Once I finished my film, I decided to start preparing for submitting it to film festivals in order to create connections and get some visibility as an animator.
There are a couple of ways to apply to a film festival. The first is through the festival’s official website, most festivals will have one where they showcase winners and films from previous years and usually they have a submission tab. The second is through a platform called FilmFreeway which has a catalogue of festivals around the world and makes the submission process a little easier.
In order to submit a film through FilmFreeway or a festival’s website, you often have to have a digital press kit ready. They often ask for stills from the film, a film poster and a trailer. I made a presentation with all the information required on it so I could send it out or use it as reference to fill out forms to submit to festivals. I will be making a 20 second trailer showcasing some of the best shot in a way that hopefully intrigue people to the film.
It is important to research the festival and understand the categories to see where your film fits best. Luckily, a lot of festivals have student categories, which have a lower entry fee and a more lenient criteria to get in since they appreciate that student work is often from first time film makers who are just starting to develop their craft. Something to be wary of when researching festivals is their aesthetic and reputation. A festival like Aesthetica short film festival in York for example, does have an animation category but is better known as a live action short film festival.
Animation is often treated an a genre rather than a medium and often, you will have to submit to an animation category rather than a category such as horror, comedy or drama. This can be a little complicated since animation is a medium that encompasses a wide range of genres, and often festivals will have an idea of what animated films they want to showcase, so it is important to research the overall vibe of a festival before spending money on a submission fee.
Some festivals of course are specifically animation festivals so they are higher on the list of priority to submit to since the people attending are there for this industry and have a better understanding of what goes into making an animated film.
Some of the festivals I have researched and am hoping to submit to are LIAF, Animation Dingle, Raindance festival, Sunrise film festival, Brighton international Animation Festival and Cardiff Animation Festival. They are all based in the UK so I could attend them if I get selected and they all are animation only or animation centred festivals. On top of that most of them have student categories and I think overall my film would fit well in those festivals.
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