SUMMARY OF KIFF RULES AND TERMS & CONDITIONS
1. Submission Deadlines
Submissions will be accepted from 1 September 2025 with a final deadline of 1 February 2026.
Early Bird deadline until 1 October 2025;
Regular deadline until 1 December 2025;
Late deadline until 1 January 2026; and
Extended deadline until 1 February 2026.
Please note that submission fees will vary depending on the deadline by which you submit.
2. Submission Format
Films must ONLY be submitted via online screener.
Resolution: 1920x1080
Format: H.264/MP4
Please consider adding subtitles for our audiences that are hard of hearing.
3. Submission Categories
KIFF will feature six awards categories:
Under 18 Short Film;
Student Short Film;
Short Film;
First Feature Film;
Feature Film;
Documentary;
Eadweard Muybridge (local filmmakers)
4. Submission Eligibility
All films must have been completed (including postproduction) after 1 January 2022.
There is no premiere policy for any of the films.
We invite submissions from any country across the globe.
Films must be submitted in English, or with English subtitles.
If you have a classification certificate please supply it. If not please indicate how you believe your film should be classified i.e. U, PG, 12A, 12, 15, 18, If you are unsure please check these guidelines https://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-we-do/classification-guidelines
FilmFreeway allows digital press packs to be uploaded with submissions, and we recommend you include at least the following with your film:
i. A trailer maximum length 1 minute
ii. A poster (at least 800px wide and 300dpi)
iii. A synopsis of your film (max 100 words)
iv. 5 stills from the film (at least 800px wide and 300dpi)
v. A director’s statement (max 500 words)
vi. 3 photos of the director/crew/behind the scenes (at least 800px wide and 300dpi)
vii. The more (digital) information you include with your submission, the more we can promote your film once accepted into the festival
5. Submission Fee
The submission fee is non-refundable. KIFF takes no responsibility for incomplete, defaced, damaged or incorrectly submitted entries.
6. Notification
We do not guarantee that films will be selected for Kingston International Film Festival, however we will notify all submitters, whether selected or not, by 28 March 2026. There will be no second round of charges for any selected films.
7. Festival Screenings
Selected films must provide a digital copy within three (3) weeks of receiving the selection confirmation. If the film is not in English, it must be subtitled in English. Films that are not sent to us within this timeframe cannot be screened at the festival.
8. Promotion
Selected films must acknowledge that KIFF reserves the right to promote the films on KIFF website and social media using images, video and audio that you provide, before and after the festival date.
9. Student Fee
In order to submit a film at the discounted ‘student’ price, the submitter must provide valid Student Identification either via FilmFreeway or by email at: submissions@kiffest.uk. KIFF reserves the right to disqualify any Student Films that fail to provide Student Identification.
Please ensure you read the full Rules and Terms & Conditions below, as failure to comply with any of the rules will result in disqualification.
Submitting your film to KIFF implies your full acceptance of these Rules and Terms & Conditions and KIFF has the right of final decision and is under no obligation to provide reasons for its decision.
KIFF FULL TERMS & CONDITIONS
By submitting a film or screenplay to the festival, you agree to the following:
1. Any entry will be bound by the Kingston International Film Festival Rules and Terms & Conditions (“R&Ts”).
2. The Festival is run by Kingston International Film Festival, which will be referred in the R&Ts as “KIFF”.
3. All entrants must specify the year in which their film was completed (this includes postproduction).
4. All films can be of any genre.
5. The timings for the length of films must include titles and credits.
6. Under 18 Short Films:
One or more of the team are 18 years or under when the film is completed.
Films must be a maximum of 20 minutes.
Entrants into this category who are under the age of 18 are required to include a signed letter of consent from a parent or guardian to submit their film to KIFF.
Entrants over the age of 18 must provide proof of their age such as Passport, ID or other documentation.
7. Student Short Films:
The writer, director, producer, and DOP must all have been students when the film was completed.
We define a “student” as those who are in full or part-time education at any age, or those who graduated no more than one year prior to the date of submission. Proof of student enrolment will be required at the submissions stage. Valid forms of student identification include: a dated student card, a copy of a student finance bill, or a letter from the university or institution.
Films must be a maximum of 20 minutes.
8. The Eadweard Muybridge Prize
This Award is for local filmmakers only.
At least one of the senior production team must be living or have been living in the Kingston-upon Thames post code area (KT). Or was born in the area.
