1. General Information
1.1 Submissions will open on 16 March 2026.
1.2 Submissions will remain open until 23:59 GMT on 04 October 2026. We reserve the right to close the submission platform at an earlier date. We recommend submitting your film as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
1.3 The filmmakers themselves must submit their films, and not agents acting on their behalf. This is to avoid large numbers of bulk entries which can affect the entry distribution and the judging process.
1.4 Upon submission, the filmmakers agree that their films can be included in promotional activity and publicity material shared by the Independent Film Cooperative Manchester, IFC MCR End Of Year Screening and its sponsors and partners.
1.5 Each individual to submit a film may be given a discount code for at least one screening ticket. This code will be redeemable only once.
1.5.1 This discount code will be issued by 15 November 23:59 at the latest.
2.Eligibility
2.1 All films must have a total running time of 25 minutes or less.
2.2 All films must either be in English, dubbed in English or subtitled in English.
2.3 All films must have completed production no earlier than January 2026.
2.4 We will accept a maximum of two films per entrant across all categories.
2.5 Films may only be submitted to IFC MCR End Of Year Screening once. We will not consider films that have been amended from previous submissions.
2.6 All entrants must be at least 18 years of age at the time of the festival.
2.7 For a film to be eligible for consideration, at least two out of the following three must have been living, working and/or studying in Manchester during film production: Director, Producer, Writer.
2.8 IFC MCR End Of Year Screening defines 'student' as those who are in full or part-time education at any age.
3. Submission Procedure
3.1 Submissions must be made online via upload onto IFC MCR End Of Year Screening’s FilmFreeway page with all the required information.
3.2 All entrants must specify the year in which their film was made.
3.3 Film must be submitted in the correct format. Films which do not correspond to the required format will not be considered.
3.4 Entrants will be asked to upload a copy of the film’s poster onto the project page on FilmFreeway, if available. While not necessary during submissions, a poster will be required immediately if your film is selected for the shortlists. The festival will use this for marketing purposes.
3.5 Entries which do not comply with the IFC MCR End Of Year Screening guidelines may be at risk of disqualification.
4. Judging
4.1 Upon submission, every film will be reviewed by members of the Independent Film Cooperative Manchester's Board for eligibility.
4.1.1Every film will be also be reviewed by a volunteer panel of the general public to avoid any appearance of bias.
4.1.2 Every reasonable measure will be taken to ensure that no member of the volunteer panel is assigned to review a film that they have a personal or professional connection to.
4.2 Films will be considered according to the additional following criteria: excellence in executing its creative function.
4.3 Selected films will be announced by 01 November 2026 23:59, at the latest
4.4 If your film is screened, at least one member of your team is expected to attend the End Of Year Screening in-person.
4.4.1 In addition to the discounted screening ticket described in 1.5.1, the submitter of a selected film may also be offered an exclusive discounted rate on up to three tickets for the After Party and Awards Ceremony. This offer will be issued by 15 November 23:59 at the latest.
4.5 All Audience members in physical attendance will be given the opportunity to vote once in all categories, after all films are screened. Only these votes will be counted to determine the winner of each award by way of a simple majority.
4.5.1 The End Of Year Screening may also be streamed online and remote Audience Members may be able to vote digitally. These votes will be made public but will not count towards the vote shares when determining each award.
5. Recommended Upload Format
5.1 Your video file may not exceed 10GB.
5.2 You are not required to provide a screening quality copy of your film at this stage, as films will initially be judged online. By accepting Independent Film Cooperative Manchester's terms and conditions on the Online Submissions form, entrants agree to provide a screening-quality digital file if they are chosen for screening.
5.3 Video
5.3.1 Codec: H.264
(sometimes referred to as MP4). A codec is the format in which your video will be encoded. Different codecs have different features and varying quality.
5.3.2 Frame Rate: 24 or 25FPS. If you know at which frame rate you shot, it is best to encode at that same frame rate. If you are uncertain at which frame rate you shot, please set to either "Current" or 25 FPS. If there is an option for keyframes, use the same value as you used for the frame rate.
5.3.3 Data Rate: 2000 Kbps (SD), 10,000-20,000 Kbps (HD). This setting controls both the visual quality of the video and the file size. In most video editors, this is done in terms of kilobits per second (Kbps). Use 2000 Kbps for standard definition or 5000 Kbps for high definition.
5.3.4 Resolution: 720x576 (4:3 SD video), 1280x720 (HD), 1920x1080 (HD)
. If you have the option to control the pixel aspect ratio (not the display aspect ratio) make sure it is set to "1:1" or "1.00", sometimes referred to as "square pixels".
5.4 Field Order
5.4.1 If you are shooting on an older camera, enable this option. Otherwise, you may get bizarre horizontal lines appearing in your video.
5.4.2 With newer camera models this will not matter, so this option can be left unchecked. (Use progressive).
5.5 Audio
5.5.1 Codec: AAC (Advanced Audio Codec)
5.5.2 Data Rate: 256 Kbps
5.5.3 Sample rate: 44.1 kHz
5.6 Recommended free converters: MPEG Streamclip (Mac & PC), Handbrake (Mac & PC)
