Galway Film Fleadh is Ireland’s leading film event, a six-day international film festival taking place every July on the very edge of Europe. ‘Fleadh’ is the Irish word for a feast or a celebration, and like Galway itself, our festival is compact, bohemian, informal and fun. After hosting our first in-person festival since the pandemic in 2022, we are looking forward to a triumphant return to the theatrical experience in 2023.

Founded in 1989, as an opportunity for Irish filmmakers to exhibit their work to their peers, the central goal of the Galway Film Fleadh remains unchanged: to be a platform for the boldest new films, and to bring audiences and filmmakers from around the world together to share in the wonder of cinema. Annually, screening between 80 – 100 feature films and up to 100 short films, the Fleadh welcomes an exciting diversity of filmmaking from around the world, all generations and cultural backgrounds.

Marketplace
Running alongside the festival for the past 25 years, the Galway Film Fair is Ireland’s only film & television marketplace. Galway Film Fair co-ordinates pre-scheduled meetings between filmmakers with projects in development and/or completed films and invited Film Financiers, Distributors, Sales Agents, Broadcasters, Film Funds and Major Producers.

The Galway Film Fair’s unique selling points:
->Transatlantic bridge
->Access to the world’s leading financiers in an informal environment
->Showcasing new Irish, European and International cinema to leading Film Buyers, Distributors and Festival Programmers

Forum
The Fleadh Forum is an annual symposium for filmmakers and industry professionals to explore and share ideas about what is happening in the audio-visual industry. Joined by a host of Industry Experts, discussion topics include the process of development, the future of co-production, as well as film sales, distribution and exploitation.

Masterclasses
Each year the Fleadh invites masters of filmmaking craft to be the subject of our series of masterclasses for industry professionals. Previous subjects have included:

Acting
Vicky Krieps, Andrew Scott, Marisa Tomei, Michael Smiley, Ruth Negga, John C. Reilly, Will Forte, Martin Sheen, Isabelle Huppert, Amanda Plummer, Annette Benning, Michael Fassbender, Jessica Lange, Jeremy Irons, Kathy Bates, Colm Meaney, Woody Harrelson, Zachary Quinto, Saoirse Ronan, Brendan Gleeson, Anjelica Huston, Peter O’Toole, Maureen O’Hara, Pierce Brosnan...

Directing
Richard Kelly, Najwa Najjar, Abbas Kiarostami, Mira Nair, Alex Gibney, Mohsen Makmalbaf, Stephen Daldry, Jon Jost, Volker Schloendorff, Stephen Frears, Anthony Minghella, Agnieszka Holland, Gillo Ponecorvo, Arthur Penn, István Szabó, Michael Winterbottom, Michael Moore, Oliver Reed, Madeline Olnek, Jim Sheridan, Neil Jordan

Screenwriting
Lisa McGee, Ed Solomon, Kirsten Smith, Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski, Paul Schrader, Robert Towne, Sir Ronald Harwood, Christopher Hampton, Mark Fergus, Allison Anders, Daniel Waters, Nicole Holofcener...

Animation
Lee Unkrich, Pete Docter, Jimmy Murakami, Cartoon Saloon, Brown Bag Films...

Pitching Competition
Having provided many writers with an opportunity to get their foot in the door of the industry, participants have found that our Pitching Competition opened the door to producers, key contacts and mentorship in addition to bolstering their confidence and having projects optioned. Ten finalists are chosen from written submissions, and pitch their idea to a panel of industry judges and a live audience. The winner receives a cash prize of €3000, which can allow time to develop and expand their pitch into a full feature script.

And much more...

Networking breakfasts, our (in)famous Rowing Club, pop-up panels, debates, BBQ’s...come and see why we’ve been named one of Moviemaker Magazines ‘50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.’

