Exhibition:

Festivals
Research Objective:
Part 7

&
Exhibition: Online
streaming, forums
and reviews
Research Objective:
Part 7 (continued)

Film Networks festival guide:

Raindances Worlds Top Short

Film Festival

Edinburgh International Film

Festival

Sundance Film Festival

Cambridge Film Festival

Festival De Cannes

London Film Festival

Palm Springs International Film

Festival

Encounters Film Festival

Edinburgh International Film Festival:

What is the submission Process?
There are simple steps that you have to
follow to submit your short film.
STEP 1:

STEP 3:

STEP 2:

STEP 4:

Edinburgh International Film Festival:

Is the festival competitive?

Yes it is, each year EIFF welcomes over
1,400 industry delegates, filmmakers
and members of the press to take part.
What are the rewards for winners?
Awards include Best International
Feature Film, Best International
Documentary Feature, the Michael
Powell Award for Best British Feature
Film, the Student Critics Jury Award and
the Audience Award.

Cambridge Film Festival:

What is the submission process?

Is the festival competitive?

Yes, it attracts big names, however, it is still
intimate and approachable.
What are the rewards for winners?
Audience awards for the Best Feature (The
Golden Punt Award), Best documentary (Silver
Punt Award), and Best Short Film (Crystal Punt
Award).

London Film Festival:

What is the submission process?

London Film Festival:

Is the festival competitive?
Yes, it is the largest public festival of its kind
and is visited by thousands of film enthusiasts
who get to view over 300 films, documentaries
and shorts from all over the world.
What are the rewards for winners?
Best Film Award for the most original,
imaginative and creative motion picture. Best
British Newcomer Award for emerging British
talents. The Sutherland Trophy, named after
George Sutherland-Leverson-Gower, 5 th Duke of
Sutherland, for the most original film and finally,
The Grierson Award for the best documentary.

Encounter Film Festival:

What is the submission process?

Encounter Film Festival:

Is the festival competitive?
Yes, most likely because it is one of the official
gateways to the BAFTAs, European Film Awards
and Cartoon dOr and a qualifying festival for
The Academy Awards.
What are the rewards for winners?
Brief and Animated Grand Prix which make the
winning film eligible for Academy Award
Nomination and receives 2,500. Brief and
Animated UWE European New Talent Award
(1,000). Brief and Animated Best of British
Award (1,000) and is also eligible for the
Critics Circle British Short Film of the Year.

Sundance Film Festival:

What is the submission process?

Sundance Film Festival:

Is the festival competitive?
Yes, because of the number of attendees
and how it plays a vital role in identifying
emerging international talent and
connecting them with audiences and
industry in the United States.
What are the rewards for winners?
Awards to be won such as the Grand Jury
Prize. Directing Award. Cinematography
Award. Editing Award. Waldo Salt
Screenwriting Award and the Special Jury
Prize for Collaborative Vision.

Festival De Cannes:
What is the submission process?

Festival De Cannes:
Is the festival competitive?
Yes, Cannes Film Festival is known to
be one of the most prestige festivals
and is most well known by numerous
people.
What are the rewards for winners?
Feature films; Palme dOr, Grand Prix,
Award for Best Director, Award for
Best Screenplay, Award for Best
Actress Ex-aequo, Award for Best
Actor, Jury Prize.

Palm Springs International Film Festival:

What is the submission process?

Palm Springs International Film Festival:

Is the festival competitive?
Yes, it is one of the most acclaimed
short film showcases in the world. It
showcases 330 short films from 51
countries.
What are the rewards for winners?
Audience Awards, Jury Awards, Jury
Category Awards and Student
Categories.

Which are feature film festivals that have

important shorts sections and which are
festivals dedicated exclusively to the short
form?
The festivals that have feature film
and important short sections are
London Film Festival, Edinburgh Film
Festival and Leeds International Film
Festival.
The festivals that are dedicated
exclusively to the short form are
Encounters Film Festival, Soho Shorts
Film Festival and London Shorts Film
Festival.

How do these festivals market and

promote themselves?
They market and promote themselves
on various social media sites as they
know that this is the new generation
who will keep their film festivals alive
in the future years to come. They also
have sponsorships and partnerships
with other companies who help to
fund and promote them.

Why is it important to be screened at one?

It is important for short films in
particular to be screened at festivals
as it gives them more media attention
and brings in a wider audience. The
awards that they receive can also give
them a way into more well known
award ceremonies such as the British
Academy of Film and Television Arts
(BAFTA).

Who attends them?// Who supports them?

A range of people attend them such as
celebrities who act in the films or shorts,
filmmakers, university students and media
students, talent scouts and executives, film
journalists and many more people.
Many film festivals have sponsors and
partnerships who help fund them.
Encounters Film Festival has funding from
The National Lottery and is sponsored by the
well known IMDB which is available on
various platforms. Their main partners are
Watershed and Arnolfini. One of Leeds
International Film Festivals leading partners

What have you noticed about the

structure/style of the sites?

