All films must be shot with mobile phone cameras to qualify for all competitions in our film festival. WE HAVE NEW RULES & UPDATES TO OUR FESTIVAL.

We have two new additions that we are very excited about:
1. The Mobile Short Film Screenplay Competition - 1 Screenplay per submission
2. Frame A Story (One story in one frame) - May submit up to the limit allowed but only one will be selected.

We also have our traditional short film competition which is now accepting films 3-10 minutes in length. Our feature film competition is 40min. to 2 hours. Narrative only.

Because our festival is now geared for high quality professional mobile films, we also created The Rookie Award category, with a handful of films to screen in a separate session during the festival. (1-5 minutes)

Note: All films selected may, or may not, be selected to stream online.

We do not accept direct email submissions.

International Mobile Film Festival is one of the first, if not the first, international film festival exclusive to only films shot with mobile phones to screen on big screens in a live venue. IMFF is based in San Diego, California. We launched in 2009 officially as a live event film festival. In April 2023, we celebrate 12 years in session.

Not more than 10% of total footage may be aerial footage shot with drones (Max. 10% of total film). No other mobile devices qualify.

Hashtags: #MFF2023SanDiego #MobileFilmSD
Sign up to our free newsletter & community platform: https://internationalmobilefilmfestival.substack.com

Our 12th annual International Mobil Film Festival™ (brand name) in San Diego takes place the last weekend of April 2022. We plan to hold our live event April 28, 29 & 30, 2023 in San Diego.

We are an IMDb qualifying film festival. We launched in 2009 as a film festival for only films shot with only mobile phones with a live venue screening of all accepted films. We created a respectable traditional film festival for only mobile films.

We have two separate competitions: Short Films and Narrative Feature Films. Check the rules for details. 2022 introduced one new competition/category to the festival as the short film competition has changed. We are raising the bar for short films and films of a higher level of quality will be selected. High quality is Story, Video and Audio.

THE ROOKIE AWARD in 2023: The Rookie Award! The award will be presented to the best film by a less experienced mobile filmmaker. All genres from our short film categories qualify. The entries in this new category will not be included in the short film competition and the short film competition films will not be included in the Rookie Award competition.

We urge youth of all ages to submit to this new competition. The films selected in the Rookie Award competition will screen in another session of the festival. The Rookie Award will be presented during the awards ceremony for all competitions and all attending filmmakers will take part in the Red Carpet Extravaganza. More in the rules, below and our website.

You need to know the rules before you submit your film. Read rules in the Rules section and our website Rule's page for even more details and specifics.

No limit on submissions! We lifted the limit of one film per filmmaker to no limit. *Paid submissions only. Note that only one film from each filmmaker or entity will be selected to compete. We only accept film submissions through FilmFreeway.

Visit our website: www.internationalmobilefilmfestival.com/rules for complete details.
RULES ON WEBSITE have the complete details. Read all the rules before submitting. There are no Refunds.

Please answer all emails promptly. By not responding to requests from the festival puts you at risk of being disqualified.

Filmmakers who attend our event in San Diego will receive special recognition and unique attention during our festival's live event on the last weekend in April. Filmmakers will be part of Q&A Panel, walk red carpet, interviewed, and much more. We also promote selected films and filmmakers online. All officially selected films receive customized unique laurels from our film festival.

Awards & Prizes

All the information is clearly defined on our website.
https://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com/mff/rules

By submitting media to this contest, you acknowledge that you have read and understand the terms and conditions of this contest.

Affiliates, employees, interns, contractors, & subsidiaries are ineligible to participate.

AWARDS
All selected films in all categories will receive laurels noting their official selection. Laurels and promotions including announcements and press release with winners listed.

Each category will select a winner and the winners from each category (excluding The Rookie Award) will be in the running for the First, Second and Third Place awards and the trophy awards. Category winners will receive laurels as well.

The feature film winner will receive the Best Film award trophy and laurels.

Some filmmakers may be selected to be guests in the "SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking" hosted by festival founder Susy Botello. Podcast episodes include a written article with links and photos of each guest.

