Big Fridge Film Festival

RULES AND GUIDELINES FOR BIG FRIDGE FILM FESTIVAL 2027 SUBMISSIONS

If you receive your submission confirmation email from FilmFreeway, then your submission has been received. There is no need to contact BFFF to follow up on it, or ask about its progress. Unless you have a query about the upcoming film festival, please don't contact us directly.

The Big Fridge Film Festival will screen films full length.

There is no limit to the number of categories you can submit to.

To be eligible, short films must be 40 minutes and under, including credits.

Submissions will be accepted via FilmFreeway only.

All judging and jury decisions are final.

BFFF reserves the right to enter films in to multiple categories at their discretion.
We do not accept extremist or propaganda content from religious or political organisations.

By submitting you are allowing BFFF to use your trailer, teaser clip, film poster and stills for promotional purposes only. BFFF will never post, distribute, release or show the film or reveal plot information of any submission.

All rights, clearances and permissions must be obtained prior to submission and applicants must ensure that they have the right to submit the work with regard to third parties connected to the production of the film in question. By entering your work you agree to this and the responsibilities involved. The Big Fridge Film Awards assumes no responsibility for violation of copyright law.

All eligible submissions are reviewed through an open-submission process. Films are assessed by programmers using a consistent scoring framework covering originality, storytelling, craft, performance, direction, sound, editing and overall impact. British shorts are separately identified and reviewed for the British Shorts strand. Jury members do not vote on films where they have a conflict of interest.

Selected films in the official programme are screened theatrically as part of Big Fridge Film Festival. We only screen films with the permission of the rights holder and never distribute or publish submitted films online.

We offer a limited number of fee waivers for filmmakers who would otherwise be unable to submit, including low-income filmmakers, disabled, D/deaf and neurodivergent filmmakers, care-experienced filmmakers, refugee/asylum-seeking filmmakers, and filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds. Requests are reviewed confidentially by email.

The Big Fridge Film Awards reserve the right to disqualify any submissions that don’t adhere to the above terms.

Thank you for your interest in the Big Fridge Film Festival, we look forward to celebrating your film!