Neutral colours
Simplistic layout
Extremely informational
A lot of links to other websites.
Sophisticated

Key National
festivals for
short films:

Key
International
festivals for
short films:

National/Intern
ational student
film festivals:

Cornwall Film
Festival

Wimbledon
International Short
Film Festival

Zoom International
Youth Film Festival

The Into Film

Festival

The Walthamstow
International Film
Festival

The Student Media

Festival of Wales

Foyle Film
Festival

Manchester
International Short
Film Festival

National Film
Festival for
Talented Youth
Glasgow Youth Film
Festival
Leeds Young Film
Festival
Screentest The

Colchester Film
Festival

What advantages/disadvantages do such festivals have

when compared to their traditional theatrical counterparts?

One of the advantages of these festivals, such as

Future Shorts, is that it has the ability to change
the way we engage with cinema which will
generate a wider understanding, knowledge and
interest. The growth of technology has enabled
these festivals to reach to new levels and cater
for wider audiences.
However, there are still disadvantages, one of
them being that some people will prefer to go to
actual festival because of the authenticity to it
and being able to meet other consumers like
themselves face to face.

Part 7 (continued):

Why do you think it is so difficult for short

films to get a theatrical screening?
I think it is hard because they often looked
over or dismissed as practise before a real
film. Some people do not see the point in
experiencing what a short film has to offer.
Can you find other instances of shorts being
given theatrical release?
Long distance Information
Man In Fear
A Gun For George

Netflix, Amazons Prime/Instant video service:

What sort of short films are available to watch?
I could not find any short films, however there were
independent films such as Shifty, Fish Tank, Locke, Half
Nelson and Donnie Darko. From this list I can see that
they are the more well known British films.
What can we gleam about the kinds of people who
consume shorts there?
I get the impression that the type of people who
consume these are ones that usually would choose
feature films, however, they are open to watching new
content. An example of the type of person may be Alevel media students studying British films because they
are in the age demographic of these websites however
they need to study British films for their work.
How is information about films shared?
They have useful tools such as a recommended section
because of the films that they watch. This means that

Mubi:
How is the site structured?

What sort of short films are available to watch?

There are more independent/indie films that can be viewed
on there, rather then mainstream/Hollywood action films.
What can we gleam about the sites users?
I believe that the type sites users would either be from the
older generation who enjoy films because they see them in
an analytical way, or the users could possible be university
student or media students.
How is the information about films shared?
It is shared/ been made aware of through different
categories and through social media sites.

YouTube

VIMEO

How do these two sites

differ from one another?

YouTube is more well

known
It has a larger database
because of the amount of
users.

Not used by a mass

amount of people.
People are more likely to
use it for independent
short films who want
serious reviews.

What sorts of viewers are

the sites catering for and
what do the sites offer?

YouTube caters for people

of all ages who want all
different types of
entertainment.
YouTube offers a wider
search.

Caters for everyone but

more specifically people
who want to learn in
depth about the art of
making short films.
Offers more knowledge
and serious opinions on
content.

Who might upload a short

film at one of these sites
and why?

Someone who wants

more views and for
entertainment purposes
because of they will gain
more acknowledgement.

Someone who is more

interested in expressing
and showing their work in
a serious manner
because they want serious
responses.

How is information about

films shared at the sites?

Shared through social

media and other users in
comment sections and
different pages.

Through social media and

other users.

The Short
Movie
Channel

Short of the Film of the

Week
Month

The Film
Network

What are the

key differences
between these
sites and the
aboveresearched
sites?

Simplistic
layout.
Mainly to do
with shorts.
Has a section
for ITunes.

Simplistic
layout.
Neutral
colours.
Not as well
known.
Has a section
for
submissions.

Mainly to do
with
submitting a
short film in a
competition.

To do with the
BBC Film
Network.
Dedicated to
getting your
short films
noticed.

What sort of
film visitors are
these two sites
catering for
and what are
they offering?

More general
film viewers
who want to
explore more
into short
films.
Offers access
to different
channels.

People who
want to get
their short
films noticed.

People who
would like to
go to film
events and
discover other
short film
creators.

Offers help to
develop your
career or
business and
reach out to
wider
audiences.

How far is the

structure of
the sites suited
to shorts
screening?

It broadcasts
short films.
Has a wider
audience from
ITunes

Has different
channels for
different
genres of short
films to watch.

Can view
different short
films from a
recent films
section of from

Has a
channels
section.
Has a film
section where

IMDb:
How is information about short films shared by users?
It has a most popular short films page where by you
can refine the search to what you want to see. You
could find different short films from other users
reviews and social media sites that share the short
films.
What can we gleam about the people who write about
short films at the site?
It depends on whether the short film is one that is well
known or not. On the shorts that are more well known
the review are from more of the general public who
may only watch for entertainment purposes. On the
other hand, you have users who are more interested in
analysing not so well known short films who use more
analytical language and have a greater knowledge and
interest in short films.