**Become a part of one of the most popular ๐ˆ๐Œ๐ƒ๐› ๐๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  annual Festivals!**

Welcome to the Bristol Independent Film Festival. We are one of the UKโ€™s fastest-growing independent film festivals! We are proud to announce that we are sponsored by FilmFreeway.

Since we started in 2017 we have had submissions from over 160 countries. We pride ourselves on being an international film festival. We aspire to promote, recognize and support independent filmmakers throughout the world by hosting a variety of awards to provide the best opportunities for filmmakers and help them receive their deserved recognition. We welcome submissions from a range of genres including short films, documentaries, features, animations, and screenplays.

๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐ˆ๐…๐…? ๐ŸŽฌ

โ€ขWe aim to create a community of independent film-makers and an environment where we can celebrate independent film and our submittersโ€™ creations.
โ€ขFor each event, we provide networking booklets that include information about each winner and ways to contact them. We also provide trophies and winners packs.
โ€ขEach season we offer cash prizes to our favorite submissions to help fund their future projects.
โ€ขFinally, we aim to establish personal relationships with our submitters. We always enjoy finally meeting with our filmmakers/ scriptwriters and being able to celebrate their accomplishments in person.

๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ฅ?

Bristol was recently recognized by UNESCO as a โ€œCity of Filmโ€ alongside the likes of Sydney, Rome, and Galway. We pride ourselves on being the largest celebration of independent film in Bristol and we aim to create a hub for independent film-makers.

๐‰๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ? ๐Ÿ†

Our submissions are judged by a jury of international industry professionals. They rate each submission on 10 different categories including cinematography, writing, pacing, and creativity. This helps them decide which submissions make it to the final stage where there will be jury group viewings to make sure we only pick the best quality submissions.

We look forward to viewing your creations and hope to meet you at our 5th annual celebration of independent film.

Awards & Prizes

We only award the best independent filmmakers after a comprehensive evaluation process. Our judges evaluate the quality of filmmaking, creativity, and storytelling ability.

All selected nominees will be invited to our live screening in Bristol for the opportunity to meet people from the same industry.

All winners will receive the โ€œwinnerโ€ laurel with a hard copy certificate and a special engraved โ€œBristol Independent Film Festivalโ€ trophy presented at our live screening on Event Date. Winners and selected nominees that cannot attend the event will be contacted by the BIFF team to send the awards to the provided address.

All selected and winning nominees will be contacted by the BIFF team a month prior to the notification date for further information.

Rules & Terms

To submit a film, you must have created the project yourself, own the rights or have permission from the owner of the content to submit the film to us.

Rules and Terms:
Please read all the rules and requirements before submitting your project:

1. We do not accept any films made before 2016.

2. Any foreign films must include English subtitles.

3. All fees are non-refundable.

4. Student filmmakers are encouraged to apply but must present their valid Student ID in order to benefit from our student discount.

5. BIFF is not responsible for broken or non-functioning films.

6. Films do not have to be screened publicly to be eligible for our festival, prizes, or awards.

7. BIFF is a competitive event and unless notified otherwise, all films officially selected are eligible for competition. Not all submissions received are selected for BIFF.

8. All films are nominated and voted upon by a jury of film professionals, from an independent point of view.

9. All genres and formats are considered eligible for nomination into one or more competitive categories.

10. BIFF reserve the right to refuse to accept any submission deemed by the Festival to be inappropriate. Should you wish to question BIFF about their decision, you can contact us by email on Bristolfilmfest@hotmail.com.

11. A fee is required upon submission. For payment structures, visit the FilmFreeway website.

12. One entry fee per category. The same film can be entered into one or more categories, but each category requires an entry fee.

50 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Chloe Law

    Massive thank you to your team for hosting the event! We had such a lovely time, the energy in the room was fantastic & the physical awards and goodie bags were just the cherry on top!

    Plus your communication & organisation in the run up to the event was excellent, you made it so easy for us!

    Will enter again next year!!

    November 2022
    Helpful
  • Arema Arega

    My experience was that the team is very cheerful and welcoming.
    I have seen the winners work and they were a very interesting selection of audiovisuals. Thank you so much for selecting The two Kingdoms as the Best Soundtrack!!!

    October 2022
    Helpful
  • Joรซl Jent

    Thanks to the festival team for their great and friendly communication. Bristol Independent Film Festival definitely is recommendable and a well managed film festival. Thanks to the festival jury to award our short EATING THE SILENCE.

    September 2022
    Helpful
  • Dean Radovanovic

    Great great festival! Really interesting and original selection of films, fantastic communication and hospitality. Covid turned it entirely online this year, yet they managed to make it as exciting and fun. The crew is very generous and collaborative, they really want to promote your work and make the extra effort. Our film won an award so after the festival they sent me the trophy and a lot of follow-up gadgets and materials. Amazing stuff!

    November 2021
    Helpful
  • Elisabeth Felson

    I was so happy to be awarded by BIFF. The festival was so professional & well-organized. Even though the event was online, the communication around the films was top notch. The festival was liaising with us at all time. Thank you for your hard work! I can't wait to come to Bristol next year!

    October 2021
    Helpful