"The red carpet is in your pocket!™"

Rules & Terms

2023 Rules: Deadlines are listed in each category for short and feature films.

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION: We are looking for exceptional quality films with higher production quality and story driven narrative.

SHORT AND FEATURE FILM COMPETITIONS, includes The Rookie Award: Vulgar, porn, or demeaning and offensive films will be disqualified.

Respect other artists by not using media of any kind without proper licenses, permissions and clearance. Proof of licensing may be required to qualify.

We have extended deadlines and beyond those deadlines we offer no exceptions. It takes a lot of work to process and prepare films for screening in an event. We reserve the right to refuse all films beyond the deadlines set by our festival.

All films must be submitted through FilmFreeway. After the deadline has passed, and your film is selected, you will receive official selection laurels and a letter welcoming you to the 2023 edition. We urge you to keep checking for emails from us so you don’t miss requests from us.

All Films must be shot with smartphone cameras only. Horizontal films only with high resolution. Must be formatted to play on large wide screens and look good.

Not more than 10% aerial footage from drones is acceptable. See RULES page on our website for more specifics on requirements.

Short Films must be exceptional quality films. If you are not experienced as a filmmaker, you can enter films that fall within the categories listed below into "The Rookie Award" category for new or non experienced filmmakers. We still require a level of quality with video and audio to be selected. Please find details about this special category on our website and in the category before you submit.

All Short Films must be between 3 & 10 minutes and Not One Second Shorter or Longer, including intro and end credits and/or video black at beginning or end.

Feature Film Competition: all films must be high quality production narrative story based films between 40 and 120 minutes total length. Only three films will be selected to screen in the festival and online.

Rookie Award Films must be between 1 & 5 minutes.

REQUIRED FOR ALL COMPETITIONS: English embedded captions/subtitles for all foreign, non-English spoken, or hard to understand or hard to hear dialogue and narration/voiceovers in all films is required.

For All Film Competitions: We require filmmakers to communicate with us directly for the approval process. Any agents representing filmmakers must be verified prior to selection by filmmaker. We do not pay or offer screening fees.

We will contact all filmmakers whose films are selected prior to the official selection to ensure all qualifications have been met and verified. Our correspondence includes signing a form that gives us permission to include your film in our festival with a statement from the festival they have the right to distribute the film in our film festival and that all information and licenses required are genuine. Without returning the signed form we cannot screen your film in our festival. The form protects filmmakers and our festival.

You will only be required to sign the separate form if your film is selected, in order to complete the selection process. You may also be required to submit licenses, proofs and other items such as talent release forms; upon request.

If you have any questions, please contact us. We also have more specifics which may answer some of your questions on our website’s RULES page.

We suggest you read testimonials from past filmmakers for our festival. We work hard to keep communication open and promote filmmakers whose films have been officially selected, there are more on our website.
35 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • martin Dominguez Ball

    Great festival!!!! Thank you for the opportunity to show my film.

    May 2022
    Helpful
  • Daniel Tomcik

    Excellent communication and incredibly supportive of the work. Would highly recommend this festival!

    May 2022
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  • Taylor Buoro

    I had such a wonderful experience with International Mobile Film Festival. Communication was great and Susy was so supportive throughout the process. It was so wonderful to have Packet Mix recognised internationally and my only wish is that I could have attended the festival! Highly recommend!

    May 2022
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  • Caroline Spence

    We recently attended the IMFF with our film Surveilled, which screened on the first day, and we loved every minute. It's in a beautiful location (Mission Bay, San Diego), and the welcome from festival director, Susy Botello, was warm and welcoming. The standard of films selected was very high, as was the projection and sound systems. The networking opportunities at this festival are very good, and we attended a fascinating workshop by filmmakers Ryan and Brandie McDonald. If you get accepted into this festival, I would highly recommend you attend!

    May 2022
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  • Darcy Yuille

    The International Mobile Film Festival works tirelessly to promote smartphone filmmaking and this festival is such a wonderful event to showcase work from around the world. The festival is excellent and communicating and connecting filmmakers and audiences around the world. Thank you to all the team for an amazing event!

    May 2022
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