The Folkestone Film Festival holds regular screenings in Folkestone and it's Creative Quarter. The Creative Quarter is an urban village of designers, filmmakers, musicians, web developers and artists. With 115 studios and offices it is a hive of artistic activity.

We accept submissions from all over the world, subtitles are encouraged but not compulsory. We judge films based on production values and champion independent filmmakers with original ideas. Our panel of award winning filmmakers and vocational artists will endeavour to provide films with laurels, artwork and feedback.

We accept all genres and themes, you are welcome to be as experimental as you wish. Our screenings happen on a regular basis, please be assured that all submissions will be looked at, and all selections will be judged by our panel. Awards events will happen periodically, you will be invited to join us and celebrate your selection when events are scheduled.

Please follow this link to download your custom laurels:
https://filmfreeway.com/laurels/78047/FolkestoneFilmFestival

Honorable Mention, Official Selection, and Award Winner submissions will qualify for personalised certificates which are presented at screenings. We cannot wait to meet you all and celebrate your work!

OUR PARTNERS
We have teamed up with exciting partners to bring you a range of promotional opportunities. BritFlicks host selected film trailers on their channels to over 43.9k subscribers. BlueSky Pie feature the best indie music videos & music at their live events. Kent Kino & Yarp Festivals host exciting indie film and music events in Kent.

• Judges Awards
• Panel Awards
• Audience Awards

1. Submission Deadlines
Early entry is encouraged but in no way guarantees acceptance.

2. Submission Format
Films must be submitted via FilmFreeway ONLY. Submissions must be made downloadable for screening in 1080p resolution.

3. Submission Eligibility
• We accept films from around the world, English subtitles encouraged .
• No minimum completion date, but newer films prioritised at screenings.
• There is no premiere for feature film.
• There is no premiere policy for short films.
• Work-in-progress and films with distribution are accepted.

4. Premiere Status
• There is no premiere policy for feature films.
• There is no premiere policy for short films.

5. Film Classification
We cannot accept anyone underage during any screening of the Festival.

6. Submission Fee
All submissions for are to be paid through the FilmFreeway platform. The submission fee is non-refundable.

7. Shipping - for selected films ONLY
If selected your DCP should be sent to:

Folkestone Film Festival
7 Creteway Close
Folkestone
Kent
CT19 6LH

All shipping and postage costs for DCPs and additional materials sent to and returned must be borne by the submitting party. We will not accept Cash On Delivery shipments. We will not absorb any fees incurred in British customs. All charges must be pre-paid.

8. Selection of Films
Submissions are reviewed and selected under the following criteria:
• Quality of narrative and production values.
• Independent nature of the production.

9. Notification's
Folkestone Festival endeavors to complete all selection procedures and inform all submitting parties if their film has been successful or not. Successful submissions will receive Folkestone Festival laurels, artwork and a short feedback.

10. Festival Screenings - for selected films ONLY
All films must be downloadable from FilmFreeway or sent to us via wetransfer.

11. Scheduling - for selected films ONLY
Screenings are scheduled at our discretion. Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the published schedule, we reserves the right to make changes at any time for any reason. We will not be liable for any costs claimed as a result of a change in schedule. No film may be withdrawn from the festival programme after its selection.

12. Promotion - for selected films ONLY
Selected films must acknowledge that we reserve the right to promote the films on our website and social media using both images and video that you provide.

13. Festival Awards
We reserve the right to include additional awards which suit specific submissions, such as the Maverick Award or Stand Out Film. We also reserve the right to change Award titles to suit specific submissions. We cannot send certificates internationally but can email them.

14. We can provide blank festival invites for VISA purposes but we cannot help further in this process. Past applications have taken too much time away from running the festival selections and planning screenings with our team.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Thanks so much for selecting our Film Rocket Girl 2. Lovely to also see it posetd up on the socials - wonderful team!

    March 2024
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Hi Kai, thank you so much for your kind review! We’re looking forward to featuring Rocket Girl 2: Mission 2 Mars at our awards event in July. Thank you so much for submitting to our festival!
    Kind regards,
    Folkestone Film Fest Team

  • Kyle Garrett

    Thank you to Folkestone for selecting and awarding our music video for "Old Death" by Car Colors! You can tell the festival founders and programmers have a deep love for films and filmmaking of all kinds, and I really appreciate the fact that they carved out space for music videos, as well. A great honor and I look forward to many more years of this new fest.

    March 2024
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Hi Kyle! Thank you so much for your kind review! You are correct in guessing how much we love film and filmmaking ourselves. All of our panel members are filmmakers or vocational artists. And when we’re not screening films together, we are often making films together!
    Thank you so much for submitting your music video to our festival, we can’t wait to screen it again at our awards event.
    Kind regards, Folkestone Film Fest Team 🎬🙌👏

  • Brian Nestor

    Great festival, I am happy to be selected for it.

    March 2024
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Thank you for your kind words! We are very happy to have you, thank you very much for submitting to our festival 🎬🙏🙌

  • Thank you for our official selection to your welcoming festival

    March 2024
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    You are most welcome! Thank you very much for your kind review. We look forward to including your music video for BROTHER at our gala event. Thank you for submitting to our festival 🙏🙌🎬

  • Ewan McPherson

    A very inclusive, friendly and engaging festival, really responsive and welcoming. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

    March 2024
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Hi Ewan, thank you so much for your kind review! It was a pleasure to include "My First Punk Gig" at our recent show. Thank you for submitting!