You made your film to be enjoyed by film lovers and supported by film fans. Your first screening of it will be for an unassuming audience. No word will have leaked about it. The lights will dim, the eager audience will see your titles light up the screen and BOOM your first screening will be twittered, facebooked and reviewed all over the world within minutes of the eager audience coming out.
Studios are able to wine and dine the press and create buzz with expensive marketing campaigns. With the Hidden Film Festivals, we do all of that for you. Everyone will be clamouring to find out where your film is playing next or who will be distributing it and when, once the buzz comes out from these festivals!
The Hidden Film Festival - Worldwide
Rules for Participation
1. Dates and Venue
The Hidden Film Festival will take place in October 2024. The absolute final submission deadline is as dictated on FilmFreeway. The venue will be announced closer to the Festival.
2. Competition
The Festival reserves the right to place entries into alternative categories if they feel it is to the benefit of the title. Each submission must be entered separately. Entries will be assessed and successful submissions will be programmed for screening and enter the Festival competition. Failure to submit an exhibition copy four weeks prior to the festival will rule out eligibility to screen. If your project is selected we reserve the right to show your film at a time and date of our choosing.
3. Subtitles
Any foreign language films must have english subtitles.
4. Formats
For the selection process a digital screener must be submitted via FilmFreeway. For our judges' protection, this screener must be hosted with either Vimeo or Youtube. We will not assess films submitted with other private video hosting formats such as Google Drive etc. Screenplays must be submitted as a digital .PDF via FilmFreeway.
Successful submissions that are granted a screening must submit a DCP.
*Please note we do not accept films shot in 4:3 unless the filmmaker has reformatted it to 16:9.
5. Selection
The festival directors reserve the right to invite films for the competition and programme. The screening schedule will be announced after the final submission deadline. The final award winning entries will be selected by a festival jury and audience votes. Award winners will be notified within 14 days of the festival screenings.
6. Entry Returns
DCPs supplied with self-addressed envelopes will be returned via post, otherwise filmmakers may pick them up from the venue after the event has concluded. Any DCPs not collected within 6 weeks of the event date will be destroyed as part of our data protection protocol.
7. Screenings
It is the responsibility of the entrant to ensure that films for screening are deposited with the festival organisers at least 28 days before any scheduled screening.
8. Publicity
We reserve the right to use extracts from submissions for festival publicity and marketing purposes. Press kits are not required, but are useful, so please feel free to send these with your submissions.
9. Categories
Feature Film
Short Film
Student Film
Music Video
Documentary
Unproduced Screenplay
10. Awards
The festival does not have awards. This is so that each film still maintains their premiere status (if they haven't premiered already). The aim of The Hidden Film Festivals is not to garner awards, but instead to create a buzz around your film for members of the public, so that when it goes out on release you have the foundations of a press campaign.
11. Submission and Selection for Screening
The administrators' decision is final for all submissions and films selected to screen.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
By submitting to our festival, we will utilise any personal data that you submit to us as part of the details of your submission, to evaluate your submission for the purposes of the festival. We will store your data to contact you about future festivals and events that you may be interested in from either ourselves or third parties.
We will also use your data as part of our internal surveys to assess the number of submissions for the festival and where submissions came from and from what category.
You are in control of your data and should you wish to delete your data, you may request us to do this at anytime.
Asking us to delete your data before the end of the festival, will delete your submission from the festival and no refunds will be given.
To withdraw consent to use your data and delete it from our systems, please email us with your request.
Data Consent.
The only way to enter our film festival is by submission. It is not possible to enter the festival without a submission. Therefore by submitting to our festival you are giving us consent to utilise your data.
It is impossible for our festival to manage your submission and your involvement in our festival without using your data.
If you do not consent to this and would like us to delete your data entirely after the festival, please contact us. By making a submission to our festival you are giving your consent for us to use your data in the ways listed in point 12 of our rules and conditions. By making a submission to our festival you are allowing us to use your data and agreeing to abide by our festival rules, terms and conditions.
Third Parties that we may share your data with are other film festivals, competitions and/or film festival submission websites.
Freedom Of Information
Under the Freedom of Information Act all client information kept by us is available to claim. This can include personal data, any saved emails, course attendance or mail.
A request must be filed by the person in question in an email. This must include the full name and address and any details of what kinds of information would be kept (eg: if there are emails – and to who they would have been addressed) so as to assist full investigation of the claim.
We will also charge a £10 administrative fee payable by PayPal. Any further claims will subsequently be charged £10 at every instance. In the cases where data contain private information concerning other clients or staff, such instances exempt from FOI claims, we may refuse to deliver such data alternatively explaining why this would not be available.
If you are dissatisfied with our response comments must be sent to:
Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF