Astrophobia Science Fiction and Horror Film Festival

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR FILMS

• Genre: horror or science fiction only
• Maximum length (including credits) for shorts: 35 minutes
• Premiere not required
• Accepted File Formats: MP4, .MOV, or .mkv
• Must be a minimum of 1080p resolution
• Language (or hardcoded subtitles) must be English

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR SCRIPTS

• Genre: horror or science fiction only
• Maximum length for features: 120 pages
• Maximum length for shorts: 35 pages
• Must be formatted correctly and submitted as a pdf file
• Language: English

All entrants agree that the decisions of the festival organizer and consultants are final and there are no procedures for appeal. All submitted scripts must be submitted in a commonly accepted format and the festival organizer reserves the right to discard improperly formatted submissions (although they will make every attempt to contact writers to get reformatted submissions). All payments are final and there will be no refunds of script or film submissions.

FILM COMPETITION RULES

1. There will be official selections based jointly on the curation of the festival director and consultation with industry professionals if required.
2. Filmmakers may submit as many films as they like in as many categories for which they are eligible.
3. Films made at any time may be submitted, however only those that have been finished and produced after January 1st, 2025 will be considered for an award.
4. Films must be fictional narrative. We do not accept music videos, promotional videos, trailers, and documentaries.
5. All non-English submissions must have hard-coded English subtitles.
6. Films must be compliant with all copyright laws. If music, artwork, or additional film material used in your film is not original, then permission from source must be obtained. The responsibility for this rests entirely with the filmmaker. Failure to obtain clearance could result in your film being withdrawn from the Festival. In this event, Astrophobia will not be liable to refund the fee or return the materials entered.
7. By submitting to Astrophobia, the participant is granting permission to have their film viewed by anyone the festival director deems relevant for adjudication, is granting permission to screen the film at Astrophobia and use selected clips in its promotional materials (including but not limited to press releases, websites, social media, TV, radio and print).
8. If selected for screening at the festival, the filmmaker will be required to submit the following:
• Minimum two high-resolution film stills
• One high-resolution Director's headshot photo
• Brief synopsis of the film
• Film exhibition copy in 1080p resolution, in .MOV, H.264 or MP4 format
• Film trailer file and/or online link
9. Once a film has been selected for the festival it may not be withdrawn.
All entrants agree that the decisions of the festival organizer and consultants are final and there are no procedures for appeal.
10. All submitters agree that they will not be paid a screening fee should their film be chosen for screening.
11. The festival director holds the right to retract their offer to screen a film at the festival, should the submitter take longer than 6 days to respond to the notification that their film is an official selection.

SCREENWRITING COMPETITION RULES

1. Winners and placements will be determined by the rankings of the festival director and any relevant consultants.
2. Scripts that have been submitted to previous iterations of the festival are not eligible.
3. While submitters can submit as many scripts as they want in each category, only the top ranked submission will be eligible for an award (i.e., a submitter cannot win more than one placement in a single category).
4. Each individual script may be entered in only one category.
5. Submitters may win an award in a maximum of 1 category, but they may submit as many scripts as they want in both categories (i.e., see rule #3).
6. All submitted scripts must be formatted in some commonly accepted format and the festival organizer reserves the right to discard improperly formatted submissions (although they will make every attempt to contact writers to get reformatted submissions).