New Bedford Film Festival

1. All film submissions should be available digitally. If you are unable/unwilling to use digital submission, please contact us.
2. Films which have been broadcast on Television, Cable or have had an international theatrical release are NOT eligible for any competition but may be screened, out of competition. Self-published online releases with less than 10,000 views are still eligible.
2a. Digital Series and Music videos are exempt from this rule.
3. Non-English language produced films must have English subtitles or be dubbed in English.
4. All entrants certify that they have been given full rights to use any and all music in their films.
5. Filmmakers or screenwriters accepted and are attending the festival are responsible for travel, lodging, and all other expenses.
6. New Bedford residents may submit a production for free, but should e-mail a license when they submit with the title of their project in the subject line. Failure to send a license within 72 hours of entry may result in disqualification.
7. All submitted entries should be completed after January 1, 2022.
8. NBFF has full rights to screen your entry at our festival, by submitting you are agreeing to these terms. We can also use screenshots, clips and photos from your film for up to two (2) years for festival marketing needs. Winning films for up to (5) five years.
8a. All stated information, eligibility and submission guidelines, terms and conditions of entry, and entry information is subject to change by New Bedford Film Festival team, without notice.
9. If we do not receive enough films for a certain category to give up to four (4) nominations, the category might just be awarded outright to the winner without nominees or the category withdraw from this year's festival.
10. If you were an official selection in our festival, you cannot submit your film again. However, if your film was not selected, you can submit again for consideration.
11. NBFF holds the right to decide which awards will be presented during the opening and close award ceremony as well as during our networking events. We will update you will the full schedule as we get closer to the festival dates.
12. By entering into our festival via FilmFreeway, you are automatically agreeing to have your film be part of NBFF, if accepted. If you want to withdraw from the festival after our official announcement, that is your choice, but our selection announcements will remain as is.
13. To ensure the spirit of creativity and originality in filmmaking, the New Bedford Film Festival will not consider for official selection any submissions created using generative AI tools or software in which the entirety or majority of the images and/or video are created using AI tools, including but not limited to narrative films, music videos, animation, TV content, and documentaries. Films that utilize minor AI-generated images or video content, or employ AI-assisted post-production tools (such as color grading, upscaling, audio cleanup, or VFX elements) within a primarily human-created narrative are required to disclose such use at the time of submission, and these films will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the programming team to determine eligibility for selection.

The New Bedford Film Festival reserves the right to request additional information regarding the extent of AI usage in submitted works, with final eligibility determined at the discretion of the festival. For questions or clarifications regarding this policy, please contact newbedfordfilmfest@gmail.com

If there is any doubt as to whether your work qualifies or if you need an exception, please contact us before you submit! Once your entry/payment is processed it will not be refunded. Note: You may have to make your film/video available to us in order to answer your question on FilmFreeway.