Awards & Prizes

Short Film Awards
- Best International Documentary Short
- Best International Fiction Short
- Best International Animation Short
- Best Debut Fiction Short
- Best Debut Animation Short
- The Donal Gilligan Award for Best Cinematography in an Irish Short Film
sponsored by ISC in association with 24-7 Drama

Oscar Qualifying Awards
- The Tiernan McBride Award for Best Fiction Short
in association with Network Ireland Television
- The James Horgan Award for Best Animation Short
- Best Short Documentary Award
in association with TG4

Individual Artist Awards
- Pitching Award
- Bingham Ray New Talent Award
in association with Magnolia Pictures
- Best Marketplace project
in association with Bankside Films

Feature Film Awards
- Peripheral Visions Award (for a first for second International feature)
- Best Documentary Award
- Best Irish First Feature
- Best Irish Film
in association with Danú Media

Rules & Terms

Feature Film Submissions

1. A feature film is considered to be 52 or more minutes in length.

2. Submission fees and deadlines:
Early bird deadline: Friday December 9th, 2022 at 5p.m. G.M.T. €30 entry fee.
Regular deadline: Friday February 10th, 2023 at 5p.m. G.M.T. €40 entry fee.
Late deadline: Friday March 10th, 2023 at 5p.m. G.M.T. €50 entry fee.

3. Methods of payment:
Credit/debit cards (processed by Stripe – click ‘Pay by card’ or “Login as guest” while paying)
If you cannot pay with a credit or debit card, please contact the office

4. The festival is not obliged to view late entries. After the final deadline date, digital submission forms will be unavailable online and any physical submission materials received will not be accepted.

5. All languages of film are accepted. Submissions and screeners of non-English language films must contain English subtitles.

6. All categories and genres of film are accepted.

7. Digital screener links are preferred at submission stage. If submitting a file transfer, please limit your file size to 4GB or less and make sure the file is valid for download until at least June, 2023. We will accept any private download or passworded link i.e. Vimeo, WeTransfer, Dropbox, Cinando, YouSendIt, RightsTrade etc.

8. If your film is accepted to exhibition at our event, we will require a high-resolution exhibition copy that must be one of the following formats:
DCP/ Blu-ray
Note: Our DCP capable venues support differing standards of DCP. We will advise you of which type of DCP is required upon successful selection into the festival. WE DO NOT SCREEN FROM DVD or STANDARD DIGITAL FILE (avi, mp4, mkv, etc.). We will advise you on recommended file specs upon successful selection into the festival.

9. Upon successful selection into the festival, you will be required to fill out a technical sheet detailing formatting specification such as aspect ratios and audio levels. This is to ensure that we can provide your film with its the best possible screening.

10. In all categories, any film that has been previously broadcast (television or online video-on-demand, including YouTube) in Ireland or screened at another festival shall have less priority in programming terms than those that will premiere at the festival. All competition categories are judged by the audience and/or a jury of industry professionals. A full list of categories is available at the bottom of the page.

11. The festival gives priority to World, European and Irish premieres in considering competition categories. If your film has premiered elsewhere in Ireland it will be screened out of competition if selected.

12. If selected, you will be informed of the latest date at which prints must be delivered to the festival. The sender must meet the cost of shipping prints to the festival. The festival will pay for one-way return shipping of prints only. All prints will be returned during the week following the close of the festival.

13. The entrant agrees that up to three minutes of their film (visual or audio) may be used by the festival in promotional activities. These can include screening a clip on television, radio, the festival’s website, promo reel and/or social media presences.

14. The festival does NOT pay screening fees for titles that have been submitted.

15. The festival reserves final say on the awards categorisation of successful entrants.

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Short Film Submissions

Submission fees and deadlines:

Earlybird deadline: Friday January 27th 2023 at 5p.m. G.M.T. €25 entry fee.
Regular deadline: March 3rd 2023, €30 entry fee.
Late deadline: April 24th 2023, €35 entry fee.

The entry fee of €25 for IRISH Student Animation under 6 min will extend across all deadlines.

1. The Galway Film Fleadh short film programme consists of two primary sections:
Irish production/co-production
International production

2. An Irish production/co-production is defined as a production that features an Irish resident/born director, producer, lead animator or writer OR a production shot on the island of Ireland

3. You may select one category only for each film submitted. For experimental works or works that fall in between the categories below, please select one and describe your film type in the notes section on the submission form e.g. docudrama, experimental, etc. The categories are:
Fiction
Animation
Documentary

4. Any short that has been previously broadcast (television, online free/open festivals, streaming sites or video-on-demand) shall be deemed ineligible for competition and receive less priority in programming terms, with the exception of pay-walled secure online festival.

5. Digital screener links are accepted at submission stage. If submitting a file transfer, please limit your file size to 2GB or less. We will accept any private download or passworded link i.e. Vimeo, WeTransfer, Dropbox, Cinando, YouSendIt, RightsTrade etc. YouTube links of any kind are not accepted.