Proof of residency or birth must be included with your submission. Such as utility bill, driving licence, letter from the bank or other institution. Or Birth Certificate where applicable.
The film can be of any length and genre.
9. Short Films: maximum runtime of 20 mins including credits.
10. Feature films and First feature films minimum runtime of 40 mins (As per BFI guidelines)
11. Documentaries can be of any length
12. Your entry form must include your name, telephone number and email so that we can contact you.
13. Submissions don’t require premiere status. Should your film be premiering with KIFF (world, UK or London premiere) please notify us, so we can advertise it accordingly.
14. We do not cover licensing or screening fees for selected projects, as films are in competition and have been submitted to us.
15. Each film requires a submission fee. Entrants may submit more than one film.
16. Due to the submission platform being run by a third party (filmfreeway.com) we cannot provide any refunds.
17. KIFF reserves the right to offer Waiver Codes for Discounted/Free/Late Submissions to their partners as well as individual filmmakers.
18. KIFF reserves the right to extend submission deadlines.
19. The Prizes detailed in our listings are for the previous year’s festival. Whilst we endeavour to provide the same or similar prizes we cannot guarantee them due to the possibility of unforeseen circumstances such as loss of sponsorship.
20. Submissions must not contain any copyrighted material, including music, still images or video images without the written permission of the owner. We encourage the use of original or royalty free music.
21. KIFF is not able to cover the costs of any format transfers or subtitling.
22. All entrants must agree to participate in promotional and public activities if their film reaches the shortlist stage.
23. The filmmaker grants KIFF the non-exclusive license and right to use all or part of their film only for promotional purposes, and to exhibit the film during the festival (online and offline events) and after, as well as on various social media platforms.
24. Selected films will be notified in writing and their name, as well as the filmmaker’s name will be published on the KIFF website and on social media.
25. The KIFF competition does not accept submissions from Kingston International Film Festival committee members, their immediate family, or sponsors of the event. KIFF however reserves the right to screen such films out of competition.
26. KIFF reserves the right to change any dates regarding submission deadlines or the festival event.
27. All screenings during the festival period will take place at the discretion of KIFF. KIFF reserves the right to make changes to the advertised schedule at any time for any reason and will not accept liability for any costs incurred as a result of such changes.
28. KIFF reserves the right to amend these T&C'S at any time.
29. KIFF has the right to disqualify any entrant if there are reasonable grounds to believe they have breached any of the rules stated in the T&C'S.
30. Should the KIFF organisers decide to cancel the festival without reason prior to 28 March 2026 (“Official Selection”), every effort will be made to reimburse those who have paid to submit their film. Should the festival be cancelled without reason after the announcement of the Official Selection, only those filmmakers who have been selected to be a part of the festival will be reimbursed.
31. In the event of circumstances being beyond the control of KIFF (such as natural disaster, government restrictions, viral/bacterial pandemic, etc) then every effort will be made to amend if necessary or postpone to allow the festival to go ahead. If this is not feasible then we will aim to proceed with an online festival. In such circumstances, no refunds will be issued.
32. Submitting your film to KIFF implies your full acceptance of the KIFF T&C’s and KIFF has the right of final decision and is under no obligation to provide reasons for its decision.
SELECTION CRITERIA AND JUDGING PROCEDURE
1.Our Pre-Selection panel is made up from a diverse range of people involved in the entertainment industry whose ages range from 17 to 90.
2.A minimum of 2 people from the panel will watch/read and review each film/screenplay submitted and then mark them according to our criteria (see below). Should there be any significant parity in the marking a third person will then review and mark the films.
3.The Programming Committee will then determine a cut-off mark. All films above this mark will then be reviewed by the committee and marked again, they will then use these marks to aid discussions in curating the programme and arriving at our official selection.
4.From their marking and discussions, the committee will agree on their nominations from each category to be put forward to our Independent Awards Jury, whose names will be published on our website.
5.Two judges are allotted to each category. They will again mark the films and confer with each other to decide on the eventual winner.
6.No submission will be assigned to a panellist/committee member or Judge if the submitting filmmaker is known to them personally.
7.No film that includes a creative or production credit for a member of the KIFF festival team can be entered into an awards category
8.All our Judges and Selection Committee will be working to the following criteria:
Performances/Acting
Direction
Story
Writing
Cinematography
Originality/Creativity
Production Value
Editing - Picture & Sound
Music & Score
