๐Œ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐…๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐…๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐ฅ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“

"๐‘จ๐’ ๐’‚๐’Ž๐’‚๐’›๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‡๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’—๐’‚๐’ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’๐’†๐’•๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’๐’• ๐’“๐’–๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’š ๐’‚ ๐’‘๐’‚๐’”๐’”๐’Š๐’๐’๐’‚๐’•๐’† ๐’•๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž ๐’๐’‡ ๐’‡๐’Š๐’๐’Ž-๐’๐’๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’” ๐’˜๐’‰๐’ ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’…๐’†๐’…๐’Š๐’„๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’—๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‚ ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’‘๐’†๐’“ ๐’‘๐’๐’‚๐’•๐’‡๐’๐’“๐’Ž ๐’•๐’ ๐’‡๐’Š๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’‚๐’Œ๐’†๐’“๐’”. ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’Œ๐’” ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’˜๐’†๐’๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’Ž๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’•๐’ ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’–๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’š, ๐‘ณ๐’Š๐’‡๐’•-๐‘ถ๐’‡๐’‡!" โญโญโญโญโญ
๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—Ÿ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—™๐—ถ๐—น๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ

โญ Lift-Off Season Awards Qualifying
โญ Screenings, Networking, Workshops & Events
โญ In-Competition Online Screenings
โญ Network Hub Access, Focus Groups & more...!

Learn more about the Lift-Off Season
๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/season

For over ten years, Manchester Lift-Off has showcased some of the most exciting national and international newcomers to indie film from the beating heart of North West England.

๐Œ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฅ๐š๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐ก๐ฉ๐š๐ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ซ.
In this leg of The Season, Lift-Off Global Network showcases outstanding filmmaking talents during a month-long event comprising online screenings & in-person networking events in the heart of Manchester.

๐ŸŽฅ ๐Ž๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐’๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐…๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐ฅ ๐Œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ก
All selected films are screened online during the festival month, allowing a global audience to view and engage with the content.

๐ŸŒ†๐ˆ๐ง-๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ-๐๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐œ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐’๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ & ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ 
During the festival, filmmakers can participate in city-based physical screenings, where they pitch their projects and network with industry professionals.

๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ๐‰๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฒ & ๐€๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐•๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐‘๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐
Both a jury and the online audience vote for the top films, determining which films move forward to the Network Round.

๐Ÿ’ฌ ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐‘๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ (๐…๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐)
Films that advance to this stage receive valuable audience feedback and have the chance to be seen by more decision-makers and professionals in the industry.

๐Ÿ† ๐’๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ž๐ฌ ๐’๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ž๐
From the Network Round, top films are chosen as Season Award Nominees, showcasing the best of the best from all participating films.

๐ŸŽฌ ๐’๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฐ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐’๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฌ
Season Award Nominees are then screened at the prestigious John Barry Theatre in Pinewood Studios, offering further exposure to key industry players.

๐Ÿ… ๐’๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐€๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐„๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ญ & ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ-๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐“๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ
At the grand finale, the Season Awards Event, the winning films are screened, and the filmmakers are awarded the coveted Lift-Off Trophy, marking the peak of the festival journey.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Join us at the famous Lift-Off Networking-Speed-Date session, followed by drinks and a party! Can't attend live? Don't worry - there are plenty of online events and networking opportunities.

Festival Winners are placed on the shortlist for the Lift-Off Season Awards Nominations to be considered by the Lift-Off Jury. Season Award Nominations are screened at the prestigious John Barry cinema in Pinewood Studios. The Season Awards recognise the best films from across the Lift-Off Season.

Find out more about the Season Awards
๐Ÿ‘‰liftoff.network/seasonawards

You'll find free content on our YouTube Channel, such as live workshops, interviews with filmmakers, news updates, and more. Subscribe!
๐Ÿ‘‰ https://www.youtube.com/c/liftoffglobalnetwork

๐†๐„๐“ ๐…๐‘๐„๐„ ๐’๐”๐๐Œ๐ˆ๐’๐’๐ˆ๐Ž๐๐’ ๐“๐Ž ๐€๐‹๐‹ ๐‹๐ˆ๐…๐“-๐Ž๐…๐… ๐…๐ˆ๐‹๐Œ ๐…๐„๐’๐“๐ˆ๐•๐€๐‹๐’ ๐–๐ˆ๐“๐‡ ๐๐„๐“๐–๐Ž๐‘๐Š ๐Œ๐„๐Œ๐๐„๐‘๐’๐‡๐ˆ๐:

โญ Fee waivers to all Lift-Off Festivals & Showcases (worth $300)
โญ Apply for representation at international film markets, including Cannes, EFM, and AFM
โญ Access to international film jobs
โญ Networking, Workshops & Online Events

