Aegean Film Festival

The Aegean Film Festival is a non-profit organisation supporting artists and filmmakers from around the world.

Eligibility of Acceptance:

1. The submissions of the Aegean Film Festival are open to films of different genres, techniques, production types and budgets as long as they are completed (premiere) after the 1st of January 2025 (18 months before the event date).

For VR/Immersive works, we only accept those that run natively on a standalone Meta Quest 3 VR headset without requiring a PC, laptop, or wireless streaming. Please submit an installable .apk of a maximum 30-minute runtime. For any technical specifications, it is necessary to include them in the project description.

2. The accepted running times of the films differ according to the category submitted:

Feature Documentaries & Fiction Films – minimum 50 minutes.
Short Films, VR & Immersive – maximum 30 minutes.

3. The Aegean Film Festival has a Greek Premiere Status Rule for all short films in competition.
All other programmes do not require a Greek Premiere (including the Echoes Environmental programme, the Nomads films, the Pop Ups, the Tributes and Special Screenings as well as all features programmes). The festival reserves the right to reject works that are available online, have screened in more than one other Greek festival or they are widely distributed.

4. The primary contact submitting the film to the festival must have full authorisation to do so, including permission from the film’s distributor, sales agent and representing body.

Data Protection:

5. Film and personal details are available to Aegean Film Festival and will not be shared with other organisations outside the festival.

6. The Festival reserves the right to keep the submitter's data in order to communicate and share information on film related events and news. The participants can always opt out by sending an email to submission@aegeanff.com

7. The Festival accepts full responsibility for protecting the copyrights for the period of time that the films are in the Festival’ s possession, and will act to ensure that no theft or breach of copyright will occur.

Notification Date:

8. All applicants will be notified about the selection or rejection of their film on the 2nd of June 2026.

Digital Submissions:

9. Aegean Film Festival accepts submissions via FilmFreeway only. FFW will then ask for an external online link such as Vimeo in order for the pre-selection team to review the film. The applicant is responsible that the submission file is in full working order.

10. The Festival may, but is not required to, permit certain selected films to be screened in alternative formats. The cost of shipping prints/hard drives to the festival must be met by the applicant. The Festival will pay for one-way shipping of all prints/hard drives, by forwarding them to their next destination, within two weeks of the conclusion of the festival. Any customs or duties charges will be the responsibility of the producer / distributor.

11. The festival does NOT pay screening fees for films submitted through FilmFreeway.

12. If the original language of any dialogue or text featured in the film is not English, the preview and screening copy must be subtitled in English, unless this is in accordance with the filmmaker’s intention.

Selection Process:

13. Each film submitted will be reviewed by at least three members of the pre-selection team. Based on their average score, the top shortlisted films are reviewed again by the whole programming team and the programmes are curated after this second selection stage.

14. The festival will not provide comments on the films prior to the submission deadline. However if workload allows, we are happy to provide applicants with feedback after the completion of the festival.

Screening Formats:

15. An exhibition quality screening version of the film (Quicktime ProRes 422 HQ and/or DCP-24) should be available once the film is selected.

Further Screenings:

16. The applicant authorises Aegean Film Festival to file their film in the festival archive, where it may be made available for further screenings or events promoted by the festival itself, solely for cultural and not for commercial purposes. The festival will always request permission and give reasonable notice before proceeding with any further screening. The festival will never allow any third-party access to the film without the submitter's permission.

17. The Festival, as part of its year-round initiatives, reserves the right to include submitted films, regardless of their selection status, to screen at the AegeanFF Winter Editions, for the benefit of the local population of the islands, the volunteers and team of the festival and the promotion of independent cinema.

Publicity:

18. Information provided including film details, stills and contact information for all selected films, will be published in the Festival Catalogue, which will be made available to the Festival delegates, the AegeanFF website and other online platforms for the promotion of the Festival and its program as well as it may be reprinted in future editions of the catalogue and/or newsletters.

19. The applicant of a selected film agrees that up to three minutes of their film may be used by the Festival in promotional activities including screening a clip on television and/or on the festival website, and/or on the screens at the Festival venues (trailers included).

20. All films chosen to be part of the Aegean Film Festival are encouraged to use the “Official Selection” laurels of the Aegean Film Festival on their publicity. Only the winning film are allowed to use the "Winning Film" Laurels of the festival.

Agreement:

21. In the event of disagreement concerning the interpretation of the regulations, the interpretation of the festival will take precedence.

22. The festival reserves the right to alter the above regulations without prior notice.

23. The applicant agrees that they have secured all necessary rights for both picture and sound, and exhibition will not violate or infringe upon any rights including but not limited to music, images, and content.

24. Submissions can not be withdrawn from the Festival's official selection once they have been selected and after the notification date of the applicants, except at the sole discretion of the Festival. In case the applicant wishes to withdraw the submission from selection after the notification date stated above, he/she has to inform the Festival office by email at submission@aegeanff.com, the latest within 5 days after the notification date. Past this date, and according to these Rules and Terms, the festival will consider the submission as confirmed and will proceed with the relevant press announcements and preparation for screening.

25. By agreeing to proceed with your submission you are agreeing to the above regulations and your application can then be processed. Entry of a film is binding and failure to comply with the above regulations may result in the submission being disqualified.

Attending the Festival:

27. The Aegean Film Festival encourages all selected filmmakers to attend the festival, and offers accompanying guest passes for the crew members of the selected films.

Contact:

28. For all other inquires please contact: submission@aegeanff.com