How to Submit Your Films to Local and International Film Festivals Mbali Mashaba

Some say that making a film is the hardest part of the creative process, but I beg to differ. Getting your film into the world and finding your audience is a completely different race that can be the difference between tapping into a whole new network and even the future of your next film. While there are several local film festivals bridging this gap annually, there are a large number of networks of distribution lines online making the connections from the reel to the real on a global scale. I want to share a few with you.

The Film Freeway

One of the easiest and accessible film festival platforms online is The FilmFreeway. The FilmFreeway is a website for filmmakers and storytellers to discover, submit, and get tickets to thousands of film festivals, screenplay contests, music contests and photography contests and film festivals globally. The website allows you to navigate and get information about upcoming film festivals globally and the ability to upload your work on the site, free of charge and begin the process of submitting your work to the world stage. You have the ability to search for international film festivals happening at different times in a year, ranging from completely free, to the highest entry fees, depending on the festival. It is an extremely easy platform to navigate and great for young filmmakers looking for distribution networks for their films.

The National Film and Video Foundation

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is an agency of the Department of Arts and Culture that provides funding for the development, production, marketing and distribution of films and also the training and development of filmmakers.annual festivals funded by the NFVF include the Durban International Film Festival (Durban in July), KwaMashu African Festival (Durban in October), Encounters SA International Documentary Film Festival (Various Citites in June), the Tri-Continental Film Festival (Johannesburg, Cape Town & Pretoriain September), the Out In Africa, Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Johannesburg in October), the Cape Winelands Film Festival (Stellenbosch March), the Wild Talk Africa (Durban in July), 48 Hour Film Project (various cities across various dates in the year), Polokwane Film Festival (in September), Mpumalanga Film Week (September), Macufe Film Week in October and the Grahamstown National Arts Festival Film Week in July.

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