Find out more about Lift-Off Network Membership
๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/membership

Awards & Prizes

๐—”๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ๐——๐—ฆ ๐—จ๐—ฃ ๐—™๐—ข๐—ฅ ๐—š๐—ฅ๐—”๐—•๐—ฆ

๐Ÿ† Audience Choice Award
๐Ÿ† Best Film in Category
๐Ÿ† Jury's Special Mention
๐Ÿ† Best Screenplay

๐‹๐ˆ๐…๐“-๐Ž๐…๐… ๐๐„๐“๐–๐Ž๐‘๐Šโ€™๐’ ๐‚๐Ž๐Œ๐๐„๐“๐ˆ๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐ & ๐€๐–๐€๐‘๐ƒ๐’ ๐’๐“๐‘๐”๐‚๐“๐”๐‘๐„

The Official Selections are reviewed by the Judging Panel and receive scores from the attending audience throughout the festival. After the festival closes, the weighted scores are combined, and the top-scoring films are promoted into the internal 'Network Round'.

The Network Round is hosted on the Lift-Off Network Hub, where the Lift-Off Jury and Network Hub Members score the films and vote for the winners.

After the festival closes, prizes are awarded, and winning projects are placed on the Season Award Nominations Shortlist. Lift-Off Season Award Nominations are allocated by the Jury based on merit within each category.

Find out more about our awards & judging process:
๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/awards

๐’๐„๐€๐’๐Ž๐ ๐€๐–๐€๐‘๐ƒ ๐๐Ž๐Œ๐ˆ๐๐€๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐๐’

Lift-Off Season Award nominations screen at Lift-Off's HQ, the prestigious Pinewood Studios, during the celebration held at the end of the Lift-Off Season. The Season Awards celebrates the best-of-the-best of the projects nominated throughout the Lift-Off Season.

For more info ๐Ÿ‘‰ liftoff.network/seasonawards

Rules & Terms

- All support queries must be sent via. support@liftoff.network
- All submissions are to be sent digitally via FilmFreeway
- Project feedback (where applicable) is sent shortly after the festival closes.
- If you pay a submission fee, we will screen your work. Our online programmes are separated into categories based on your content's level of storytelling, production value, impact and acting.
- We have two separate voting committees during the festival - the official judging panel & the general public
- The official jury allocates Season Award Nomination
- Proudly, we have no other restrictions for screening your work. This includes your work's premier status, age, and/or whether your work is available online.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The online festivals are NOT pay-for-vote platforms. Whilst participating filmmakers may invite their team, friends and family to participate & vote, it is encouraged that ALL attending audiences engage with as much of the content as possible and vote accordingly. We are doing our best to invite new and exciting audiences to genuine indie content - if you can encourage your audiences to do the same, we will build a wonderful network of opportunities for all, no matter where you are starting your career.

79 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Mona Hammoud

    I donโ€™t recommend this festival. I actually think itโ€™s a scam. Iโ€™ve never received any email for a screening, only ads and it seems like they take the money and then thatโ€™s it. Iโ€™ve checked online, there are no screenings.

    June 2025
    Helpful
  • Kendrick McLin

    As if writing, directing, producing, cinematography, fight choreography or acting isn't enough work already, upon receiving an official selection to this festival, you're expected to promoted and get people close to you to vote/buy tickets for your film. I've entered an abundance of film festivals, and this is the 1st festival that makes the participants do the job of the festival. It's up to the festival to promote the films, the event itself. Whereas with this festival, participants do the work of the festival, and the festival collects the financial benefits. As stated before, no other festival that I've entered, (and I've entered alot of festivals) has ever had this kind of a set up. Seems nonsensical in my opinion. Had I known these specifics prior, I wouldn't have submitted my work. Extremely disappointed, this festival was a waste of my time and resources.

    May 2025
    Helpful
  • Rocky Karlage

    Very happy to be chosen for film screening!

    May 2025
    Helpful
  • Damilare Williams-Shires

    I have not the foggiest idea what that was supposed to be. Of the nearly 10 people who personally told me and showed me that they had purchased tickets, only one ever even recieved a viewing link, and when he voted for me he got an email saying his vote didn't count! My partner emailed them at least 5 times and got automated email responses which really seemed like a bot set-up to appear like a person. The Lift-Off Website looks all professional, but the hosting of all the films was shoddy and low production value and not at all worth the price. Even from the outset the communication about the timings and runnings of the festival was poorly communicated and not on time. But to take my money and not even allow all but one of my friends to even see the film, shameful.

    April 2025
    Helpful
  • Lorenzo Freglio

    Thanks for the appreciation of "Il salto di qualitร ".
    Lorenzo

    April 2025
    Helpful