6. If your film is accepted to screen at this festival, we will require a screening copy that must be one of the following 4 formats* (listed in order of preference:
ProRes/high resolution H.264/5 file
All versions of ProRes are accepted
H.264/5 files must have a bandwidth of at least 20m/b second
DCP
If your film is to be screened from DCP, it is your responsibility to ensure it is DCI compliant and to ensure a KDM is issued if encrypted. You will be required to fill out a technical form detailing formatting specifications such as ratios and sound levels, to ensure that we can provide the best possible screening of your film.If you require assistance in obtaining an exhibition quality copy of your film, please contact tech@filmfleadh.ie
35mm (1.85/2.35 ratios)
Blu-ray (Region 0/B)
WE DO NOT SCREEN FROM DVD.

7. Accepted films must prepare their files/DCPs* to play on 2K or 4K digital cinema gear – the resolutions accepted are:
2K
Flat: 1998 x 1080 (1.85:1)
Scope: 2048 x 858 (2.39:1)
4K
Flat: 3996 x 2160 (1.85:1)
Scope: 4096 x 1716 (2.39:1)
If your film is shot and only available in HD (16:9 or 1920 x 1080), your file/DCP will have to be cropped and/or resized to fit the outlined specification.

8. Accepted films may submit exhibition formats in either mono, stereo or 5.1 audio tracks.*

9. Accepted films will asked to provide their exhibition files/DCPs in either 24 or 25 frames per second, depending on which venue their film is screening in – the festival will provide you with this information as soon as possible into the acceptance process – and it is the responsibility of the filmmaker to ensure the framerate is set correct, the festival cannot be held responsible for frame rate related skipping errors

10. In submitting to the festival, the applicant confirms that they possess all rights necessary for the screening of the submitted film at the festival

11. Where the significant dialogue or narration of a film is not in English, please provide English subtitles.

12. Entries should not exceed 40 minutes.

13. If selected, you will be informed of the latest date at which prints must be delivered to the festival. The sender must meet the cost of shipping prints to the festival. The festival will pay for one-way return shipping of prints only. All hard copies of films will be returned during the week following the close of the festival.

14. The submission fee and deadlines are as follows:
Earlybird deadline: Friday January 27th 2023 at 5p.m. G.M.T. €25 entry fee.
Regular deadline: March 3rd 2023, €30 entry fee.
Late deadline: April 24th 2023, €35 entry fee.

15. The festival is not obliged to view late entries. The final deadline for submission material(s) Monday April 24th, 2023

16. The festival has both competitive and non-competitive programmes. Competition eligibility is subject to these rules and regulations and at the discretion of the festival. All competition categories are judged by a jury of industry professionals.

17. You must indicate if your film is a debut short, i.e. the director’s first short film. If your film is a debut dramatic/animated short it will automatically be eligible for a Best Debut Drama/Animation. This does not preclude it from winning the Tiernan McBride or James Horgan Oscar qualifying awards.

18. The Academy will make no exception to the following rule:

To be eligible for Oscar consideration upon winning a qualifying category: Your film must be available in the “SMPTE DCP” format. SMPTE DCP refers to SMPTE ST 429-2 and related specifications, should you wish to enter it.
Trailers/previews of no longer than 10% of a short film’s length are permitted online.

7 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Morgan Creative

    Gaillimh Abú!

    The best film festival in the world!*

    *small bit biased, but hey

    January 2023
    Helpful
  • Western Front Studios

    Amazing festival!
    We were honoured to have our short film Bruise world premiere, and open this years shorts programme.

    August 2022
    Helpful
  • Carbonated Comet

    This is a festival that is run by real - movie loving - people. I know that sounds like an odd review, but it really matters. The festival already checks off all the other boxes, great venues and qualifier for the OSCARS. But underneath all the bells in whistles there are real people that seemed friendly and cool. Top marks. Worth the submission.

    July 2022
    Helpful
  • Laura O' Shea

    It was extra special to be in the festival atmosphere this year after being starved of it for so long. A wonderful festival with a wonderful selection of shorts on offer! We were thrilled to receive the Tiernan MacBride Award for Best Short Drama. Many thanks to the festival and see you all next year!

    July 2022
    Helpful
  • Paudie Baggott

    Galway is always a welcoming festival packed with great films and really great networking opportunities.

    July 2022
    Helpful