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The Mirage International Film Festival’s mission is to help filmmakers present their films to audiences, industry professionals and distributors from around the globe. In order to best achieve this, the festival strives to create an immersive, high energy environment that promotes networking and the awe-inspiring wonderment that only great cinema is capable of producing.

Beyond supporting emerging and established filmmakers, our various special events, educational series and film marketplace are specifically designed to help attendees of all levels expand their industry acumen, form wide ranging industry connections and foster their overall careers. The spirit of the festival will permeate from every screening, meeting and attendee. The Festival will screen over 250 feature and short films over five days this summer in Las Vegas, Nevada. With a plethora of distributors, sales & production companies and production executives guaranteed to attend, filmmakers and attendees will have unprecedented access to industry professionals.

In addition to all that festival provides, we are taking the unprecedented step that every film that is accepted to the festival will be available for a distributor to acquire as the festival opens. We want to even the playing field for films and also make distributors eager to attend a festival that all the films they screen are available for acquisition. We want nothing more than for filmmakers to get distribution for their films, but once a film has achieved that goal, we feel that the screening slots at the festival should be given to films that are still in need of distribution. This type of environment also promotes an arena of "healthy competition" among attending distributors. It is the festival's hope to not only establish but be the catalyst that sweeps change through the festival world.

Awards & Prizes

- Mirage International Film Festival is proud to be presenting over $40,000 in cash awards and in-kind services and products.

- Unless otherwise agreed by the Festival in writing, awards will be given to the winning film director (as identified in the Film Information Form) on behalf of the film (except for Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Editing).

- Award eligibility is subject to any restrictions or conditions imposed by applicable laws and regulations (international, federal, state or otherwise), and the award recipient is responsible for all applicable taxes, customs, tariffs, insurance and similar charges or costs (if any).

- All new Features (except those shown as “Showcase” films) are eligible for the Audience Awards, regardless of category.

Rules & Terms

2014 Competition General Rules

1. All submissions must fully comply with these Rules & Regulations, including all deadlines, film lengths, submission fees, submission instructions and other requirements.
2. In order to be considered for the Festival, filmmakers must complete the Festival Submission Form located at submissions.miragefilmfest.com.
3. All films must be in English, dubbed in English or with English subtitles at the time of submission.
4. Applicants submitting films that contain significant non-English spoken dialogue must provide on-screen English subtitles.
5. Films submitted in previous years are eligible for submission again for 2014 Festival consideration, but only if the film was not an Official Selection in a previous year.
6. It is the sole responsibility of the filmmaker to secure authorization and permission from the owner(s) of any and all copyrighted or trademarked content or materials included within the submitted film and clear the film from any and all actual or potential legal claims prior to submission.
7. Film screeners may be submitted to the Festival using either a Private Vimeo link (preferred), or by mailing us a single playable Zone 1 (North America) DVD (not a data disk with a file of the movie) in either NTSC or PAL format for pre-screening. Please do not send film reels or original material. Also be sure to test your disk before sending and/or ensure your Vimeo link remains active for through the selection period (end of June).
8. "Works in Progress" WILL be accepted for feature film submission. Please include information as to what still needs to be completed (color correction, score, etc.) in the appropriate spot on the submissions form.
9. All submissions must be received by 11:59PM PDT on May 30, 2014, including receipt of payment and all entry materials.
10. Upon completion of the festival selection process, the Festival will notify filmmakers using the contact information provided on the online Submission Form. Please make sure the contact information you supply is accurate.
11. The Festival is unable to provide any comments or feedback regarding a submitted film.

Additional Feature Film Requirements

1. Films must have been completed after January 1, 2011. Films must be available for screening during the Mirage International Film Festival on August 13 - 27, 2014.
2. Feature Films that have been released theatrically anywhere in the world are not eligible for submission to the Festival. This does not include "Work in Progress" screenings in which an incomplete version of the film was previously screened.
3. "Work in Progress" screenings at which tickets were available to the public are only eligible for the Festival if the version submitted is significantly different from the version previously screened.
4. Feature Films that have previously been exhibited theatrically at one or more private screenings for which tickets were not available to the general public retain eligibility for submission to the Festival.
5. Feature Films that have been previously released via any home video outlets (including, but not limited to, DVD, Blu-ray, or Video on Demand) or broadcast on television or the internet in any country are not eligible for submission to the Festival unless the version submitted is significantly different from the version that was previously released or broadcast.
6. Narrative and Documentary films with U.S. distribution obtained at any time prior to being selected or films produced, financed or initiated by a major film studio or television network are ineligible for competition. Should a selected film's distribution status change prior to the start of the 2014 Mirage International Film Festival, the film WILL BE removed from competition, but may be considered for special screening at the Festival's sole discretion.

Additional Short Film Requirements

In order to participate in any competitive program, a short film must have been completed after Jan. 1, 2011.
Short Films must have been completed before May 30, 2014 to be eligible for the 2014 Festival.
A Short Film’s final projected running time must be less than 50 minutes.
Short Films do not have any premiere requirements.