Ealing Film Festival

The winner of the title ''Best Film" from the inaugural Ealing Film Festival 2020, goes to the Iranian filmmaker, Seyed Gholamreza Nematpour.
His film Ava’s Silence, which also won the Narrative Drama category, received high praise from judges in a strong field of entries from around the world.
There were 11 genre winners as well as a special Lockdown award.
The People's Choice - an audience vote - attracted over 3,000 responses and 19 year old MetFilm student, Luca Pappalardo, from Sicily, took the prize for his black and white short, 'I Wait For The Dawn.'

Ealing Film Festival was established in 2020 - the most difficult of years - to showcase the talents of a diverse range of up-and-coming filmmakers, It attracted over 160 entries from 20 countries, on 5 continents.

Ealing has a long association with creativity and movie making - the film studios based here being the oldest in the world - and this initiative has provided a positive focus for the global filmmaking community.

Ealing Film Festival is an opportunity for people of all ages, social and cultural backgrounds to take part and will be back in 2021 and beyond...details to follow.

Criteria

All films must be 15 minutes or less in duration including title sequences and credits. So make it short. You can have real impact in a few minutes or even seconds. Shorter films have an equal chance of an award as longer ones.

Prizes - laurels for all winners + bottle of Ealing Gin+
£500 & weekend hotel stay in Ealing for Best of Festival
£100 for Homegrown and Comedy
£50 for all other category winners

Categories & Prizes
Best of Festival (all categories)
Best Narrative / Drama
Best Documentary
Best Comedy
Best Horror / Suspense
Best Sci-Fi
Best Animation
Best Environment / Green
Best Experimental
Best Student Film
Best Film made on a Smartphone
Best Homegrown (Ealing resident or made in Ealing)

All finalists will be considered for the ‘Best Film’ award.

Submissions Open October 5, 2020 & Close December 2nd

Rules for Entry
1. Entrants must be 16 years old or over at the time of submission.
2. Entries must be no more than 15 minutes in duration including title sequences and credits.
3. Films must be the original work of the entrants and must have been produced since 1 January 2018.
4. Ealing Film Festival does not accept films promoting a product or company.
5. Entrants must have obtained clearance for all copyrighted music and other copyrighted material used in their films entries.
6. Written permission must have been obtained from all the people actively appearing in the film. This is usually done by way of a release form.
7. Any entry not in the English language must have English subtitles embedded in the film.
8. Entries should be submitted electronically only via FilmFreeway.
9. To be considered for the 2020 competition entries must be received by the final deadline of December 2, 2020. Films can be entered in any number of categories.
10. Your status on FilmFreeway will acknowledge the receipt of your submission.
11. Filmmakers whose work is ''officially selected'' will receive notification by email by December 14, 2020
12. A list of selected films will also be posted on the Ealing Film Festival website on approximately 14th of December 2020. These will be streamed online for public viewing, subject to technical capabilities.
13. Ealing Film Festival reserves the right to refuse entry for any reason at its absolute discretion.
14. The decision of the judges is final. Neither correspondence nor discussion concerning any decision will be entered in to.
15. As well as awarding category winner laurels, there will be an overall prize for Best Festival Film - details to be announced.
16. The entry is made at the entrant’s own expense and Ealing Film Festival shall not be liable for reimbursing any expenses incurred in making an entry.
17. Ealing Film Festival and associated parties accept no responsibility for any misuse of intellectual property rights.
18. Ealing Film Festival has the right to use images and a maximum of 45 seconds from selected films for promotional or festival screenings or on the Ealing Film Festival websites or for press or media purposes. Occasionally EFF may wish to screen a selected film outside of the festival, in all instances permission will be sought from the filmmaker in advance.
19. Ealing Film Festival has the right to use the film for its archive film library for viewing by other film festivals and organisations. Films will not be made publicly available.

Overall Rating

Quality

Value

Communication

Hospitality

Networking

ُSeyed Gholamreza Nematpour

Words can not express how much I am happy for being part of your Great Festival and truly grateful to be chosen as winner. Once again thank you for the genuine care you have shown towards Ava's silence. Wish you everlasting prosperty.

January 2021

Helpful

Response from festival:

Big Congratulations Seyed, it was a fine win!
Many thanks for you review and we hope to see more of your work soon.
Keishi Suenaga

Ealing Film Festival is a very good film festival.
Film Festival staff also supports very heartwarming.
They constantly supported me by e-mail and social media.
I would love to enter again next time!

January 2021

Helpful

Response from festival:

Thankyou Keishi, great to hear and we look forward to seeing more of your work. Good luck with other Festivals!
Brian Wallace

Very proud to have been part of their inaugural year. Quality of films selected was excellent, and we were humbled to be among them. Communication was outstanding, and we even picked up some twitter followers as a result of being selected.

Some of the most impressive judges I've yet encountered--legit industry heavy hitters--and they've built a lot of support within Ealing, particularly among political, economic, and cultural leaders.

2020 was a tough year to start an ambitious new film festival, and they set the bar very high. Once things return to normal, there's no question this festival will continue to grow and prosper. I wish them and all their future participants every success.

January 2021

Helpful

Response from festival:

Thankyou so much Brian - that means a lot! Really great to be able to do this and see such fabulous work from so many creatives. Onward for 2021... and beyond and hopefully soon in real life! Keep making films!!!!
Nils Lane

Great festival to enjoy interesting movies :)

January 2021

Helpful

Response from festival:

Many thanks Nils, there was lots of great stuff, thankyou for being part of our first festival. Keep making films and hope to see you in our future festivals. Best of luck .
Charles Opong

Thank you for selecting me, thank you for great communication! Worthy film festival.

January 2021

Helpful

Response from festival:

Many Thanks Charles, appreciate your comments. Hopefully will see more of your work in the future. Best of luck.