The Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival is a celebration of creepy, darkly funny, and macabre short films, seated cozily in the heart of the holiday season.

The Krampus is the shadow of St. Nicholas, who doles out punishment for naughty children. Krampusnacht falls annually on December 5th, the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas, and is observed throughout Eastern Europe and parts of Germany with parades featuring elaborate costumes and masks.

For this festival we are seeking:

-- Short films, 20 minutes and under, in the thematic realm of creepy, darkly funny, or macabre.
-- Films are NOT required to relate to Krampus mythology in any way, although we will have a special awards category for films that put a “freeky” twist on the holidays — Krampusnacht, Christmas, or otherwise.

SUBMISSION CATEGORIES

'Micro' (runtime < 3min ) -- These bite-sized shorts add spice to a screening; a good micro-short lands, delivers, and rolls credits before it overstays its welcome.
'Short' (runtime 3-10 min) -- Standard short films take the time to explore their premise, and provide a satisfying narrative journey.
'Long' (runtime 10-20 minutes) -- Longer shorts have something to say, and tell stories worth the additional runtime.

Audience vote determines the following awards:

Best Horror
Best Comedy
Best Holiday Film
Freekiest of the Fest
Best of the Fest

By submitting your project, you acknowledge that you have read and agreed to all of the following rules and terms. All projects that have been submitted by our final deadline and that adhere to the following terms will be considered for inclusion in the Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival.

It is the submitter’s responsibility to make sure that all requirements are met.

SUBMISSION AND SCREENERS

Only one title per entry.

All projects must be submitted via secure online screener - either as a password protected Vimeo link attached to your submission, or uploaded directly to FilmFreeway. The submitter is responsible for ensuring that their screener link and password is active through at least this year's Notification Date (as specified on FilmFreeway). In the event of a password or URL change after submitting, email us immediately. If we discover an error with the screener, we will attempt to email the submitter for an update. Failure to respond by the final submission deadline will result in disqualification without refund of submission fees. Online screeners must be available to stream, we do not accept any films that must be downloaded.

We DO NOT accept DVD or Blu-Ray screeners. In addition, we cannot accept screener links via email, they MUST be attached to your submission.

All foreign-language films must be submitted with English subtitles. If we discover a submission is missing subtitles, we will attempt to email the submitter for an update. Failure to provide working subtitles by the final submission deadline will result in disqualification without refund of submission fees.

Please review all submission categories carefully before submitting your project. All entrants are required to pay the submission fee of their film’s appropriate category.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

Works-in-progress are accepted with the following stipulations:
Incomplete projects must be clearly listed as such. Films should be marked as either a “Rough Cut” or “Work In Progress/WIP”. All incomplete materials or changes to be made should be clearly indicated (ex: temporary score, missing VFX, no color-correction) both in your cover letter and the film cut itself (ideally as a title card at the start of the film).
The entrant may update their screener up until the final deadline, as long as the link and password for the submission remains the same. However, KNFFF is only responsible for considering the project as it exists at the time of review. We are under no obligation to revisit updated cuts once a screener has been seen. Therefore, you should not submit your project if it is not complete enough to adequately represent the final product.
Updated cuts must be accessible via your FilmFreeway account. We cannot accept updated cuts via email.
No updated cuts will be accepted after the final submission deadline.
If selected, the final version of the film must be available two weeks before the festival date.

COMPLETION DATE/PREMIERE STATUS

There is no limit on completion date; we welcome older work as long as it has not been submitted to KNFFF previously. We also do not require a premiere in any way, although premiere status/online availability may be taken into consideration when making final selections.

DEADLINES

Please keep track of deadlines closely if you plan on submitting within a certain submission window. All deadlines are set for 11:59pm Central Time.

Any submissions with an unpaid balance after a deadline will be required to pay the following deadline’s submission fee. Failure to pay the appropriate fee will result in disqualification without a refund.

All works selected must be available two weeks before the festival for inclusion.

ACCEPTED FILMS

Should your film be accepted in the Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival, you grant KNFFF the right to utilize an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for exhibition at the Festival for promotional purposes.

The Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival DOES NOT PAY SCREENING FEES for submitted films. By submitting your project, you acknowledge that KNFFF will not pay to present your work.

COPYRIGHT & LEGAL TERMS

By entering your film for consideration to the Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival, you authorize that your work is cleared for festival exhibition and accept full legal responsibility for the intellectual property therein. The submitter and all filmmakers associated with the project shall indemnify and hold harmless the Krampusnacht Freeky Film Festival and any representative or affiliates from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.

REFUNDS & DISQUALIFICATION

Once a project is listed “In Consideration” on FilmFreeway, we are unable to offer refunds for any reason, including (but not limited to):
Submission to the wrong category
Change in premiere status or distribution
Duplicate submissions
Failure to pay the full submission fee by the final deadline
Failure to provide a working screener by the final deadline
Project’s failure to comply with submission Rules & Terms
Rejection from the festival
Withdrawing your submission for any reason (including changes of heart)

KNFFF reserves the right to disqualify any submission without refund, even after a film has been invited or final programming has been announced, at the sole discretion of KNFFF staff.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • JC Little

    Thank you so much for selecting my animated short film "2020" into your freeky film festival!

    December 2021
  • susie Davis

    Best Holiday Freeky Film festival around. If you win in one of the Categories you get a Trophy with a set of Krampus Horns! Super Cool!

    December 2021
  • Dan Repp

    A fantastic one night festival with solid programming, great communication and extremely festive vibe. Definitely recommend it!

    December 2021
  • Incredible festival. One of the very best we have had the pleasure to be a part of. So honoured to have two of our films feature and to have been awarded too. Great communication and despite being in the middle of a global pandemic, they made the festival feel as real and as personalable as if we were there with them. Thank you again. Cant wait to receive our awards!

    December 2020
  • I was delighted to have my short film Charlie and Yip win best animation! Thanks mo much!

    December 2020