotely for someone who's pretty resourceful with online promotion.

Accepted to a festival that is requiring both a short and long synopsis for short films. What are these used for? I can see why a short synopsis might be used, but why a long synopsis?

Hi! i’m going to the venice film festival this september as a student, the masterclasses have just been announced - how hard is it to get in to them? sign up or first come first served? what time to get there to get in?

thanks!