Emberlight International Film Festival

Emberlight guarantees the following:

1. Every film submitted via FilmFreeway will be watched & reviewed by 2-3 judges.

2. All Finalist Films will be selected from the submission pool and not curated/invited. We do not make promises to friends or celebrities.

3. Finalist Films will be screened in front of a live audience regardless of the filmmakers ability to attend.

Submission Guidelines:

1. All screeners must be uploaded by the appropriate deadline date at 11:59 CT.

2. We will contact entrants if there's anything wrong with their submission. If this occurs, you will need to fix the submission issue by the requested deadline, otherwise we can't guarantee that your film will be reviewed.

3. Emberlight does not provide refunds for submission fees.

4. We accept all genres and do not rule out anything.

5. We accept submissions from all countries; however, only films submitted from countries that can receive transactions from the United States via PayPal or TransferWise are eligible for cash prizes.

6. Once you have submitted your project, you will receive a confirmation email from Emberlight within 48 hours. This email will confirm that your film has been submitted correctly. If you do not receive this email within 48 hours, please follow up by emailing film@emberlight.org to ensure your film has been submitted properly.

The Reviewing Process:

1. All films will be reviewed by 2-3 judges who are industry professionals. Emberlight’s judges work remotely and independently to watch, review and rate each film. Judges may nominate films for all award categories. Each judge has an equal vote and no Finalist selections are made outside of this process.

2. Emberlight’s programmers’ decisions are final.

3. Please note that programmers are NOT required to share programming feedback with entrants.

Finalists:

1. Accepted filmmakers will be notified via email, phone or text. Filmmakers must confirm their participation by the given deadline, otherwise they might lose their spot in the line-up.

2. If selected you will not be expected to attend the festival. Please note that Emberlight does not cover travel expenses should you decide to attend.

4. Accepted filmmakers must be the authors of their submitted work and be ready to sign an agreement stating that they own all rights to their film and its components ahead of screening at Emberlight.

5. Finalists are responsible for delivering their festival exhibition copy, trailer, screener link, press stills and press-kit on time.

FAQ:

Q: I want to submit a film from overseas. Is it eligible for Emberlight?
Answer: We accept submissions from anywhere in the world that is able to send online payments to the United States. We just ask that all foreign language films have English subtitles.

Q: What genres do you accept?
Answer: We accept all genres and do not rule out anything.

Q. Do you have a separate category for student short films?
Answer: No, but we do have a special award for a Young Michigan Filmmakers. Entrants must submit to one of our main award categories and be 30 years of age or younger and residing in Michigan for eligibility.

Q. Do you only accept premieres?
We DO NOT require premieres. We just ask that you only submit films that completed production within the last 5 calendar years.

Q. Do you accept foreign language films?
Yes, but all foreign-language films must have English subtitles.